Early next morning we left for Serifos where we docked at Livadi, after passing scores of small bays surrounded by large rocks.High up on a steep hill the town of Serifos, or Hora was winking at me to come up and have a look.With its small white washed houses, and the Venetian castle perched high up on a steep hill, it looked like a place where I could well spend some quality time.As we were on a so called beach holiday, I never really had enough time to explore the lovely villages, but was told that I would get extra days off when back in Athens. Livadi had a long beach, where Nikos and myself spent the afternoon, and later we all took a bus up to the Hora. The winding road leading up to the town was steep and narrow, and time and again I thought we would touch the buildings that were scattered along the road, when we had to squeeze through between them, the busdriver never slowing down at all! We got off at the town square. The Cycladic villages were all built around a square almost like an amphitheatre. We strolled around, enjoying the white washed houses with their colourful flowers blooming on every little verandah until it was time for dinner. I would have liked some time on my own to walk up to the Venetian castle, but as it was I never got so far, as the night turned into one big village party.
All around the square were tables and chairs belonging to different little tavernas, and we sat down on the first available table, from where we watched the other tables filling up with the villagers. After a wonderful meal of first some bread dipped in olive oil and then a lamb stew with potatoes, we were all relaxed and happy. Then an old man started playing wonderfully gay songs on an old accordion, and before long a few people were dancing. Dorah and Yannis joined in, and when an old man of about a hundred years old and no teeth asked me to join, I gladly did. I couldn't quite master all the steps, but when the people found that I was a South African, they all jumped in to try and teach me. Oh, it was a wonderful nigh, that is until at about three in the morning we tried to get back to the Yacht!