European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 4, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse A. Up dear sets the Sun wishes an Oceanside Chapel at Remote Vathy on Sifneos an Aegean Isle of medieval style villages. Nesda Happy wandering in Greece and Turkey by David Herndon new Day Christmas. A sister concerned that her brother might be a Little too tightly wrapped gives him a copy of the Tao the Ching. Nothing against the zen thing but we Don t exactly live in confucian China do we no we Don t. We live smack in the Middle of the megalopolis where life is sort of complicated and there a not exactly a lot of time to sit around Navel gazing on the Quot doing not doing Quot dialectic. If you know what i mean. And yet. One of the aphorisms strikes a particular nerve a Good traveler has no fixed plans. And is not intent upon arriving. I savor the concept hmm. A getaway. Winging it Solo. Yeah. Never tried it before. Scared could scratch together a month need to narrow focus want culture want Beach want to get out there. Book a flight to Athens Greece on june 11, return from Istanbul Turkey on july 11. June 12 taken for a ride by a cab Driver. As in i was such a fish i should have been on the menu at the restaurant this Guy steered me to and picked me up from $65 later. In a country where $20 is still a lot to spend on a meal. On the Way Back he insists on buying me a Beer at a nightclub with Quot Nice girls 35 pushing the eject Button i demand the cabbie take me to my Hyttel. Drops me off charges 6,000 drachma $30 for the slime by night tour of the Cradle of civilization. Welcome to grease. Off to a Good Start. Keep this up i la have quite the tale to Tell the idiot and the Odyssey. By Homer. Simpson. By the next night i be got my bearings and the waiter at the Taverna protests that i be overpaid. So i Cut his tip in half he s pleased and now i m Square with Athens. June 15 awakened from a Nap aboard a ferry that had left the port of Piraeus six hours previously by the voice of a 70-year-old Man wearing a full length Black cassock. His White hair is pulled straight Back into a weave and his shades Are Way cooler than my own wayfarers. This dreamlike vision a an orthodox archbishop named Pater Joanni out from Athens for an Island Holiday a penetrates my consciousness with the announcement Quot now we Are in new Day Partenio Cave Las at his Seaside compound on Santorini where he keeps two donkeys and a dog. If my mind s Eye is making a movie this is where the opening credits Roll. 1 follow the Herd onto a bus waiting at the port. Navigating by the lights of two guidebooks Strong on color and history but weak on nuts and bolts like what s where for How much and How do you get there i Luck into a perfect spot a Small Beach Village called Faros. Twenty minutes of asking around is rewarded with a Fine room a simple space with twin Beds private facilities a front porch shaded by a grape Arbor with a Vista defined by the Hills surrounding the azure Harbor. Twenty Bucks a night. Sifneos turns out to be an enchanting Little Island. Exploring by bus on foot or Best yet with the help of a Motorbike or Scooter brings you to medieval style villages with byzantine churches built on Sites of ancient temples ruins of watchtowers used for defense against pirates in the Middle Ages Mountaintop monasteries out of the Way potters and off the beaten track chapels used Only on the Patron Saint s Day. No shortage of opportunities to plunge into the glorious Aegean a Pristine sea that is everything Blue. The traveler gropes for a handle As he scratches these surfaces that testify to layers upon layers of histories starting with prehistory Woven with myths a person of Normal curiosity and background is quickly confronted with the Pun iness of his comprehension. Then he lets it go. The surfaces along with relentlessly sunny 90 to 100-degree weather 70-degree water robust Taverna meals and opulent vistas will have to suffice. It helps that while the conditions Are prime the july August High season is still a few weeks away so there is no Competition for any of the fundamentals or the luxuries either peace and quiet privacy. September is said to be a similarly charmed time to visit eight Days on Sifneos is divided Between Faros and the Remote Harbor Village of Vathy which any year now is bound to be spoiled by the completion of a Road. Connecting it with the rest of the Island s rudimentary network. And the introduction of electricity is Long enough to infect the visitor with a touch of the Island s Only apparent character flaw vanity. Sign its and the continued on Page 4
