Day trip to Apollonia, Sifnos

We're in Greek Island mode!  We woke up on Sunday October 5 to a very blue sky and gorgeous dark blue water.  We had breakfast on the deck before heading to the nearby bus stop to catch the 11:30 a.m. bus to Apollonia, the capital of Sifnos.

Breakfast on the deck.

View of the Bay from our balcony.  Deep blue water and lots of sun.

Looking up our street.  Lots of flowering plants.

Apollonia is only about a ten minute bus ride from Kamares and the fare is only two euros each.  Apollonia had been the capital of Sifnos since 1836.  The name Apollonia derives from Apollo, meaning a town dedicated to the worship of the God Apollo.  The village is situated in the geographical centre of the island and is built amphitheatrically on three hills.  The permanent population is around 870.

There was a map of the village near the bus stop.

Map of Apollonia and insert of 'the Steno'

We headed up the famous "Steno of Apollonia", the narrow cobbled path running through the heart of the village.  Most of the cafés, restaurants and beautiful shops are located on this street.

Start of our walk- not very many people on the street on Sunday

Quite a few stores were closed on Sunday, but we found a few jewellery stores open on the Steno.

Our favourite was Ariadni Kypri who has a jewellery store in Athens as well as the one in Apollonia. Her work is also found in some Athens museum gift stores.  She opened the Apollonia store six years ago.  We liked almost everything in the store, including her most recent 'circus' collection. Ariadni was in the store when we were there.  Allan bought a beautiful acrobat necklace from her new circus collection and I bought a small stone necklace (the stone was from Sifnos).

Outside of the jewellery store

Some fish pieces near the entrance

Circus pieces in the case.  Allan with his purchase and Ariadni, the jeweller.

A few doors away was a closed store with a drawing of a cat playing with yarn 

We continued our walk up the narrow street.  I took the photo looking down the street.

Passing a few restaurants with beautiful flowers

Lots of plants and hills in the background

Heading up-- Allan stopped to talk to a cat

There are over 230 churches on Sifnos, more than any other island in the Cyclades.  The Ottoman rulers allowed the Sifnians to exercise their Christian faith freely, including the founding of an archdiocese in 1646.  Many churches were built to ask for blessings for safe travels.  Many of the structures are of significant historical and architectural interest, making them designated historical monuments.

Beautiful white and blue churches and chapels.  Not very many had any signage.

Spectacular church on the Steno- Saint Spyridon Holy Orthodox Church

Another view

It was a very quiet Sunday in Apollonia as we headed up the narrow street.  Beautiful white buildings and blue sky.

A most beautiful town

Another chapel

We walked up to the end of the street and then headed back down to one of the few open restaurants.

Lovely patio at Okyalos

We had a fantastic lunch at Okyalos, a family-run restaurant which opened in 2002.  We shared an excellent Greek salad and a bowl of revithada (chickpea soup).  Allan had a Mythos beer and I had a glass of white wine.  It was very peaceful sitting in the sun on the Steno.  Light music in the background and very good service.

A fantastic lunch in a lovely setting

There was a very pretty restaurant cat that took a liking to sitting beside me.  It had very soft fur and was a delightful addition to our lunch.

Making friends with the restaurant cat

Complimentary dessert

I took a picture of the inside of the restaurant- a lovely spot to dine

Cat on another church

We were going to take the 3:00 p.m. bus back to Kamares and peeked in at the lovely traditional pastry-shop Gerontopoulos.

Signage

Lovely old store with wonderful honeys and jams and jars of capers (too large for us).

There were trays of cookies including the Sifnos specialty amygdalota (almond cookies shaped like Roman noses) in a second room of the store.

Top row are the amygdalota (almond cookies)

We then saw some signage that indicated it was only a 15 walk to Artemonas, another small village we had been thinking about checking out (it was the last stop on the bus we had taken from Kamares).  The route was on a well paved wide stairway, so we decided to do the walk and catch the 4:00 p.m. bus from Artemonas.

Sign at start of path to Artemonas

Passing more churches

Going up with views back at the different parts of Apollonia

It took us about 25 minutes to walk to Artemonas, with a few stops to admire the views.

Coming down the path to Artemonas

I 🩷 Sifnos

We stopped to talk to an English speaking couple en route.  They told us where the bus stop was.

Imposting sculpture

We didn't have much time to walk around and the famous sweet shop in town was closed on Sunday.  However, it was another very pretty village. 

We caught the 4:00 p.m. bus back to Kamares and stopped at Aggelos Bakery where we picked up a cheese pie and a fennel pie for a light dinner.

Aggelos Bakery-- very good savoury pies

We headed back to the apartment where we had a rest.  The wind had picked up a bit and it was too late to head to the beach.

House across the street from our apartment.  They had a tile with a dog on the outside of their house
and then the real dog appeared.

Allan made a green salad with tomatoes and we shared the two savoury pies.  Dessert was an almond cookie (lots of sugar) and mint tea.  A perfect Sifnos day!