FACTS and INFORMATION
Back in the day when Venice was fighting it out with the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) the people of this island instead chose to align themselves with the pirates.
I like that spirit of independence. Nobody gonna tell me what to do.
This is called the “Island of Winds” because of all the sea caves. Supposedly the pirates thought the island was hollow, there are so many caves.
From parts of the island we can see over to Naxos (from our room it is the high ridge running behind the town); from up around the beaches we can see across to Keros, and from our room we look across to Kato Koufonissi running lengthwise away from us, the cliffs fading in the distance.
There are three ATMs to get money, two linked to the same bank, and a third hidden by the grocery store, so it really doesn’t matter which you use. There are two grocery stores, one at the port with local produce, even home made Raki in plastic water bottles. The other is up on the shopping street.
So it turns out this is NOT an “undiscovered" island. There are plenty of people who come here, and the recent influx of tourism means there are a lot of guesthouses to choose from.
It is, however, a very quiet island. Very little traffic noise with so few vehicles. In fact, I think if you bought a car brand new and lived here, you’d probably run up maybe 100-150 miles a year total.
That said, we hear no American English here. Maybe a couple Brits, or perhaps people with other languages who have been taught English by the English. Italian predominates here. We tend to get raised eyebrows.
The electricity comes via underwater cable from Naxos. They didn’t have any until the 1980s. Now they even have decent WiFi.
The water used to come by boat, like we saw on Hydra six years ago. Then two years ago they put in a desalinization plant and use salt water. Everybody drinks bottled water, but the other water needs are met by the plant.
Our host said it is much better than the old days, when the water boat would not arrive due to storms in the winter and they had to mix fresh and salt water to survive.
“Now it is easy, but the pipes need replacing.”
Gail asked where we are.
I don’t mean the island, but the sea. She thought it was the Aegean, I was thinking the Adriatic (but that was last year in Croatia) or Mediterranean, which covers it all including the Ionian south of Italy by Malta, the Tyrrhenian, the Balearic and Alborean.
She was correct: we are in the Aegean part of the Mediterranean.
So what do you do for fours days and nights on the smallest island around?
Here is a quote:
"On Koufonissia space and time dimensions are different from what established theory has led you to expect.
You don’t need a watch. If you have brought it along, put it away in the deepest recess of your luggage.
You will get up when your eyes seek the scenery.
Eat when your taste buds seek delight.
Drink when the spirit is satiated.
You do not need an elaborate wardrobe. Bring your most casual clothes, they will suit the carefree mood of the place.
Walk in the sun or the moonlight and smile at the contented faces that you will see along the way."
That about sums it up right there.
Gail slept as late as she wanted while I got up and wandered around taking photos, or sat outside drinking and reading.
We wandered the little alleys branching off the one main “street” that is all of perhaps 200 meters long. We sat with a drink and people watched.
I went swimming at four in the morning, and drank white wine at six. I sat on the porch with an early cup of cappuccino and cake from Momma (who is up early to bake), and looked at the impossibly blue water.
We ate long, lazy breakfasts staring out at the water.
Oh, it was not all just laying around. We had chores to do.
We made a run to the grocery store to stock up on wine and water for the refrigerator, and we had our laundry done. I went to the ATM for some euros.
I watched France beat Russia in the semi-finals, and then hung out at the same bar full of Croatia fans and cheered as Croatia took out England 2-1.
That is about what we did for chores.
It is beautiful walking the entire coastline north to Pori Bay. There are so many beaches to set up on, from little unnamed, rocky coves, to flat shelves in the undercut “cave” areas, to named crescents of sand like Finikas, Fanos and Platia Pounta.
There is a cool little hole in the rocks where the waves have washed through, creating a small archway tunnel from the sea. This is called the Devil’s Eye, which is so fitting for the Pirate’s Island of Winds.
Well, it is pretty relaxing to stand neck deep in the deep blue, Aegean Sea with the warm sun beating down, on a quiet beach.
Makes you (mostly) forget about what is going on back home.
These are the places I seek out.
Quiet, off the beaten path. Swimming naked, drinking at 7:00 if I want to; no noise, no cares, I can walk barefoot everywhere. There is just enough civilization to have a great meal, good wine, WiFi and access to the World Cup game.
It is a delicate balance to find.
It seems (to me) that everybody is just so much more responsible than I am. They watch what they eat, drink responsibly, limit their sun exposure and worry about skin tests, blood tests and colonoscopies; everyone is counting steps, counting calories, counting friends on Facebook and…
...And me?
