August 14th
2007
When our friend Uli asked us about our vacation situation and if we would like to join her and some friends for a sailing trip in Greece we were excited! Turns out, however, that the only party pooper appeared to be our working schedule for the time in question. Luckily the work issues vanished into thin air (for the most part) and we were able to secure the very last berth on a beautiful sailing yacht. Yay! Our friend and well-experienced skipper Georg had booked the Sheria, a boat he had been crossing the Atlantic ocean with a few years ago and a fact, that gave everybody on board a strong sense of security. Altogether we were eight on board of a 15 meter yacht and it didn't feel crowded at all, but how would we all get along?
The motley crew flew in from Berlin, Stuttgart, Munich and Vienna to the muggy and hot city of Thessaloniki, from where fearless pedal-to-the-metal type cab rides brought everyone down to the Southern end of Sithonia, our starting point. We briefly met Sheria's former crew, before we boarded the yacht with our limited luggage and stocks of food. Georg explained to us in detail the security equipment as well as the kitchen - and I could feel my adrenalin kicking in -, assigned tasks and before we knew it, we were hoisting the sails. Oh, and of course we were introduced to the traditional and mandatory anchor-beer - not sure if it translates well, but I'm certain you get the point.
Ever traveled by sailing boat? It is a completely different way of traveling. Every night the motion of the water nicely lulls you into sleep, each day anew you get to decide what to do and where to sail next. We either anchored in deserted coves with clear, turquoise water to relax, read, sun-bath, hike and cook aboard or picked one of the picturesque little harbors and islands, to discover tiny villages and rustic taverns. I know, tough life. Wherever the Sheria took us, we enjoyed wonderful Greek hospitality and delish food. (more visual impressions...)
Our excursions, strolling through small and quaint Greek villages, came with two tasks: Firstly, finding a supermarket (and bakery if they had them separate) to stock up on edible goods and secondly, checking out the local taverns for our dinner plans. And the latter was really important. Not sure why that is, but the steady sea breeze naturally made us hungry like there was no tomorrow! Thank goodness everybody aboard was equally food-enthusiastic, oftentimes we discussed our next meal hours before we'd hit our destination.
The on-board kitchen was pretty well equipped, it featured a gas stove and oven, two huge fridges and plenty of pots, pans and tableware. A typical out-on-the-sea food day would start of on deck with a huge bowl of Greek yogurt with honey and fresh fruits (the peaches were one of a kind), bread, jams, Nutella, cheeses, fresh tomatoes and sometimes even scrambled eggs. In between snacks included Greek salad, savory Greek pastry (HELP, we lost the name of the toothsome feta-filled pastry shown above, anybody?), chocolate cookies straight from the fridge or yummy pistachio bars. When we decided to cook, pasta mostly won. Simply because it was quick to cook - in favor of the ones below deck preparing the food at temperatures that would make a Swedish sauna look old.
Eating out was a completely different story, oftentimes our eyes were bigger than our stomach. No, all-the-times. Skordalia, tzatziki, saganaki, fried calamari and sardines, fried eggplant, different kinds of souvlaki, pastitsio, moussaka, dolmades, pantzaria, taramosalata and what not were regulars on our dinner table. Of course we shared plates, which made it easy to discover and experience new tastes. And if we really had eaten too much (which raaaarely happened) - nothing an Ouzo couldn't set straight... says someone who doesn't even like anise!
The heat (35-38°C/95-100° Fahrenheit was standard) became quite bearable as soon as we were sailing, anyway, we had blue skies all the way so I won't complain. Perfect weather throughout? Well, there was this one night we anchored in a cove near Sykias and had crawled inside our cozy berths after watching a beautiful sunset. However at around 2 AM enormous waves were splashing against the boat, the wood began to creak dauntingly and voices could be heard from the deck above. We were facing a bold storm and soon decided to leave and seek a quieter sleeping place, but more importantly a safer place. How little we knew what would lay ahead of us! Guided only by the light of an almost full moon we made our way out to the open sea where the waves reached astronomical heights (at least that's how it felt) and the far away lights and landmarks vanished. Wearing our life vests, wrapped in blankets we tried to keep warm and in a good mood. Uli we even had to tie to the boat when she courageously took over the steering wheel from Georg, who had to check instruments below deck, that's what kind of storm we were dealing with! During day the maximum wind speed we recorded was somewhere around 20 knots - that night we looked at 32 average. Never-ending four hours later we reached the spot Georg was looking for and to our surprise (not that we didn't believe him) the water was almost completely flat there. Even though the sun was about to rise, we fell into our beds, exhausted and drained. Before our heads even hit the pillow we were fast asleep...
So if someone offers you tomorrow a sailing trip for a week or two, say YES!
Click here for more impressions...
You're making me so jealous ;) I always wanted to go to Greece, doing it on a sailing boat sounds like the perfect way of exploring the islands. The b/w pictures capture the people beautifully. May I ask, what camera did you use?
Looks like a dream holiday to me - and the food looks simple and delicious! A sailing trip on the Greek coast is definitely on my wish-list. Until then I just do daytrips here in Estonia (+30Celsius, so pretty warm, too:)
what a wonderful post. - i will never again say no to a sailing trip! it just looks and sounds awesome - didnt you get sea sick at all? -
Eure Bilder lassen wirklich Fernweh aufkommen!! Was das Feta-Gebäck betrifft frage ich mal bei unseren griechischen Freunden nach, die kennen es ganz bestimmt.
wow wonderful images. sounds like a great trip to greece.
