The slow boat leaving Paros was an hour late. It was OK, we weren’t in a hurry but standing in the sun, with hundreds of other people jostling and bumping each other to get onto one of the five ferries that were all leaving around the same time, took patience and a sense of humour. Luckily both Robert and I had both that morning. Maybe, it was the thought of a new destination that cheered us. Although, I must admit, I almost lost it with the man that walked through the crowds, tooting on a clarinet and singing “bah, bah, bah, bah, Maria”. Neither his clarinet nor his voice had a tune but both were loud … and I had ideas on where to put his clarinet.
The ferry from Paros stopped at a number of islands, Naxos, Irakleia, Shinoussa, and Koufonissi before we disembarked at the last stop, Katapola on Amorgos. We checked out each island in some effort to decide which one we should go to next. Not an easy decision to be made from the deck of a very large ferry. Large, luxury yachts and cruisers dotted the serene coves of many of the islands we past. We agreed that maybe Koufonissi should be next. It consists of three islands, one and a half of which is uninhabited and dedicated nature reserves – but that would be after Amorgos.
The ferry was large but not nearly full. There were tourists most of whom alighted at Naxos and then slowly some more at each of the other ports. By the time we were on the last leg of the trip, there was a smattering of tourists and lots of Greek grand mothers, Ya-yas. What is the collective noun for Ya-yas? I suspect it might be a gaggle by the sound they made – loud talking and laughing all of which accompanied the various groups playing card games. There were about five or six card games happening at close proximity. The talking and laughing convivially went from within each group, out across to other groups.
As we entered Katapola, one of the two ports on Amorgos, I smiled. This! This was what I had been dreaming of. The small white-washed town hugged the horse-shoe port. The harbour was calm – yachts, bobbed up and down on the blue Aegean. A smattering of people waited for the ferry to dock and small sandy beaches were speckled with only a few swimmers and sun-bathers. Tavernas lined the narrow path that skirted the port. Surely this is where the Greek Gods lived.
Sophia, our AirBnB host, met us off the ferry, I guess we were fairly easy to spot amongst the Greek women. She walked us around the corner and took up a set of steep stairs to our first floor apartment. It’s clean, it’s compact, it has location, location, location. The little flat is jammed in between the port and a huge mountain – on a narrow alley – naturally! Last evening and today have been spent walking along the port, swimming at the beaches and sampling a few of the tavernas. This evening, we watched the sun, a large orange circle, drop behind another island in the distance while it shimmered over the sea before making is slow decent. Tomorrow we are hiring a car to explore the rest of the island. Look out. Look out! Amorgos is working its magic.
The seat of my pants 