I just live.
Perhaps one day I'll grow up, but probably by then it will be too late.
A nice day? We go beach even if we don’t have all the stuff.
Grandma Anna makes the Rakamolo? Sure I’ll try it even though I’ve probably had enough to drink already.
Great pasta? Give me two, maybe I’ll skip breakfast and lunch tomorrow.
It’s a nice night out but I might get bit by a mosquito? Open the damn windows, I want the breeze and the sound of the waves crashing all night, not the whine of the AC.
My leg hurts from something last month, sure, but I bet there is a great view off that mountaintop over there, so I just limp for an hour going up (and another coming down).
This is that perfect kind of island, a place where you can just live.
| A NOTE ABOUT THE PHOTOS: I cannot capture the true color of the water in normal photographs. So, I have chosen to use a filter to shift the color and make it more vivid on some of the photos, to bring out the water color. You can easily tell which ones I did it to, because the shore looks unnatural. But I wanted you to see the real water color. |
The first night we ate at Aneplora, a fish restaurant way over past the windmill at Parianos Bay, the old fishing port.
We got to go to the case and choose our meal, fish by the kilo. Gail chose a tiny silver Pandora fish, too small to grill, so they pan fried it.
I chose the recommended bright red, ugly Scorpion fish, served on pasta. Gail ordered some of the Tzatziki (cucumber yogurt) for the bread, and I got that shrimp and cheese and tomato sauce bake that I like, called Shrimps Saganaki. House wine was great, at €6 a liter, so I had a half of rosé and Gail a half of white.
At the end, they gave us a small brownie with the local liquor called Rakomelo. That is raki with honey and cinnamon boiled together, and though sweet it was pretty good, especially with the chocolate.
Our second day we were at the beach at Pori Bay, and had drinks at Kalofego.
It is an excellent beach bar, and I had an Aperol Spritz for no other reason than it was refreshing and looked great. Gail ordered a frozen yogurt with black and blueberries in it, topped by lemon rinds. That was fantastic!
This dinner was better than the first night’s.
I got the small red shrimps from Symi (island) and they were fried to a crisp, so that you could snap the head off and eat the rest of the shrimp, shell and all. I have never done this before, and they were seasoned just right and so tasty that Gail was munching on the too. I think this would make a great snack for a movie or something.
We each chose a nice looking fresh fish, a Sargo, from today’s catch. The two together weighed in at just under half a kilogram. Served with lemon and melted butter, the white flakey meat was so good. I was craving something green, so I got a simple salad of lettuce and onions, and they gave us some really well toasted bread with oil and herbs.
Gail wanted white wine, but they had three kinds so she tried two of them to choose, while I got a half liter of red.
When we got back to our room I stopped down at the little snack bar they run and got a double espresso and a Snickers Ice Cream bar. It looks just like a Snickers bar, but is ice cream. Never had that before.
Every morning Momma brings me a cappuccino and her fresh cake, warm out of the over, at about 6:00.
God bless Momma. What a treat, drinking the coffee and watching the sun rise.
And the breakfasts? Fresh cake, great Greek yogurt the consistency of ice cream, and eggs.
She wants to pet my dinner.
“At least they don’t cook the cute little furry sheeps!” I quipped.
Nope.
That, friends, is tomorrow’s dinner.
Anyway it is just up a block from our guest house and it is the best meal we have had here, hands down. Plenty of very good vegetarian options, believe it or not.
It was a little hard to find, because all the signs are faded, very small or non-existent. They actually raise sheep and goats behind the restaurant so it really is farm to table. They also have goats over on Kato Koufonissi and Keros, and the grandfather (Whose name is Mixalios) is over on the islands at 5:00 every morning tending to the flocks and selecting dinner. The son raises the sheep behind the restaurant, as well as roosters and pigs, AND the grains to feed them.
Meanwhile, Grandma makes the cheese and Rakomelo.
They are a busy group of people, but the food is fresh and plentiful.
Gail got the Mixalios salad, and it was probably the best salad I have tasted. It had greens and fresh and dried tomatoes in it, but the dried figs and caramelized, candied walnuts, along with “liquor of mastic” just sent it out of the park.
As I said, mom makes three traditional types of cheese, and I was interested in the Ladotiri, a hard cheese in olive oil and herbs. So I got some and that was really good as well.
Gail had a vegetable pie, which was a flaky crust, very thin, with layers of vegetable stuff layered in between. It was maybe 3/4 inch thick and really tasty.
