Temple of Aphaia

This year we were determined to go back to the Temple of Aphaia in Aegina to visit both it and the little museum which shows off some of the items linked with it. Last year we found out that all greek museums close on Mondays! However, we took the Aegean Flying Dolphin to Aegina and made our way down to the bus terminus. I got our tickets and we got on the bus. It became what I can only describe as an experience. Pauline had already got on the bus and found all seats taken. We ended up sitting on a wheel arch for the whole journey! It was not funnu when the bus hit one of the many bumps along the journey.

Eventually we alighted outside the Temple and went to the booth to pay for our visit. As ever, the Temple looked absolutely fabulous and the place was very quiet. I ambled around and took some photos whilst Pauline found a place to sit in the shade of the tress that can be found on the south side of the site. Then we went in the museum. Pauline was having problems with her sciatic nerve abd could not stand still so I did the museum trip alone. It was fascinating.

I learned that Aphaia was rescued by a fisherman when King Minos was chasing her. She was a daughter of Zeus and had been living in Crete when the king took a shione to her. However, the fisherman took her to Aegina where she stayed. Like all good goddesses she got there and suddenly disappeared!

The Temple was built on the site of several other religious buildings on the site as is often the case. From the blocks of stone you find surrounding the place you discover that when the builders were placing a stone in position they could do so because they had previously cut a U shape in each end of the stone so that a rope could pass round it and be removed afterwards.

Quite a considerable amount of the building remains which makes the site worth visiting. Outside the site is a car park and from this point you can see part of the bay of Aghia Marina. As you look out you notice on the right a huge complex that has not been finished. The local Greeks have left this huge complex obviously unfinished as a sort of monument to the Greek Colonels who used to run the country. They say, "It was to be built with Junta money!" That is enough to make any Greek put a sour look on his face.

We caught the bus back to Aegina Town and then a Dolphin back to Anghistri. it had been another lovely visit to our Temple! We had added another part of Greek history to our experince. Back we sailed to Anghistri an da the quiet world of reality.

Aponisos

Aponisos is a place in Anghistri to which many people go to swim in the crystal clear waters of the Saronic Gulf. The only structure that exists there is an old taverna where visitors can order lunch and look out on a beautiful view. No power lines stretch as far as Aponisos so the only power available is generated in a diesel generator among the trees. There is a tiny beach from which you can swim as well as a small group of sunbeds on the tiny island there and they boast a special gangway into the water.

The local fishing boats used by people who live in nearby Limenaria are tied up at Aponisos. They are painted in various colours and form a very pretty picture tied up in a row by the small causeway that connects the island from Anghistri. Beyond the tiny island is a larger island consisting of two steep hills. At the top of one hill you can see a small Greek Orthodox church. How you can get up there I do not know. There appears to be no access on the landward side.

After a swim this year, we dried off and sat reading under the trees from where I took the picture at the head of this publication. Aponisos is visited these days by wealthy Greeks in motor yachts so the taverna has raised its game and today provides the best seafood in Anghistri. Anyone visiting the toilets there 20 years ago would have had a nasty shock. To say the facilities were basic would have been to tell a lie. The facilities at that time defied description! Today the loos are able to compete with any Greek establishment for tourism.

On the day we were there we partook of a lunch of fish, mussels and Greek salad. Once more it was memorable. We came away waxing poetic about the food we had just eaten. On the ride back (2 on a motor scooter!) to Megalohori we noted the island fire engine parked outside the tiny wayside church of Aghia Barbara. The crew always stop there under the trees for their packed lunch.

No holiday in Anghistri is complete without a visit to Aponisos and perhaps along the way to Dragonera where people camp out under the No Camping signs! These days there are many sunbeds provided there if you don't mind a pebble beach to swim from. To ride along that road with only the sound of a multitude of cicadas and the smell of pine resin in your nostrils is quite enjoyable.

It was a hot one this year!!!

This year, for the first time, we flew with Easyjet from Manchester to Athens. We had a bad start because it meant leaving home at 2.00am to drive to Manchester Airport and book in for a 7.00am flight. I had very little sleep and really paid for it all day on our travelling to Anghistri.

One problem was that when I originally booked the flights the response from Easyjet was "Urgent - if your details are incorrect when you check in you will not be able to fly!" This is a paraphrase but it scared me to death, even though I checked the details I gave at the time several times over. When we went to the baggage drop one suitcase was exactly 20 kilos which is the limit for Easyjet. At home it had weighed less than this. It was too close for comfort!

At Terminal 3 we found the food outlet were only able to provide a very limited offer of hot food and this was not good news either. However, my clever wife did some investigation to discover, in advance, the gate number so that we could be first in the Speedy Boarding queue. We were in poll position to get the front seats on the aircraft which then meant we could stretch out our legs during the flight.

