The Big Gray in Amorgos

When I blogged from Amorgos one year in September, I ended a blog post like this: "The strong wind has died down, there is no wind, it is warm, almost as hot as July. The temperature in the water is still comfortable, even for a hot tub like me. How is the weather at home?”

I shouldn't have written that. Revenge came just over a day later. Amorgos went from The Big Blue to The Big Grey. It's been a long time since we've seen a storm like this. The wind was absolutely terrible (around nine beuforts, which is like 24 m/s), nasty clouds swept over the island in gusts and the warm air turned into freezing cold.

This is how I wrote in the blog this cold gray day

When Camilla came home from the baker this morning, she was shivering. The bread was still warm (this amazingly good Amorgian bread!), but the air was anything but warm. She showed me a newly taken picture and said that the hike we had planned to do had to be cancelled.

This is what it looked like in Katapola when Camilla went to the baker this morning.

After breakfast (which we could eat on the balcony despite the weather), we went for a short walk in Katapola and thought about how the day would be managed. Hiking was out of the question. So also sunbathing and swimming. Sitting in a cafe and reading would work if we went over to Xilokeratidi where the wind is almost always calm. That was not the case.

We had rented the scooter for five days and it felt wasteful to let it stand still, it still costs money. We decided to drive (23 km) to Langada, one of three interesting villages in the north of Amorgos. The other two villages are Tholaria and Potamos. Aegiali is also in the north, but as a village we think it is not as interesting.

In the mountains just after Chora, we drove through the clouds for the first time during the day.

Wicked clouds in the mountains between Chora and Aegiali. The sunglasses misted with cloud moisture.

As so often, we had to make way for goats on the road between Chora and Aegiali.

When we arrived at a desolate Aegiali, we saw Langada up in the mountains. The village was enveloped in heavy dark clouds. Would we dare to go up? We would. A lunch at Loza Square attracted more than the clouds scared.

Into the fog on the way to Aegiali.

The beach in Aegiali was empty of people. This is what it looks like when the sun is shining.

On the way up to a foggy and humid Langada.

There was no congestion in Langada either.

Every time we are in Amorgos we make at least two visits to Langada, we always have lunch at one of the tavernas in Loza Square. Today we ate lentil soup and lemon chicken in the oven. Yum. We sat for around an hour and talked about hikes with Dimitris. He told about some spectacular hikes he had done on the island, including how he hiked from Stavros to Langada in the middle of the night. And we who don't even dare to walk in broad daylight! At four o'clock we broke up and started the journey home. A journey that partly went through the clouds. Nasty and awesome at the same time.

Lunch with Dimitris at Taverna Loza in Langada.

Nikouira island looked like Mordor in Lord of the Rings.

Despite strong wind and nasty Mordor clouds, we made it safely home to Katapola. In the harbour there were many sailboats that had sought shelter from the wind. Katapola is a bad night port when it's windy, but better than other ports nearby. We saw a sailboat that could not dock due to the wind. It stuck out to sea again. With full sails. Wondering how it ended?

When we got up into the mountains we became one with the clouds. Scary.

Soon home in Katapola after a day in the big gray. Chora to the left. Katapola to the right.

When we got home, we laid out our tavli game in bed. Outside, a whipping wind howled and heavy waves crashed ashore. We set up our newly purchased iPod speakers, and played opera. Wind, waves and opera. You can surely understand how magnificently beautiful it sounded.

A warming ouzo after dinner at Taverna Mouragio in Katapola.

We had dinner at Mouragio in Katapola. Oddly enough, it wasn't windy there. Of course the taverna was full. Surely there were some who would have left Amorgos today, but the catamaran was cancelled due to the storm, and will be tomorrow as well. It will be exciting to see if Express Skopelitis leaves the port tomorrow morning. :-)

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