I had the baby goat in lemon sauce with mustard and garlic, served with roast potatoes. The sauce was so great, and there was plenty of it so the potatoes were delicious as well.
They gave us some sweet soaked cake for dessert, and I had to try Grandma’s Rakomelo. She’s a pretty good distiller, Grandma is.
We each had a half liter of wine from Paros, Gail the white and I had red. At €6 for the liter is was excellent.
Our total bill for this great meal was under $50 US.
Our last night we ate at Souvlaki Sti Strofi, serving gyros, pork or chicken in a pita, with the yogurt sauce, tomatoes and fries. It is a simple window; you order and take out. There are some tables along the street, and you can sit on the low walls. There is always a line here, it is so popular. One chicken and one pork, with two beers set us back €9, and the pork was fantastic. I didn't like the chicken as much, but Gail thought it was fine.
Our first full day we took the long walk all the way east and north along the coast, scoping out the beaches.
We went all the way to the biggest and (some say) “best” beach at Pori Bay.
This was a long, curving, golden sand beach, pretty crowded really, but we found a space to set up our umbrella and towels. It was really windy and the umbrella flew away once until I anchored it with rocks.
There was a nice beach bar, and the swimming was great, the ice-blue water felt cool. There were some yachts and sailboats anchored in the bay.
The interesting part to me were the cliffs of Gala rising over Xilobatis Bay, facing to Naxos. Here the strip of land is very narrow, leading out to an oval shaped peninsula.
We spent the late morning and early afternoon of the next day in a small cove next to Finikas Beach, a spot we scoped our a few days earlier. Actually there was another cove just before this one but it was already occupied.
Our cove was big enough for us and two young women at the other end, private enough for us all. The beach was rocky, smooth pebbles, with a sand entry to the water. No noise at all save for the crashing waves.
After a few hours we stopped in at the bar on Finikas beach, where we walked to see the food currently cooked, behind a glass case.
Gail picked out a pepper stuffed eggplant topped with tomato, onions and a fried slab of cheese.
I got a chunk of pork which was like a burger, stuffed with feta cheese and herbs, served with fries.
We both got a Mythos and bottle of water with ice. It was a fine little meal with a spectacular huge view of the neon blue water of the bay.
After our drinks we went back out to the beach and found a new sandy spot in the crowd (of maybe fifty people) to sit and read and listen to Norah Jones on my phone.
A nap, a few chapters of the book, and as the sun lowered we headed back to shower up.
The water, even in the harbour, is like a neon blue, darker than baby blue but lighter than the cobalt of deep water.
In the early morning the red and green beacons marking the mouth of the harbor blink and reflect off the till water; about three red blinks to one green.
There are some really funny, quirky little things: the sign showing how far to other beaches around the world, the sand-sculpture Triceratops lolling near the waves.
There is a piece of driftwood looking like a face with sunglasses, and some kids with a little “garage sale” type junk stand set up.
One restaurant sign advertises OXTUPOS.
The church bells do not ring here (I miss that) and this is not a party island, though the bars are open late. When you wake at night you can hear the waves on the shore.
OK. I am going to change that. The church bells do ring when there is an emergency. Like the last afternoon we were here the bells started ringing about 18:00. I couldn’t believe it, and went out on the patio to listen. Just as I was wondering why, Gail yelled at me from inside, “Hey! There’s no water.”
And sure enough, the water main for the entire island broke, and so now no one has water. Man, am I glad I showered right after the beach. Gail likes to Facebook and then shower right before dinner, but now we are stuck as she waits for the water to come back on.
There are still the remains of some original stone houses and walls, but they are cut off now by new apartments and guest houses on the waterfront.
Somebody rakes the main “city” beach every night so it is clean in the morning.
In fact, this is one of the cleanest places we have been. We are hard pressed to find any litter or trash around.
After the first day I changed my routine to go swim at what I call “Sunrise Beach” which is five minutes away in a very small cove facing east. I can get in the water and watch the sun come up right out of the ocean.
Days doing nothing, no real schedule, no reason to hurry anywhere. I watch the Blue Star ferry set out of port and wonder where it is headed?
If this island sounds great here are a few other island names for you.
Schoinousa, Iraklea, and Kimolos (by Milos).
I wish we had unlimited time to just take the Small Cyclades Lines ferry around, jumping on and off random islands.
In the meantime:
The waves lap the shore.
The sun sets, and the sun rises.
Early coffee, swimming at sunrise, a small glass of wine before breakfast.
Repeat.