The most Cycladic of the Dodecanese islands, Astypalaia will also mark you indelibly, after a visit to the castle and a swim in Vatses, that has to be the most relaxed beach in Greece, if not on earth, take my word for it. Our daily program, the same day in day out, consisted in the unique breakfast of Katerina in Kalderimi, with her homemade, each day different local specialties, then a visit to the chora of Astypalaia, for more coffee, then a looong swim interrupted by siestas, coffee and delicious salads in Vatses under the tunes of unbelievably educated Cuban music playlists, and at the end of the day, a long ride to the bottoms of the earth, in places and on roads that I would never go with my own car… A huge, deserted mostly island, easy to get to but hard, very hard to leave.