Phourni (small Greek islands)
for Phourni, an intriguing group of islands between Ikaria and Samos. The pas¬sage takes about an hour, and the same boat will bring you back in the afternoon.
This is a favourite Sunday outing for residents and visitors, and must be a relief from the valetudinarian atmosphere of Therma. There are two main islands in the group, and you come first to the smaller of the two, Thimena, which is virtually uninhabited. Megalo Phourni is the name of the larger one, an irregular straggling island with a deep bay facing towards and sheltered by Thimena. The har¬bour is always busy about its main business, which is fishing, though all supplies from whatever source have to be landed here. On Sun¬days the three restaurants are even busier serving lunch to the visi¬tors, and there is no doubt that the fish they cook are as delicious, as fresh and as cheap as you will find anywhere. Lobster and prawns are advertised on their placards, but recently these delights have been restricted to conserve stocks, and the port police are supposed to enforce a ban on their sale at certain seasons - especially on Sundays.
The feeling of the Phourni islands is more akin to the Kyklades than anything you find elsewhere in the eastern Sporades. There are no natural woods, and the hills are bare, empty and aloof. It is a surprise to find that the village behind the harbour has a long, straight and nicely paved avenue between rows of mulberry trees which runs for about a hundred yards inland to end at the village church - a kind
of ’sacred way’ from port to sanctuary where local families can enjo thei volta. lire are beaches each side of the harbour, ,jjjd man remoter swimming spots. A stay here with the use of J small bo. would be an idyllic holiday, though fe