Summer School on Serifos

After less than 24 hours in Athens we negotiated the subway system and boarded the fast ferry from the port to the island of Serifos. Serifos is a 75 square kilometre member of the Cyclades, more or less in the middle of the Aegean sea. Its only claim to mythological fame is that it is the island where Perseus and his mother washed up. After returning with the head of Medusa, Perseus turned the king of Serifos to stone as punishment for attempting to forcibly marry his mother (thanks wikipedia!).

The ferry ride was much more exciting once I found the way to the outside of the ship, although you were only allowed at the back where the strong wind mingled with the diesel fumes to produce a somewhat unpleasant atmosphere in contrast with the azure sea and dusty islands. In a theme we shall return to often, the sun was also incredibly intense, and I eventually fled below, only returning to get a good view of the island itself as we rounded it and came into the harbour. The geology field trip began before we even got to land, as one of the professors pointed out salient geological features as we passed them.

By far most of the time was spent on geology, and so shall receive necessarily little comment here. Every morning were 4 or 5 hours of lectures, and every afternoon several hours in the intense sun looking at outcrops relevant to the morning lectures. The rocks were fantastic, though I could have enjoyed them easier without the punishing schedule and the more punishing sun!

Mostly I only got round to taking photos as the sun headed towards the horizon, painting the dry rocky island with a less blinding light. As with much of Greece I suspect, the real times of activity and relaxation were the warm evenings, featuring plate after plate of greek starter dishes, the odd beer (greece has lots of beer due to the historical german influence) and the odd ouzo (as long as it is with LOTS of ice!!) and the odd 'tsiporo', which is island greek for raki... One particularly amazing restaurant lay outside the rest of the town, a few hundred metres from its lights. If you made it that far without turning back, thinking you had left the town completely, you were rewarded by reaching Margarita's restaurant. The eponymous owner must have been at least 80, and with uncomplicated english she invited us into her kitchen to choose our dishes! Once she had lifted the lid of various cast iron pots and pans and explained (in greek, with a short english translation) what they were, we could make our choices. Every possible type of greek food was available, the highlight being the stuffed aubergines and tomatoes, as well as the chicken in tomato sauce, and, well, everything frankly. If all the food is gone for the night, the restaurant closes!

A last highlight was the night sky. I had guessed that a tiny mediterranean island might be just the place for a bit of stargazing, and on two nights I was able to hike a little out of town to get an absolutely brilliant view of the sky. Partly aided by the fact that greece is considerably further south than my usual stargazing spots, I was able to see at least 5 or 6 zodiac constellations at once as well as some southern (celestial) hemisphere stars! The milky way was in fine form, and I pretty much convinced myself I *just* saw the Andromeda galaxy.

The ferry trip home saw a gorgeous sunset over the sea, which rather monopolises the last part of this small collection of images I took on the island.

Next time (whenever that is) we get to Crete!

Der Tom