I am taking some time off and hopping about the Cyclades Archipelago for a week or so. I think I mentioned that in an earlier post. Before I left Paros I had checked some ferry schedules and I had set my plan thus: Ios for a night then an early ferry to Serifos the next day then a few days on that island then Sifnos, then back to Paros. The best laid plans of mice and men, indeed. Apparently I misheard the ferry schedule and the boat to Serifos left the same morning I arrived on Ios, so I had to shift my sails. This is the new plan: Ios, then the afternoon boat to Milos where I will stay until Tuesday and then go to Serifos for three or four days and then Sifnos afterwards. I have had to extend my hop and added Milos, but such is life. I could not have done it without the help of the good people at Acteon Travel in Ios. Thank you Calliope, Theodora and Themos. They proved the point that there are always solutions to what I may think are dire problems. The upside is that have been able to see some interesting sites here on Ios. There are no downsides. I drove out to Homer’s grave, visited the Paleokastro in the mountains and had a short swim on a deserted stretch of beach in Psathi. I ate dinner last night at a small taverna at the very top of the chora called ‘The Mills’. Excellent chorta, revithiokeftedes, spitted lamb, tzatziki and fried potatoes. I highly recommend the place.
From Ios I can see Santorini to the south and Paros, Andiparos and Naxos to the north. The terrain here reminds me of the Naxian interior and is very rugged and unbuilt. Goats, donkeys and cows roam the twisty mountain roads, gnawing on the rough foliage. The stonework of the walls that make up the terrace farms is also very different than on Paros and Naxos. The material here tends to be more flat and sedimentary and as a result the walls are wider and flatter than those made with chunky bits of marble or limestone karst. I have exposed roll of Plus-X with my Mamiya c330 and I hope to continue this while I am on my hop.
As I sit in the port of Ios at the Remezzo Cafe (free WiFi) I am surrounded by travelers waiting for the next high-speed boat to wherever, maybe Naxos or Milos, or perhaps Pireaus. I had a nice chat with Themos this morning before I rented my little Fiat Panda. We talked of reincarnation, the changeless quality of travel and why we love it and how beautiful the world can be if we just slow down and let our lives run on a different kind of schedule, one not dictated by our minds and wallets but rather our hearts and souls. This from the guy who rented me a car…
More to come…JDCM