When we arrived at our hotel in Folegandros and met Theo the owner, he told us how lucky we were to get the room on such little notice. He told us it was only because of a last minute cancellation. A regular guest, an Italian photographer, got a last minute job so he had to cancel. I agreed with Theo that we were taking some chances.
“No matter”, he replied “fortune favours the brave … or is it the foolish?”, he smilingly questioned.
I smiled back replying “Both”.
We stayed for three nights and two full days on the island. We walked its old streets, ate at wonderful restaurants and wondered why we weren’t staying longer.
We went to the beach. Two beaches in two days. All the long, cold, bitter south Gippsland winter I have been longing for the sting of sun on my face and salty water on my lips. To feel the weightlessness of salty water. It has been the prize I have kept my eye on as I have worked two jobs, carried wood, lit fires, rugged up and generally been frozen a lot of the time.
On our first full day we caught the bus down to the beach just near the port. It as the beach we saw when we arrived in Folegandros. On the beach, we found a shady tree and set up underneath it. The beach had large pebble stones so I chose to wear my sandals into the water after watching Robert ooo-ahhh-ouch dance his way down to the shoreline. The water was cool and crystal clear, we could see fish swimming around our feet. There were no waves, so we just floated until it was time to head to the taverna for calamari and cold beer.
Unfortunately, we just missed the bus back up to the Chora, so we stopped and had an “ouzo with snack”. This was a bonus until I took a bite of something brown that I mistook for a mushroom. It was a kidney. EuuuurrrK! Other than the kidney, it was a perfect holiday day.
That night we spoke to Theo about extending our stay. He sadly told us he didn’t have any rooms to give us and fortune would not favour us this time.
The following morning, we took a bus in the other direction. Theo, had told us there was a fishing village, with a few tavernas and beach – with sand not rocks. He gave us a beach umbrella as he warned us there would be no shade. He also said, there could be waves due to the wind the previous evening and to take care. Robert told him not to worry, we would surf the waves.
The bus trip to the fisherman’s village, Agkali, was an event itself, the driver speeding down a steep, narrow dirt path. Tourists on scooters and quad bikes fanging up in the other direction made hair pins turns even more hair raising and stomach churning. At the end of the track we reached the little fishing village. A handful of tavernas lined the path to the beach and houses and resorts dotted the hills behind. The beach wasn’t exactly sand. It was mainly a course sand with small pebbles, about the size of Rice Bubbles. We found a spot, set up the umbrella and looked a the ocean. There were waves. Nothing too big – just medium ones we would body surf at home. In we went. The surf was powerful and it was hard to stand up. Robert went in further than me, I tried walking out to join him. BOOM! A wave hit me and I went over and under. Suddenly I was flat on my back, legs and arms stretched upwards in water that was only about knee deep. Like a giant tortoise, I was flailing. Trying to stand but I couldn’t. The waves kept crashing down on me and over me. All I could do was scream with laughter. Robert tried to help me but I just couldn’t get up. Mainly because I was laughing but by now he couldn’t stop laughing either. I think the crowd on the beach were laughing too. Finally I managed to right myself with Robert’s help. Inside my swimming costume were a million pebbles. It looked like underneath my swimming costume I had a bad skin condition. I thought I looked like a patient on the British TV show, Embarrassing Bodies. It was an uncomfortable ride back home – and we didn’t even enjoy one of the tavernas as we made the decision to just go back to the hotel and swim in the pool.
The next morning it was time to say goodbye to Folegandros. Theo dropped us down at the ferry. This trip would be a fast ferry to Paros. Theo said he hoped to see us again. “You suit the island”, he told us. I hope we do return to Folegandros one day – let’s see if fortune smiles on us again.
The seat of my pants 