THE SIFNOS MONSTER & Other Tales

THE SIFNOS MONSTER I've been coming to Sifnos since the late seventies. My parents and brothers and sister first came in 1972 during the summer while I was off in Mykonos. Back then Sifnos was primitive and totally undiscovered. There was no dock and the ferry would pull into the bay and be met by the fishermen who would take people back and forth in small boats. ...

WITH GODFREY ON THE HOLY MOUNTAIN or The Last Temptation of Matt One of the few friends from the states to come visit me on Sifnos was Godfrey. It was during what had to be my most spiritual and my most hedonistic summer. Godfrey was with me for the spiritual part. The other part is classified. ...

REALITY SETS IN How do you write abut a place where nothing seems to happen? Last night we ate here. Yesterday we swam there. The coffee was good somewhere else. We just seem to pass the time. The other night it bothered me. ...

FERRY TALES Andrea is keeping up a subtle pressure, letting me know that she wants to leave the island. She's not into this middle of the road scene. She wants an island that is either all Greek, or she wants to be in our house in Carrboro North Carolina happily vacuuming with the air-conditioner on high. ...

ADVENTURES IN MILOS The ferry from Pireaus continues on to Milos after it stops in Sifnos. Most of the people I know have never been to Milos but they still poke fun at it. It's not that there is anything wrong with Milos. The disrespect people have for the island is because of a little game we used to play with the tourist girls. ...

KING OF THE KAMAKIS Kostaki is the uncrowned King of the Kamakis. There is no question about it. First of all, I know that you are wondering what a Kamaki is. It translates literally as harpoon. What it means is Casanova. It's practically a profession in Greece. It's seasonal and the pay is meager, but it keeps the young men, and some older ones, busy during the summer. ...

THE COLLAGE BAP Kosta who owns the Collage Bar is hard-headed. He has been trying to sell his bar for an extraordinary amount. They call it "selling air". He isn't selling anything but the right to pay rent and have a bar there. He is selling a business whose customers live thousands of miles away and have never been here and may never come. ...

PAT RILEY IS ALIVE AND WELL AND SHOPPING IN KAMARES I had an exciting moment last night. I was sitting on the dock at Kambourakis restaurant, drinking my evening ouzo when former Knick coach Pat Riley walked into the supermarket with his wife. I practically screamed to Andrea "That was Pat Riley!" but she had no idea who he was and when I explained, even less interest. ...

VATHY VETOED We have decided not to go to Vathy. I hate to admit that I am reluctant to return to "paradise", but Andrea confided that yesterday she had the same feeling she had during our last couple days there last year when we realized that we had been there too long and if we were to stay longer we might lose our minds. ...