Lucky Again

 Wednesday December 21st


So I am safely in my temporary accommodation on Sifnos. The ferry fairies sprinkled some magic dust on the Dionisios Solomos in the middle of the night and it brought me here this morning. The Artemis did not seem to be going anywhere, when the Dionisios Solomos was leading to Kithnos. This looked good as that island is on the way to both Serifos and then Sifnos. I kept an eye on it on the Marine Watch app, then horror of horrors it steered away from Kithnos. 

Photo Interlude - My temporary home, I am on the first floor the balcony you can see is part of the place I am staying in.


Back to the ferry, it sort of looked like it was heading to Serifos. Unfortunately the Marine Watch app did not have any ports listed for it, apart from Kithnos. I packed the last of my things and headed down to the port. I went to the ticket office and the guy behind the counter seemed to be saying “Sunday”. Eventually it became clear the ferry was arriving at ten thirty. So I changed my ticket and went to the Captains bar. I bought myself my coffee and a muffin and kept an eye on the boat. It did now seem to be heading to the island. There were also lorries and vans at the port awaiting its arrival. When it got close I finished my coffee and went to the port area. It was coming in, and soon it had docked.


I got  on board, my case was a big one, so I left it where the cars are, and went upstairs. I wanted to go to the outside bow area, as I did last time I did this journey ( back in June ). I bought myself a coffee on the way, in the bar.  It was really sunny at the front and you could not feel the wind much. When we left, it seemed very strange, is Sifnos my second home, Twyford the third? It doesn’t really matter I don’t suppose. The sun was shining shafts of sunlight onto the sea and Sifnos, though the breaks in the cloud. 


It was a little bumpy but not that bad at all really. I think I was the only one who got on at Serifos, it wasn’t busy. I noticed a sign in Chinese on the boat, I  used google translate, it said the ferry weighed 3,981 tons, and was ship number 131464 . Was this built in China or sent here after working there? 


As we approached Sifnos, I saw a church I would like to walk to, I think it’s about 1.3 miles from the nearest road. It’s called Agios Nikolaos. Eventually we turned into the bay, where Karames is and docked very quickly. As I got off I saw one of my other friends, they were waiting for someone else to get off the ferry. I will see them tonight. My other two friends were just outside the port area and their lovely dog gave me a super welcome. He knows me much better now I have looked after him for a week. We walked to this place, offloaded my bags and did a bit of shopping. The lady at one of the shops knows me, she said are you a Serifosian or a Sifnosian? Both I think! We went to the Bakers, the lady there knows me too, she asked me how I was in Greek, I replied in Greek, she then said “Bravo”. I then told her I lived on Serifos, I should have been able to do that in Greek, she liked that too. We finished our shopping and walked back to my friends house.

Photo Interlude Shop in Kamares


I had unpacked a present for my friends, I have a couple of other things to give them tonight. This was local sausage from Serifos, with lots of pepper, one of these two friends absolutely adores pepper. Their dog, got a sniff too, I think he will get a bit when it’s eaten! We had our lunch, then I walked the dog to St Catherine, the second of two churches, the other side of the bay from where my friends live. 

This photo taken on route, is of St Anargyroti and above it Agios Marina.


We had a lovely walk, after  we had passed the church, there are a set of steps you can walk down to the sea. After a wander down there, we retraced our steps.



My friends have an empty pot and I knew there were some Mountain Sourfig here, that I have grown on Serifos, so I got a cutting and popped it into their empty pot. Later on I shall walk back to their house and have dinner with them and the other friend I saw today. 

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