A view onto Sifnos

 Thursday 2nd February 2023

It’s a lovely day today, no wind and sunny. I fed the cats, changed the water. I have spread the food about so everyone should get a fair share. I am looking around to see how I might build a shelter for them. There is one cat with a bit of fur missing from its head, I need to keep an eye on that. I saw Marinos outside his coffee bar, he said the word for late, yes I was later than normal. I told him later by google translate that I was practising my Greek. I did do my numbers one to ten to him, the trouble is the Greeks want to help, so if I stumble, they  have said the next number before I can remember it. 

Marinos, saw the water bottles outside that I use for carrying water to the cats, I again used google translate, to tell him I am feeding the cats down there. The pigeon was in the bar, some of the guys were feeding it crumbs from the biscuits they get. One of the guys used a serviette to clean up the mess it made. I wanted to know a couple of the guys names, to write down, one had been a lorry driver, like Vasileas, he said the names of big cities in the UK he knew. I showed him a map of the UK showing where our house is. A bit later on I got a little dish with something that I thought was a fig, they all  said the Greek name and sure enough it was. It came from Marinos’s garden in Livadi.

The dried fig was nice and full of flavour. I listened to what they were saying, I  get more words than I used to, but I don’t often really know what they are saying to each other. The Greek course, the Part five has four chapters of revision, my friend on Sifnos said it’s there to reinforce the words already learned before going onto the next lot. 

I walked down to Livadi with the idea of walking around the Northern peninsula  from Livadi there is a bay called Tsilipaki. It turns out I had walked round here before, and as I went around it all became clear as the path disappeared like it did last time. However before that, as I went down on the road, before turning off to the donkey path, I past one of the guys whose name I now know. I said hello to him using his name and he replied and laughed. 

Photo Interlude - Church on Donkey path to Livadi today.

Once on the path I met a guy with a strimmer, the reason soon became clear, he had been tidying the banks either side of the path. Later on I met his co worker who was sweeping up! I thanked him, for his work, like I used to for roadsweepers and bin men in the UK. I also saw the bus driver walking up. As I got to the flat road and by the petrol station the bus was blocking the road and not moving. Everyone was looking at it wondering what was going on. I passed a guy, said hello to him, and he asked me a question and I guessed it was about the bus, so I replied in Greek that I did not know. He seemed happy with my response!

Photo Interlude - Livadi beach today

When I got to Grans, I ordered a sandwich and did my one to ten party trick. I went outside and saw the younger donkey man, who drinks coffee in Marinos with his wife and child and he said hello in English. I did a bit of Greek and saw the dog that had been hit by the car last year, it seems ok, a little limp perhaps still. I then walked along the Livadi beach, still doing my Greek. I was still a a bit hungry, so I popped into the last store before the slip road, run by the guy whose boat I helped move last year. I bought a Bougatsa, which is like a Danish pastry filled full of custard. The bag it came in was used to pick up litter off the beach. Some children were playing football on the artificial field.

Photo Interlude - Boat at end  of Livadi beach

At the end of the beach is where I was told the scrap metal guys place is. It certainly looked like it! There is a road up to the peninsula and I was going to walk around it anti clockwise. Shortly afterwards you go past a load of newly built places that people rent or come and live in the summer. They have magnificent views of Livadi, its beach and Hora. I would say they are very upmarket. I met a young girl and her friend she, I have seen working in Markela’s in the autumn, she is still at school. Further round, I saw this quite big solar farm, maybe for these holiday homes? There was a a little cove here, you could see steps down to it.

I then started to recognise the countryside, the rolling hills and the flat valley where I could see the stream, which was there before, but was much fuller with the recent rains.

Video of stream, apologises for dreadful panning…

Like before, the path becomes lost so you are just doing your best to navigate. There was a farm, some sheep and then Hora came back into view. Eventually you meet the outward path and walk down to  Livadi’s beach. I decided to pop into the scrap metal guy’s house to see if I could arrange the pick up of the metal. The door was open and there was a lady with a guy who I did not recognise as the scrap metal man I had met on the road. I said hello and  said anyone speak English in Greek. He did. Anyway I explained the situation and he knew where my scrap metal pile was. He explained to the lady. I said they could come anytime, I did not have to be there. I was finished and feeling happy with myself, the man was the physio for the lady, who is the scrap metals mother I think! As it happened my scrap metal friend then came around from the back. He shook my hand, I wished him “Happy Year” and then all the details were passed onto him. I think he might be coming tomorrow. He went inside and rummaged around. He brought out a home made bottle of wine, it  looks like a Rose, it’s in the fridge now. 

I walked along the beach, and got myself another coffee in Grans. The Taverna family was there with one of their sons. The other is in Athens I think. The girl who had been standing for the older lady in Grans was sitting with them. She is the son’s fiancé. I explained to the son what is going on with my metal store, so they know what is going on. I left them to get my coffee.

Back at the house, I had taken the bus as I had walked a long way today, I saw the husbands truck was by the Taverna. I think they were all inspecting the work on the storeroom, there has been a guy in there the last couple of days. It was still nice and sunny, so I sat out on the roof until the sun dropped down low.

Photo Interlude - one last shot of Livadi today.

Since telling various UK friends about my visit, I have had kind offers of dinner, meet-ups and more. It will be a busy few days but I am looking forward to seeing everyone. Why is this post named so? As I was going around the peninsula today, Sifnos was always in my view.