Greece - Day 6 Exploring Ano Meria in Folegandros

THE SUNRISE

We had read about the amazing sunset from above the church, so we planned to get up early and make the climb. The alarm went off at 5:15 a.m. and it was already getting light out. We threw on some clothes and literally went running out the door. I thought I would have a heart attack by the time we got up to the church. We then realized we had to go to the top of the peak above the church. (A good ways up the side of a mountain.) We climbed some terraces and finally reached the top. Actually we went to one peak and realized we had missed the high peak and I made Josh hike even some more. 

It was quite peaceful on top of the mountain at 5:30 in the morning. The ocean looked like glass with only a few fishing boats out. It seemed as though the only other living creatures at that moment were the roosters, donkeys and goats. As we sat waiting for the show, the sky had already started to glow red and a few roosters had now woken up. A herd of goats was on the adjacent hill and we watched as two of the younger goats got adventurous and took off down the side towards the ocean. We never saw what happened to them. It took ½ hour for the sun to finally poke out from the horizon. It was a red slice as it peeked out and quickly turned to yellow ball of fire. We sat on the rocks and watched until the sun was pretty high in the sky and headed back down towards our warm bed. As we stumbled back down the hill, we found that a herd of goats was blocking the last gate to get back onto the church grounds. We kept walking towards them, thinking they would scatter once we got close. We were wrong. As we got close, the Granddaddy goat started at us. He didn’t appear to be stopping and we back up a little. When we realized he really wasn’t stopping, and getting quite close, we got a little worried and started running up the steep incline.  Rocks were falling out from under our feet and we had no other option but to climb the church wall.  The wall was made of stones and we worried that it would crumble if we climbed on it. With Granddaddy Goat hot on our tails, we tried our luck and made it over the fence successfully.

A LAZY AFTERNOON & LUNCH AT POUNTA

Before heading back to the studio, we went to the bakery as soon as it opened at 7. We got some delicious croissants (one stuffed with spinach and the other ham and cheese) and headed back to the hotel. After doing some wash, we accidentally fell back to sleep and didn’t’ wake up until 11.  We were still exhausted when we woke up and decided to go relax at the pool and read for a few hours.  Josh was quite burned from our hike yesterday, so he found some shade while I lay in the sun. After a few hours, we got hungry and decided to try Pounta while it was still open.  I think I overheard the Owner saying that he closes each day at 4. The back patio at Pounta is really peaceful.  A few other couples were there and we were allowed to order off of either the breakfast or lunch menu. I was craving something different and hadn’t tried the Greek yogurt, yet. I ordered the yogurt with fresh fruit and honey. It was delicious and hit the spot. I now understand people’s love for Greek yogurt. It was light and whipped.  Josh had the “special potato salad” which was a warm salad with potatoes, zucchini, carrots, olives, capers, salt, pepper, olive oil & onions. He wasn’t crazy about it.

ANO MERIA

We had checked the bus times before lunch and headed out to the square to catch the first afternoon bus to Ano Meria, the other town on the island. We didn’t really know where to go or what to do in Ano Meria, but the bus driver told us to get off at the very last stop. He explained that the Folk Museum was back down the main street. We decided just to walk through the town, making our way back towards the museum. There really wasn’t much for us to look at in Ano Meria. We were able to see some of the terrain that we hiked yesterday and we realized we were glad we hadn’t continued on to hike to the last beach and then to Ano Meria after our lunch at the Terrace restaurant.  We knew that the next bus wouldn’t leave for two hours and we figured we could easily waste two hours just wondering around. The highlight of the walk through Ano Meria was the two old mills. The rest of the sites were mainly farm land and a couple restaurants. Only one looked as if it had opened for the season. We found the Folk Museum , but a local man across the street motioned that it was closed. It was only 4 and our guidebook said it didn’t open until 5. We weren’t sure if it would open or not, so we took the next bus back. We climbed up to the museum to rest in the shade while we waited for the bus.

DINNER AT PIZZA PAZZA(?), CHORA RESORT & FINDING EL GRECO!

Back at the hotel, we grabbed our books and some wine and headed down to the terrace again. There was a good breeze and the hotel turns on lounge music in the evenings. It was so peaceful with the ocean below us. Before we even realized it, it was already 8.  By nine, we had showered and were heading back out for dinner. 

On the bus ride we saw the back portion of Chora that we had never explored before. It was past all the squares. As soon as we saw the Chora Resort and a few other restaurants we said “ah-hah!” This must be where El Greco is. I’m not sure why we were so obsessed with finding this bar. I am determined no to be defeated and I wasn’t going to let one little bar get the best of me.  We didn’t go inside Chora Resort but peeked in through the gates. The pool, bar, grounds, etc. were beautiful. I haven’t checked the rates, but if the Cliffside location isn’t necessary, this place was gorgeous. Just off of our impression, this seemed more like a resort while Anemomilos was a family run group of villas. They would be hard to compare as they are so different. Next to the hotel was a cool looking bar that I think was called The UnderRoom. It wasn’t open, though, so I couldn’t check it out. Next to that was Sweet Chora. This was a really cool dessert shop. It was a gorgeous and modern all white shop. Very elegant. It looked brand new. We weren’t in the mood for sweets, so we can’t vouch for the food, but it looked delicious. Nearby was the closed Laomi.

We were in the mood to try the pizza place, so we headed over to El Greco, as it was located upstairs. This was the first place we went that was playing all American music. Rap, hip-hop, Elton John. It was a very eclectic mix of American music. Strangely, we were the only tourists there. The dinner was quite cheap. We got a full size pizza, half Greek - half 4 cheeses, and a Greek salad. After all the work to find El Greco, we weren’t in the mood to go to the bar that night. It looked like a neat place to hang out. It definitely had a bit of a funky vibe to it. On the way back to the hotel, we passed Eva’s Garden which is right past the last square. There was only one table of people inside, but it looked like a nice atmosphere with a lot of lit lanterns.

FINALLY GOT FERRY TICKETS

Before dinner, we headed back to El Diablos to check on the ferry ticket situation again. The girl behind the counter smiled and said that they in fact had gotten the schedule for Sunday. The boat we were expecting was on the schedule. Good thing since it was now Friday night. That was a little nerve-wracking. The Ios stop did get cancelled from our boat, so thankfully that wasn’t our ultimate destination.