It's been a very pleasant overnight sailing from Piraeus to Sifnos island. We waved goodnight to Go Poseidon as we sailed past his temple at the southern most end of Sounion Peninsula. The god promised to take care of us while we'll be at sea just as long as we poured some wine in the sea every night!
Early in the morning we anchored at Kamares which is the main harbor of Sifnos island. Before we went ashore we were introduced to the expedition staff and our guides that will show us around the islands. So our day started with a short drive to the Castro and where we've walked through its narrow alleys. This is one of the best kept “Choras” or old capitals in the Cycladic area. It was around 1307 A.D. when it was first built and the Venetians have left their influence all over the Castro. The houses around us were at least 700 years old and are still inhabited!
We continued the exploration hiking down the steps that lead us to the most picturesque church built on a rock in the water, dedicated to the “martys.” We had our first introduction to the Greek Orthodox religion and admired the intimacy of the tiny whitewashed blue domed church. After our short hike it was time to enjoy a drink and a piece of lemon pie traditionally made at one of the cafes before we headed back to Kamares.
Our day continued with a very interesting afternoon watching our deck crew climbing on the masts and setting sails as we had the ideal wind and sea conditions. We still have many days ahead of us to become experts on the masts and sails terminology, which is one of the most exciting aspects of the journey.
Max Seigal, our photo instructor shared his knowledge on different photography techniques so we could improve our capturing the wonderful images and colors of the Greek islands and more.
Despite the rainy weather and Sahara sand in the air that prevented the beautiful sunset from making an appearance, we had a lovely dinner after meeting our Captain and his officers at the cocktail party.
It was a long day, our first day sailing aboard the Sea Cloud but was full of images and memories from all new people and places we met and visited. Can’t wait for the new day to start!
