Vathy
Until two years
ago the only way to get to Vathy was by taking the tiny boat Agios Simeon. Now you can drive there on the newly
completed road. Just go through Appolonia like you are going to Platyialos but take a right at the windmills and
follow the signs. There is also a bus that leaves from Kamares or Apollonia. There is a parking lot outside the
town so you can't actually drive in and this keeps the peace in the village and somewhat satisfies the people who
were against the road being built in fear that it would spoil the village. While those who have known Vathi in
the past will think it is spoiled, most likely you will think it is one of the quietest and loveliest places you
have ever been. The saddest part is that the people who were most against the building of the road ended up with
the parking lot in their front yard. But these things happen in Greece.
My favorite
restaurant in Vathy is Manolis. He serves the best clay oven food on the island. If you are lucky he may be roasting a lamb. Just
take a left when you get to the water and stop when you see the good natured old man joking with
the customers. Manolis used to run the restaurant with his son Stellios but now has become more of an overseer or unofficial host. Manolis restaurant is really the heart and soul of Vathy.
If there is a wedding or a panagiri the celebration is held here. I have an image etched in my mind of Manolis
sitting at a table closest to the sea, gazing out. He is one of the most fun-loving, spirited people I have ever
met and is a favorite of everyone who visits the village. Stellios raises rabbits in the back yard which
sometime find their way into the delicious stifado that they serve. It is still a rite of summer that at least once during our stay we will jump in the car for an afternoon of eating and drinking at Manolis after a swim. Every year I am surprised to see him still sitting at the restaurant and every year he makes me feel happy I came. The last time I was in Vathi he was nowhere to be found and I was actually worried that perhaps old Manolis had left us for good. Then I spotted his oxygen tank next to his favorite chair. I don't think I have ever been so happy to see an oxygen tank in my life.
Vathi is a very popular place for sailboats to stop, with a perfect sheltered harbor. The beach stretches for about a mile and though not officially a nude beach, you can get far enough away so that nobody will care. There are several of the islands potters located here including a very impressive workshop on the far side of the bay. There has recently been a hotel built here which boasts the largest
pool in the Cyclades. Most old Vathi fans would be aghast at this. But the Elies Resort has been done with good taste and the individual apartments look like a Cycladic Village and fits in with the rest of the Vathi. Even those who mourn the passing of little Vathi from tiny fishing village to ..... well, tiny resort village have to admit that the Vernicos family did a good job and rather than destroy the village, Elies Resort has given it new life.
Vathy from "Spearfishing in Skatahori"
For the
last couple years we have spent ten days in the small monastery that rents out it's Spartan rooms for a few dollars
a night. There was only a long dusty dirt road passable only by jeep. It's a popular yacht stop and there is a
daily boat that comes at 11am and leaves at 4 that deposits tourists on the long beach. Few of them spend the night.
It's a very quiet place except that every restaurant has a gasoline powered generator because there is no electricity.
When they are all cranked up it can sound like Charlotte Motor Speedway. Still it's a lovely place and the people
are wonderful.
We have had many adventures there. Last year we found a rabbit that had swum to shore. Don't ask me
from where. It had an epileptic fit and died in our room. I had also seen a smyrna as wide as a telephone pole.
I had caught my largest octopus ever and impaled my foot on a rock while I was trying to get him off my spear,
so badly that I could barely walk for two weeks. We had become buddies with old Manolis and his son Stellios. I
had even gotten a job herding sardines. Manolis and Andreas would throw out their net from a small rowboat. While
they splashed the surface with the oars I would chase the sardines into the net. My payment was as many sardines
as I could eat in their restaurant. There were also some sponge-fishermen from Kalymnos. They would go to deep waters
with their ancient diving helmets and air pumps, walking around the ocean floor, picking up octopus, which they
would sell to the restaurants. They would also find these orange lichens that they would put in glass bottles with
vinegar. They gave Andrea and I some to taste. It was fishier then fish. I couldn't eat mine and hid it in my
hand the whole time we were talking to them. Then I could not get rid of the smell for days.
Every
morning a fishing boat from Milos would sell it's catch on the small pier right outside our window. By seeing who
bought what fish, we would decide upon where we were having dinner that evening. It was usually Manolis. He had
built a huge clay pot oven that swiveled on ball bearings. Manolis was about 80 years old and always happy. He
ran the clay oven and the grill. Stellios and Andreas waited on tables and Manolis wife, who was deaf did
the cooking, potato peeling, string-bean cutting, cleaning and everything else.
Manolis wife does not hear very well and I can barely understand what she says. But she has the nicest smile in Vathi. They also have a farm with lots of rabbits, chickens and most anything you might find on your plate. Now They have built some really nice rooms behind the restaurant. Stellios built and landscaped them. With the road finished they know they tourists will be coming. I can't blame them. I'll be there. I can't think of a better place to be with a dozen of my closest friends.
Matt Barrett 1993
Vathi has changed since I wrote the above but not so much that you will notice. They have electricity so it is actually quieter without the gas fueled generators. There are more restaurants and more sailboats and more rooms to rent but it is still a beautiful, quiet out of the way place that I recommend for families, honeymooners or even solitary writers and poets.
If you are looking for a beautiful resort hotel with a swimming pool and a large shallow pool for your children check out the Elies Resort in Vathi, Sifnos. The rooms are actually set up like small individual village houses so you have plenty of privacy and the beach village of Vathi has no cars! There is a parking lot at the entrance of the village and that's as far as you can drive. What could be more safe? Aegean Thesaurus Travel the local agency in Sifnos has the best rates for this hotel. The Elies is one of the best and beautiful resorts in Greece, similar in quality to world-renown resorts like Porto Elounda but in a much nicer setting.
Information on accommodations and ran can be
had from Aegean Thesaurus Travel the travel agency of Sifnos who can also book hotels in Athens, other islands and ferry tickets.