Amorgos, final days

After another beach day, Sandra & I made another trip to Hora Wednesday. She stayed there and drew while I took a solo 5-hour hike all the way back to Aegiali. I started off at the monastery whereThe first hour after the monastery was the best, with steep slopes to the sea, goats, and rocky crags on the other side of me, plus no one about. Sandra took the bus back and we met almost simultanesouly in Aegiali for another great lunch. We walked to the beach for a refreshing dip before heading back to our home.

Thursday was our departure day for Katapola, so in the morning we went to pay our bill. The owner, Evi, wanted to give us coffee, but we didn’t have enough time before our bus left. So, instead she gave us rakomelo and a Greek sweet with pistachio nuts. This was our first food and drink of the morning and certainly got me going, I must say.

Katapola is a very laid back place compared to Aegiali, and though it lacks the nice beach so close by that Aegiali has, it’s got it’s own charm. You can also take a boat to some nice beaches at a nearby islet. We didn’t have a place to stay nor did we have ferry tickets to leave for Athens on Saturday. Regarding the latter, we had tried to get some in Aegiali, but the one woman employee there seemed to hate her job and hate everyone, and she told us the ferry was full. She would only speak the bare minimum of words and only smiled when Sandra asked her if there was a non-smoking place on the fast boat that was one option for getting back. Of course, there wasn’t any non-smoking area, because it was immedaitely adjacent and open to the smoking area. She told us to come back every day to check for tickets, so we had to go through this every day for a week. I called her the Sadistic Bitch from Hell and finally gave up on her, because I was convinced that even if there were tickets avvailable, she wouldn’t have sold them to us. It wasn’t much of a downer, to be honest, I just don’t like anyone treating Sandra poorly. And really, just about everyone us we’ve met has been great.

Anyway, we went to the ferry office in Katapola after arriving, and someone had just returned some tickets, so the fellow sold us those and we are set to leave. We couldn’t find a good place, looked at one claustrophobic room, then used our Lonely Planet guide and went to another place on the quieter side of the port. It had a sign on the door saying there were full, but hey, this is Greece, so we knocked and a very nice young woman actually had a room for the nights we needed. And what a room, for the priceof a single, we got a studio apartment! So, a nice way to go out.

T-shirt contender: “Giorgos–f*** off! Markos–come back!: Actually, I think this is a music-related message, referring to Dalaras and Vamvakaris, two rebetika singers of the 90’s and 30’s respectively. Dalaras is reviled by many musicians for the way he sings rebetika and the “Dalarasation” of the music. Vamvakaris is revered, by comparison.

Night out in Katapola: Greek copule sits down for a nice dinner. They don’t talk for the first part of the meal. After eating, each pulls out their cell phone and spends the next  half hour talking to someboady else.

Last night was our last night on the island. The reason we had stayed this long was a concert in Hora by Nikos Ikonomidis, an excellent violinist who was born on one of the small islands near here. After a leisurely day and slow dinner in Hora, we secured some seats near the front of the stage in the platia. Just before showtime a mere 1/2-hour after advertised, our friends Souzana (the woman living in Naxos) and Peggy arrived and found us. We thought they might be coming but hadn’t connected with them due to no Internet. We all sat together and caught up, and then enjoyed the concert. He plays really well, very relaxed, and has a warm, friendly stage presence. He had an excellent young singer with him from Paros. She had a great voice and would dance during his instruments in an unaffected way. The first couple of hours was more of a formal concert. The platia gradually filled to overflowing. Then the dancing in front of the stage started. Young and old, some wonderful dancers, and the musicians really got things going. We heard more songs from Amorgos than previousl, and they really are quite lovely. As much fun as the Naxos songs are, I prefer the few Amorgos ones that seem to be around.

We left after 5 hours to catch the last bus to Katapola, which of course never showed up. A taxi wandered by and we grabbed it, then said goodbye to Souzana and Peggy, as they were leaving on an earlier boat the next day.

I’ve really enjoyed our time here, it’s felt like a real vacation, and the hiking helped me get more cnonected to this island. We’re leaving in a couple of hours to visit a friend of Sandra’s in Athens, then we’re off to Ipiros.