West from the Petrias Trail and Pyrgos Trail crossroads, hikers may take the road to Koutalas Bay.
My journey was relaxing and filled with small entertainments.
One feature strongly noticable along the road was the presence of the Greek Orthodox Church.
When the Romans wanted to introduce the Christian faith, they selected Greek as the language to do it in. It has been my experience that friends and acquaintences with a Greek ethnicity or childhood ties to the church are very protective of the religion’s pride and traditions.
I enjoyed the “sugar cube” churches and prayer points along the way. One was on the south side of a livestock farm where a shepard was shouting to her flock in heavily accented English, “out, out!”
Another point along the roadside featured a handsome roadside box, containing an image of a Greek Orthodox leader along with incense and offerings which I assumed to be tributes for a deceased relative.
I crawled around a stone fortification just off the road constructed of gliting green shale. I spied an alternative route I might have traveled off the road through a property “for seize” the direct translation of the Greek word indicating a property is available.
If you are planning to trek off route in Greece, you should know how to recognize the Greek words indicating hazards or passing rights that can be found in many reputable travel manuals. I found “falling rock” and “no passing” signs to be fairly obvious in spite of the fact I do not speak the language with great depth.
The last portion of the trail included a brush by a sustainence farm replete with several birds curious at my presence and a barking dog.
I arrived at Aspros Pyrgos where I explored the relic of an white marble tower and an Greek Orthodox graveyard still in use. Some of the stones there indicated parishoners of the nearby chruch who had passed within the last ten years.
Koutalas Bay is a scenic inlet on the cusp of the Mirtoon and Aegean Seas with a cloverleaf shape.
The beaches the day I went were utterly uncrowded, though the only business in evidence was a boat rental shop, so it would be wise to bring sufficient food and water.
The Northern part of Serifos is a place of small-time agriculture. Sustenance farms, wild unpicked fruit, shepards and mule-packers.
At the beginning of my hike, I munched on some Greek dandelion roots and buds and wild raspberries. Suplimented with some oil crackers and water from my pack, they made a energy packed breakfast.
Greek dandelions have a delicate flower and soft crunchy root. The best specimines are picked between loose rock where there is not a lot of sediment. A bud or two about to open are best. As always, it is important to rinse anything you find on the trail and wash it down with plenty of water.
Located at the end of the Petrias trail, the Road to Pyrgos leads up a steep incline of thistles and spiny local folliage.
Of all my time on all the trails here, I have only communicated with two local hikers and I exchanged greetings with them on this walk.
Creon was sitting at the base of the first peak with his cane in brown pants and a brown shirt, missing his front teeth. He was very affable even though my Greek failed me. He managed to offer his name and that he was from Hora. I offered mine and said I was from California. I was wearing a very flashy t-shirt on which a stoned walrus was driving a 22 Fillmore bus out of which money was flying. I must have been quite a sight for him!
Once over the crest, I continued on the road as led to a handsome view of the island of Kythnos and the Mirtoon Sea.
It was here I found an outcropping of cedar berries. The flesh is loose with a sticky persimmon-like gel inside, the seed is astringent like pine sap. While the seed may be eaten, I discarded it since I was not familiar with this particular variety.
I also found a ripe white fig and got a surprise when I opened it and a small, albino bug was feasting on the inside. I left it on the trail to distract the many flies that were following me.
Closer to Pyrgos, I saw a good deal of livestock. A mule was very patiently and precariously vertical on a steep incline. There was a sheep herd drinking from a trough with a mother and her ewe admiring one another. In the valley, another woman was calling her sheep to follow her.
When I finally reached Pyrgos, I could see it’s sister city Gallani in the distance. Both are perched cliffside. I crawled up the steep stairs along with a mule packer and his dog for a better look. There is no visible tourist infrastructe here, but there is daily bus service in the am and pm.
On the road back, I saw some really cool bugs. I had my first taste of vine-dried raisins and then grapes, growing along the road back to Hora.
After picking them, I slipped and fell at the sound of a man singing, smooshing most of them and sustaining and injury to my elbow. (I'm healthy, just a little bruised up.) Had I not been convinced to leave my scissors at home, I might have had grapes and rasins even now!
