- SIFNOS

SIFNOS: "Scribblings" and PhotoGallery. [Click on pics, below, to enlarge]

This island could well leap-frog above Patmos as my "favourite" Greek island! Only a couple of hours from Piraeus on the high speed ferry, it still manages to be uncrowded even during late July and August.

I stayed in Kamares, the port town. It is a cheerful, pleasant place with a lovely long sandy beach. A fun aspect of the proximity of the town beach to to the jetty where the ferries dock, are the waves generated as the ferry swerves in towards the jetty. These are met with shrieks of delight from the children (and adults!) paddling and swimming nearby. One wag even rushes into the sea with his surfboard and tries to catch one of the half-metre high waves! Much fun and hilarity!

Kamares has a lot going for it. It is a pleasant lookng town and has an excellent selection of cafe-bars, ouzeries and tavernas strung out along the waterfront. Sifnos has a great reputation for its cuisine and all the tavernas I visited served an interesting and tasty array of traditional and local dishes.

There is a good bus service with which to get around the island; although you will often have to change buses in Apollonia, the "capital" of the island, which is about 5km inland, and up on a higher plateau.

I liked Apollonia. It has the usual cobbled streets and alleyways, which are extremely picturesque. The backstreets also house a number of tasteful and attractively appointed cafe and music bars. It all comes alive in the evenings, as Apollonia is the de facto centre of nightlife on Sifnos.

The island boasts a number of interesting places to visit. The most popular sight is the highly photogenic small Monastery of Chrisopigi. You can take the bus from Apollonia (destination, Plati Gialos). It lets you off at a stop above the monastery and you can take the 15 minute walk down to the monastery. It is well worth the effort. Equally photogenic is the chora village of Kastro. It is served by the occasional bus, but I decided to walk from Apollonia. It took about an hour to walk there, and about the same back again. Kastro was built between the 14th and 19th centuries. It is "picture-postcard". It should not be missed. The view down to the tiny chapel of Epta Martires on a rocky outcrop at the water's edge, is glorious.

A lovely island with friendly islanders. Put it on your list of places to visit!

I stayed at Morfeas Pension. A superior suite of studios at the back of Kamares Beach. It is run by the very friendly Kostas and his family. Website: www.morpheas.gr