Hi Nicky!
Well, I recognised immediately the snail shaped pie you forgot the name of...It is called "striftí tiropita" meaning something like "twisted" the first word and cheese pie the second. My mother used to prepare it a lot and (what a coincidence!) I was planning to prepare one for my blog (well...my blog's "eyes" that would be, as it would end up in our stomach...). The most known version od this pie is that made in the island of Skópelos. You can find some recipes in internet if you search for "twisted cheese pie" in google. As soon as I have my mom's recipe, however, I will let you know.
By the way, wonderful pictures, as always.
okay, where can I buy a friend like this ? :)
You're making me really jealous! I went sailing on a small boat this weekend in the Netherlands. I enjoyed it. But your trip is way better! And what a great pictures.
You're giving me ideas for next years holiday.
Please will you come and take my holiday snaps next time I go away :-) Lovely, lovely photographs.
I'd never have thought of a sailing holiday but it sounds really good fun!
Spanokopita?
wow, just wow. and (one little bit jealous) *sigh*
Sailing is great, sadly last time I've been on a trip was already two years ago — it's time for another one…
wow... you should sell those pictures! I would definitely like a calendar with those beautiful shots to drool over a holiday that at the moment is unthinkable for me. And I thought being on a farm with all those tractors and big animals was dangerous! but one day, one day, i will go on a boat. my father's a skipper now, so as soon as he retires, there'll be no excuses!
Hi Nicky
I am Turkish :) And we make that home made feta-filled pastry @ home. We call it " Kol Borek" or "Kol Boregi" i am goint to make some soon at home i will send you pictures if your intresting?
I am olso from Madeterian Sea i know how beautifull the sea, people, and days, and nights in there, i wish i was there 2
Cheers..
Heleni's right, it's tiropita- they come in flat versions as well, but for some reason they always taste better to me when they're twisted :) Very easy to make as well.
[...] Some beautiful photos of a Greek sailing trip on a German food blog I regularly check, if for nothing other than her fantastic photography. Her culinary tastes are quite different from mine, and she is a bit more - uhm - adventurous. A lot more. [...]
Hi Nicky,
Such wonderful photographs! Wow!
Greece is such a wonderful country & the food is amazing.
I think you already have your answer for the pie above but I thought it might be of interest to mention that it looks and sounds like a smiilar pie we had in Croatia some years ago called Borek. It's made of feta also and is served with yoghurt. I have always intended to replicate it but I found a shop that sells it in London and that has made me lazy :-)
Niamh
Thank you taking me on a little 5 minute vacation! It is amazing how high you have to climb up to the top of the sails. I think I would get scared going up that high.
Hey You Two!!!
What a wonderful surprise! We had expected a little note on our elapsed holiday and were not prepared for what was waiting for us visiting your site just now. An enormous pleasure to read again and again! It brings back so many undescribable tastes and enjoyable moments. Not to forget the delicious Greek food. It was wonderful having you with us.
Hope to see you soon, love from sunny Vienna,
Erika and Georg
Clicking through your beautiful photos made me forget about the amount of work I have to do today, at least for some minutes. Thank you.
Hi,
lovely photos, especially the one with the girls jumping into the water. :))
But the photos makes me a little bit sad, where is the summer in Berlin??!!
Alles Gute,
Martin "BerlinKitchen"
Glad to see everyone kept their swimsuits on.
You're making us Americans proud!
how fabulous! and how generous of you to share it with us. Greece is a country I haven't yet managed to get to.one day..
Hi Duygu, No, we didn't use a tripod in Greece. When light became scarce we cheated a bit with a higher ISO setting. As a rule over thumb, take the focal length of your lens (for both images I used a 85mm) and multiply that by 1.5 - that's about what you need in 1/s shutter speed to get sharp pictures, for a digital camera anyway. Picture 20 was taken with 1/320s at f2.5, #22 with 1/180 at f2.0.
Sue, We use both a Nikon D70s and a Nikon D200 and are happy with both.
Pille, Since I have never been to Estonia, this doesn't sound too bad to me ;) Or would you want to trade it for a cold and rainy Munich? ;-)
Myriam, It was awesome! And no, nobody got seasick, but then we all paid attention to what our skipper told us: Always stay on deck when we're sailing... Funnily, I had more problems when we returned to Germany, my brain tricked me and I got the impression that our apartment swayed a little!
Heleni, Yellerkat and Maddy, Thank you for your help! Of course I will try to recreate them, so if you want to share some recipes, I'm all ears... :)
Jaden, 'Don't want to scare you, but the picture was taken from only a little more than half way up...
Martin, Perhaps a bit of comfort, it has been raining the whole day here in Munich, too...
Thanks Nicky!
Greece is so beautiful and lively, a real paradise for people
Wouldn't that be a wonderful way to spend a holiday!!! Sailing the Agean... I spent 5 weeks in Greece last Spring, a week or so on the islands, 2 weeks hiking on the mainland and 8 days at a cooking schoo/vacation on the island of Kea. I'd go back in a heart beat!!!!
This looks like an absolutely amazing time. The food, friends, sun and water of Greece. Thanks for sharing.
It's been long since I visited Greece, but your photos brought back wonderful memories. Beautiful photography!
Hi Nicky,
Great story and even greater pictures. I was wondering if you were using a tripod at all times shooting these images; otherwise how can you prevent the blur? If it is not too much to ask, can you tell me the lens that you used and the f-stop at pictures 20 and/or 22.
Thanks so much!
duygu