It was a wonderful experience sailing from the east end of the Aegean Sea all the way to the south where Folegandros is situated. The island is one of the smallest in the Aegean and in the Cyclades. The skies were clear and after breakfast we were tendered ashore to a very small fishing village called Karavostassi, that is actually the one and only port of the island.
The local bus drove us uphill 3 km to the chora—the island’s capital town—which wasn’t visible at all from the port. The 680 permanent inhabitants re shared between chora and Ano Meria, and a very few other tiny settlements. Our guides walked us through the scenic center of Chora. It seems like the core of the town are the two squares of Dounari and Konatarini, which are separated by the main church, but still sharing the shade of the old plane trees. As it was Sunday morning, the locals were attending the service, followed by a memorial, and sweet boiled grain was offered to the relatives while leaving he church. We reached the other end of the chora so we could enjoy the authenticity of this unspoiled island, and get the most of the Cycladic beauty.
The “kastro,” or castle, built by the Venetians after the 13th century was the highlight of our visit. Today it is just another cute neighborhood of the chora that maintains the architecture and purity of the old times. “Pantanassa,” or Church of the Virgin Mary of the Castro, was the church that we entered, and from its courtyard we had a spectacular view of the ancient island terracing, where the islanders were growing their crops many years ago.
After that, it was time to do what the locals do, so we sat down under the plane trees and sampled our first Greek coffee or a local “rakomelo.” You can’t leave the island without tasting this combination of raki with honey in one tiny shot full of more than flavor! Those that didn’t mind the heat hiked back down to the port, and then we took a refreshing swim at the pebbled beach before saying goodbye to hospitable but barren Folegandros.
During the afternoon we sailed calm seas to Santorini. We entered the caldera right on time for our Greek buffet deck dinner, and enjoyed the famous Santorini sunset. The Greek music was just the warm-up for the “shanty” songs, where the majority of Sea Cloud crew participated and we accompanied them to their rhythm. It was a very full day of images, tastes, and music, but since the next day was to be the land exploration of Santorini we retired to our cabins with shanty melodies ringing in our heads!
