With a good steady wind this morning we put up sails today, lots of sails, so many that the new clinometer for our angle of heeling over relative to the wind was the sound of the crash of dishes from the galley. We took in the royals from all three masts after that. We powered through the Aegean at a good seven knots. With top speeds of Sea Cloud under engine power being about 10 knots, this was an impressive first sail.
If you want to find an out of the way place, Folegandros definitely fills the bill. This island is a 12-square-mile dot in the Aegean Sea. At first glace, it seems to be a rocky, arid, barely inhabited or inhabitable island. There is debate as to whether the name Folegandros comes from the Cretan explorer Pholegandrus or from the Phoenician term for rocky. Either way rocks dominate the landscape with numerous rock walls creating terraces that trace the contours of the hillsides of yet more rocks. Historically, barley would have been grown on these leveled steps, today, thistles seem to rule.
The gem hiding nestled in the hills and precariously perched on a precipice is the tiny Rubik’s cube styled “chora” or main village. If marauding pirates cannot see a prosperous town from the sea, then the battle for the town is won, as it was never fought. A steep cliff protects the chora on one side and the tiny-stacked homes all face inwards, creating a natural social center in the middle of their cubical refuge.
Today we wandered the maze of stone-paved narrow streets. Cascades of bougainvillea splashed the buildings with vibrant colors. Everyone had a delightful time in this quintessential Cycladic town. We captured images of flowers, local kitties, shuttered windows, as well as visiting with friendly local folks willing to tell us a little about their beloved village. We feasted visually and gastronomically as we relaxed in the tavernas and ordered locally made delicacies, many favorites were found in the bakeries, including a Greek made Polish apple pie.
Afternoon options included walking the three kilometers back down the hill to the harbor. The limestone hillsides were dotted with bristling thistles wearing golden seed heads, naked euphorbia shrubs decorated with land snails, and the tips of flowering sea squills just starting to emerge from their dormant bulbs.
With the fading light of the afternoon we returned to Sea Cloud, gathered on the lido deck for a scrumptious dinner and shared our stories, photos, and adventures of our first day in the Cycladic Islands.
