Day 7: Kato Koufonissi

A visit to Kato Koufonissi was today’s mission. Another early start and good breakfast at Sophia’s Cafe, then I was on my way to the harbour to see about a boat across to the neighbouring island.

My good luck seemed to be continuing, as not only did I find a boat across, but it was free! The boat operator had just started a new service and were offering tickets for no cost that day – result!

The boat was due to leave at 10:30 am, so I had a bit of time to get back to my room, pack my rucksack and get lotioned up again. After boarding the boat, it only took 15 minutes to get to Kato Koufonissi. We first stopped at the small ‘marina’, then continued on to Nero beach where I planned to disembark. Getting off the boat was quite an experience: the jetty consisted of a few planks of wood on some rocks!

Unfortunately, the beach itself was rather disappointing. Not only is it mostly coarse shingle, but the sea gets deep very quickly so it’s nothing like the amazing beaches I’d gotten used to the last two days. As a result, after sunbathing for a couple of hours, I decided to head back on the next boat. In hindsight, I should have taken my walking shoes so I could have explored inland – possibly making the 3 km walk back to the marina – but I only had my sandals on so I was stuck on the beach.

Back on Ano Koufonissi, bad luck struck again: a terrible lunch at Nikita’s Cafe Bar. 4€ for a ham and cheese sandwich that turned out to be a dry burger bun, some processed cheese and formed ham. It was dreadful and I left without leaving a tip.

I dropped my rucksack back at the apartment and, not wanting to waste any more of my last day, went straight back out to the town beach. It’s such a lovely place to lay and relax. Even though there were quite a few people around, it never felt crowded or noisy.

Thinking about dinner plans, I decided to return to Lavanda e Rosmarino for a second time: the food had been so good on my first night here that it seemed unlikely I would find better elsewhere, and after such a poor lunch I wanted to be confident of a good meal!

At the restaurant, I was torn between having a pizza or trying the saffron and parmigiana risotto, though the latter said it was for a minimum 2 persons. I asked the waitress if it would be possible to have it, and after checking with the kitchen, she said that they would make it for me. It was superb, and along with some lovely wine and the same chocolate salami dessert, made for a memorable meal.