Sifnos day 2 (09/10/2009)

We started the day by returning to Lazarou, this time with our swimsuits and beach gear. We had discovered the day before that they had free beach chairs and umbrellas (at every other beach you have to pay 7 euros), and we loved the location. We went for a swim and once again were glad we had our water shoes (thanks, Gigi!) because it was pretty rocky. We were even able to swim into a secret sea cave!

After lunch we got on the bus and rode to Chrysopigi, a famous church perched on a tiny island right off the coast (like, *right* off the coast...maybe 10 feet?). It was actually pretty busy there, with the priest in attendance speaking with visitors and women kissing the icons on the walls. It's a small church and I kind of felt like we were intruding -- we didn't linger too long.

We had decided earlier in the day that we would spend the afternoon walking to various beaches along the coast and swimming, but alas, the weather was not great. It was overcast and windy, so we did the walking but skipped the swim at the first two beaches we came to (Apokofto and Faros). By the time we got to the third beach (Fasoulou), though, we were hot enough to jump in the water. Fasoulou is allegedly a nude beach, although this seemed surprising to us as there's an outdoor taverna right there. Needless to say, we kept our bathing suits on. After our swim, we met an extremely enthusiastic little girl who showed us some gymnastic maneuvers on the beach. And then it started to rain, so we decided to head back to Faros to wait for the bus in a taverna.


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We took the bus to Artemonas, which is a small "suburb" of Apollonia, the main town. We had thought we might have dinner there, but there wasn't much action, so we walked back to Apollonia (downhill, fortunately) and ate at a taverna there, after which we headed back home to Platys Gialos on the bus. (The last bus leaves at 11 pm, so there's not much opportunity for late-night lingering unless you take a taxi.)



Click here for more photos from Sifnos, day 2!