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| Approaching Poros, a submarine on maneuvers crossed our bows. |
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| \ |
We departed
Kythnos at 7:30 and motor-sailed under sunny
skies, arriving in Poros town around 3:30 pm. Entering the narrow
channel separating Poros from the mainland Pelopponese, I was struck
by the beauty of the little town in the mid-afternoon sun. Red tile
roofs with curved rooflines topped yellow and white stucco houses,
perched atop one another as they climbed the hill. The white clock
tower shines over all and can be seen from a distance.
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| First view of beautiful Poros town. |
After a refreshing "bird bath" on the stern of the boat, I hit the streets. I walked along
the waterfront, I turned uphill and climbed
up into the chora, the old town, following narrow lanes which lead me to
the Garden Taverna. There I was welcomed by Maria, the school headmistress,
whose English was very good, shy Yanis, and their stepmother Muriko, who is Japanese and married a Greek sea captain some 41 years
ago. How strange it was to hear Japanese- accented Greek! We
chatted away until Maria had to leave, at which point Muriko and I
continued to communicate in sign language and pidgin English for another half hour.
Muriko was born in Nagasaki, and at the age of ten she was there when
the atomic bomb fell. I gasped and said oohhhh....she
shrugged matter-of-factly and said “Pearl Harbor”.
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| Yanis, me, Maria, Benjamin the dog, and Muriko |
Kissing her farewell, I walked
down out of the
chora and continued along the waterfront. There I was
waylaid with a wise crack from Anton the Brit and Robert the Swede.
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| Robert from Sweden and Anton Stanwix |
I
had a quick comeback, and they invited me to join them, where we continued harassing each other over a glass of wine.
Robert is a cruiser, and Anton is a charter skipper with decades of
experience worldwide. It turns out he's an old friend and shipmate
of Rod Heikell, author of “Greek Waters Pilot”, and is an acknowledged contributor to this definitive cruising guide. He shared the colorful history,
culture, lore and cruising tips for this area. I wish I could
remember all that he told me.Things such as....
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| The Sleeping Lady, her knees on the left, breast and face on the right. |
...Sleeping Lady mountain profile is said by some to be Aethra, the lover of Poseidon and mother of Theseus, who was born near here...
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| Theseus, the future king of Athens, slaying the Minotaur of Crete. |
...that Paddy Fermor lived here once...
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| Author and daring leader of the Greek resistance in Crete in WWII Patrick Leigh Fermor..his books are a great read. |
...Poros means “passage”, after the calm channel where the town was founded...and many other interesting tidbits.
Poros is truly a sailors' town. There are three small chandleries, a good boatyard with competent services, and the waterfront is amenable to the sailing community, with utilities, water, waste disposal at hand, and the taverna owners are more than willing to lend a hand when yachts approach to moor.
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Views from the trail above Poros town
 |
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| A shrine to Saint Nektarios along the trail |
About halfway back, I took a wrong turn and
ended up scrambling down a steep gully full of debris. Back at the boat, Ron thought the anchor had dragged; the boat
was hard against the dock when ferry wash hit us. We started to reset
the anchor but it was well in; we just needed to shorten the chain.
The next afternoon, I ended up at
Apagio Cafe where the Pappadopoulos family prepares local food from local ingredients. I had a cheese packet...two slices of feta
with a layer of red, green, and hot peppers, baked in filo and
topped with a drizzle of honey and sesame seeds Delish!
They say that once you have been to
Poros, you are bound to return. It's true! We went to Aegina for
a day and came right back, missing the charm and relative quiet of Poros. Only 15 miles to travel and we
arrived mid-morning. Ron stayed aboard and read his paper
and I hiked out of town and around
the bay, past some antique Greek boats and a ramshackle and picturesque mansion,
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| Galini House. A sleeping beauty. |
Back up into the
chora I found the
Platanos Taverna where there's live music and dancing on Saturday
nights. I also located Dimitris's Cafe and Butcher shop,
where Ron heard that the steaks are good. I walked on down to visit the good people at Apagio, where I was treated to bread and large green olives and capers prepared in house from fresh local produce.
 |
| Jamie at his family's restaurant. |
Lovely time, lovely people. Later we head up the hill to Dimitri's
for dinner. It was crowded with Greek families and decorated with
portraits of Greek freedom fighters from 1821. We enjoyed really prime steaks with bleu cheese sauce.
Afterward we walked down to Platano Taverna where Ron dropped me off.
The place was jumping and the music was good, with guitar/singer,
bouzouki and keyboard. Often someone would get up to dance, sometimes joined by friends. and it was
fun to watch the traditional steps. I moved closer to the music, first to a table behind the tree and then right up front. A man with a group of
friends at the next table reached over and topped up my glass from
his carafe. A group got up to dance, and they waved to me to join. So I
did.
They also invited me to join them at their table; Olga, Adonis
and Yanis from Greece, and their friends from Norway and UK. Such a fun evening!. I got back to
the boat at 1:30... an hour I never knew existed....
Early on Sunday I went to church at
Agio Georgios, being curious about the Greek Orthodox tradition, reaching back more than a thousand years to Byzantium and beyond. The padre came swinging his censor down the aisle and
raised an eyebrow when he saw me, the new kid. There were two cantors singing
constantly the whole time; they started at 7:00 and were still
chanting well after 10 :00. People came in at random times all through the service, kissing their favorite icon and taking their seats.
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| The padre leading a procession for St. Leonidas day in Poros. |
The next day, we went to the beach, where ( can you believe it?)...it was actually too chilly for me to swim. Unthinkable.
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| A rare sighting of Ron on the beach. |
Poros has become one of my new favorite
places, thanks to all the friendly and welcoming people of Poros, called Poriotis (pronounced, appropriately enough.. "poor
yachties”!).. and the actual poor yachties... who made it fun and interesting.
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| Kali taxidi! |
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