Greek folklore songs are reputedly only about three things: love, wine and the sea. The first two are popular topics the world over and can be heard in all people’s songs, so they’re definitely not exclusive to the Greeks.

When it comes to the sea, however, Greece is one of the best places to experience how people become so connected to such a force of nature. Few places are are so entwined with the sea as Greece with its 2000 islands.

Although Bulgaria has its Black Sea coast, it has never become part of Bulgaria’s way of life because it never played any significant role in the country’s development. Of course, the small Black Sea coastline bears no comparison to the warm waters lapping the Greek shores. When it comes to maritime culture, Greece is truly unrivalled in Europe.

Unlike Bulgarians, confronted with the proud Stara Planina, Greeks have been raised facing an expanse of water with its endless opportunities for quests and endeavours. In fact, it was the Greeks who more or less controlled sea life in Bulgaria until the end of the 18th century. Hence, in almost every Bulgarian city along the Black Sea coast, there’s a Greek quarter, always around the harbour or the "limani", the Greek word for a small port of a town. It’s a word the elderly population of Nessebur and Sozopol still use in their everyday life.

Naturally, when it comes to the idea of summer in Greece, the image of  thousands of islands comes to mind. Some say that in order to know the country one has to island hop because life on the land (continental Greece) is so removed from island existence. As small as some of these islands are, each and every one of them is a "little Greece", part of the big picture that tour agents sell today as the "Greek tour package".

For people coming from countries where transport has always been on "solid ground", it’s fascinating to observe how modern Greeks have incorporated seafaring into their everyday life. Thousands of ferries leave Greek "limani" daily for a tour to nearby or distant islands. These serve, in many cases, as their only connection to the mainland. This routine has infected Greeks with a different sense of time from other people. They measure distance not in kilometres but in hours. It’s one thing, for example, to take the train or the bus in Sofia and go to Plovdiv.

It’s another journey entirely to take the ferry from Piraeus port, near Athens, and go to the island of Milos in the Aegean, known for the statue Venus of Milo (Aphrodite). Such a journey takes between five and eight hours depending on the ferry, but in all cases it provides a great chance to observe the routine of Greeks as they hop on and off ferries en route to the islands of Kythnos, Serifos, Sifnos and Kimolos.

Stopping at these islands has nothing to do with a stop in Veliko Turnovo, for example, on the way to Varna. It takes the ferry 20 minutes to dock, another 20 to unload and load the new cargo and passengers and then another 20 minutes to depart. It’s not for people with pressing time schedules. But with the sun above one’s head, a sea breeze and a frappe coffee in one’s hand it’s an ideal way to experience Greece’s bond with the sea.