Parakalo
In Greek, the word “parakalo” means “you’re welcome” or “no problem”, but is also used to express gratitude and hospitality. This word captures our experience as we’ve continued to explore the Cycladic islands. The intense blue seas, rocky shores, white washed buildings, and narrow winding streets are stunning, but it is the people, their food, and their parakalo spirit that we will miss every bit as much.
Our most recent part of this journey began June 2nd, when we returned to Athens following a brief visit home. My brother, Dan, joined us, and we set sail from Olympic Marina back to the Cyclades. One of our goals was to visit the island Delos, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so we pointed ourselves in that direction. On the way, we enjoyed overnight stops on the islands of Kea and Syros where we took warm swims and hiked amongst freely accessible ancient ruins.
Three days later, we reached Delos. Because the entire island is protected, we anchored at a nearby uninhabited islet. That night the intense Aegean winds returned causing our anchor to drag in the middle of the night. We woke while slowly adrift and were able to reset the anchor successfully. It was frightening to see how close the boat had come to rocky outcroppings that could have done serious damage. The next day we set two anchor alarms (that notify us of dragging) and took additional steps to keep the boat secure so that we could get in the little dinghy and proceed to Delos. The high winds were still blowing, so we were a bit nervous to leave Arcadia, but the time we spent touring Delos was incredible. The island was settled around 2500 BC and has been worshipped as the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis since the 9th century BC. Over centuries, the religious and commercial significance of this island resulted in construction of thousands of structures (temples, statues, homes, amphitheaters and a stadium) that are well preserved because it has been largely uninhabited since the seventh century A.D.
Due to additional high winds in the forecast, we rerouted the last leg of our time with Dan and ended up visiting the island of Sifnos which has become our favorite island in the Cyclades. We anchored in a pretty port town with a fun beach and many seaside tavernas. On foot and by bus, we spent the next few days exploring the trails and historic mountain towns of the island. One of our favorite things about this type of traveling is that we end up falling in love with islands and towns that were not previously on our radar. Sifnos is known for its pottery. We had a fun visit with an artisan who had photos of his family’s ceramic studio in Kansas. They had moved to the US during a time of Greek economic contraction, but were happy to return to Sifnos when they could afford to do so.
Finally, we landed on the island of Milos, where Dan caught a flight home. A day later, Sam (my youngest) and his girlfriend Maria flew to Milos to join us. Milos is famous for smooth white rock beaches that are often described as moonscapes. The island has amazing rock formations and caves that make swimming and boating fun. We also got to explore colorful fishing villages, an ancient amphitheater, and some of Europe’s oldest catacombs. We left Milos for a few days and took Sam and Maria to a couple other favorite islands. We sailed them to Paros to meet up with friends from KC: Kirk and Rebecca Johnson and their three boys. Neil, Sam, Maria and I had fun hosting the Johnson family on a day trip in the boat for some swimming and sightseeing. Next, we took Sam and Maria to see our newly minted favorite island, Sifnos. The two of them were great travelers and an absolute delight to have on board. Plus they are criminally photogenic. Soon, Neil and I will send them back via the Milos airport and we’ll head around the southern coast of Greece to start the multi-day sail west toward Italy. It’s time to swap “parakalo” for “prego”.