Eventually we were all aboard the aircraft and the plane joined a lengthy take off queue. Eventually we took off half an hour late! The plane was staffed by cabin crew of a very young average age and who could not string a few words together so that we could tell what they were saying. Diction today is very poor among the younger end! However, we eventually landed at Athens Airport and reclaimed our cases reasonably quickly. Next we went to the little cabin outside Arrivals where I paid for 2 tickets on the express bus (1 hour 10 mins) to Piraeus. Having arrived at the port of Piraeus, we helped a Norwegian family to locate the ship that would take them to Aegina. Our next task was to get a bottle of water to cool our throats and then 2 tickets on the Flying Dolphin to Anghistri.

At the port of Mandraki we were met by Christos, joint owner of Hotel Boulas, and we and our luggage was whisked up the steep road to Room 10 where we unpacked. It was not long before we jumped in the swimming pool to refresh ourselves after a long day's travelling. We finished the day with a meal at Taverna o Fotis as we usually do and hit the sack. It took a further whole day to get over the effect of travelling from 2.00am to 5.00pm. Watch this space!

Anghistri here we come!

For the very first time we are flying with Easyjet this year. We have booked three weeks at the Hotel Boulas in Megalohori. We had intended this year to visit France by car but, by the time our health improved earlier in the year all places we had saved in Favourites were booked up! So we called Christos and booked in at the Boulas again.
We have been visiting Anghistri since our first time in 1988 and again for the first time we plan to take the hydrofoil to Piraeus and then the Metro to the Acropolis Museum which we understand is a wonderful place to go.
These days our health is not of the very best order and so we are careful as to how we can get about. Pauline has bursitis and I suffer from COPD. This can seriously limit our flexibility in getting around. However, one person I can count on being able to help is Taki, my great friend in Megalohori, who hires motor scooters. I shall talk to him and he will select a scooter suitable, not just for me, but also for Pauline.
These days, Taki also owns the only filling station on the island. So I shall get my fuel from him and when this happens we disappear into the office and he treats me to a Greek coffee! We then reminisce about how long we have known each other and what Taki has been doing in the winter months, supplying all the islanders with central heating fuel. I will tell him about Anglesey, the island in North Wales where we live.
The exercise we both need for our respective medical conditions is swimming. So we shall be in the hotel swimming pool soon after our arrival! Last year we did this and thought we were swimming in hot soup! Once more our first meal will be at Taverna O Fotis where we shall be greeted like long lost relatives by Fotis, his wife Katerina and daughter Vassu. As we get our first shopping at Supermarket Nontas we shall be greeted by Irene and Theo who own the business.
Taking a holiday in Anghistri is like returning to our home village to be greeted by those we have known a long time. Later we shall take a ride to Skala and the Quattro Bar and get a welcome from Alyson who works there. In the evening our choice will be Taverna Toxotis where our old friend Spiro will be in charge as usual, telling us that his son is now the boss! What a story!!!
We love to meet all our old friends and shop with them. Each morning I take a walk into the village to buy bread from Vangelis, the baker. Each time he asks, "Soft White?" and I nod. He knows which bread we like best. Whenever we take the Aegean Dolphins hydrofoil we see Kiriakos who describes our Samsonite luggage as "four wheel drive!" Kiriakos is an Anghistri man who is married to Diane, a French Canadian who used to run a travel agency in Anghistri. It was Diane who arranged our trip to Crete a few years ago whilst we were staying in Anghistri.
So many, many friends we see whenever we go back. Little wonder that lst year whilst seeing everyone safely from the hydrofoil, Yannis Logothetis greeted us by saying "Welcome home!" A welcome to Anghistri is the most sincere welcome we know!

Winter in Anghistri

I have heard very many complaints about the weather and road conditions here in the United Kingdom. But what has the weather been like in Anghistri while this has been happening? Late spring in 2009 saw a Facebook message from Anghistri saying the weather was unusually hot and wondering what summer temperatures etc would be. Well, we were there in August and it was hot as it always is at that time.

As winter began to tighten its grip here at home there were messages again coming from Anghistri to say it was unseasonably warm. Christmas and New Year exceeded normal expectations with good temperatures. I think it was 23 degrees in the shade on New Years Day! Only later did the temperatures plummet to normal. Recently I have watched their temperatures improve yet again. Tomorrow's (Monday 1 Feb) forecast is for 16 degrees!

Here, in Anglesey, we have cold weather but we had only one day when it snowed in any serious way. It happened to be the day I was coming home from hospital after a week there with a chest infection! Thanks to my neighbour and his 4 x 4 I made it! Had I been in Greece my only problem would have been whether the ferries and Flying Dolphins were sailing.

When people visit hot countries in summertime they wish they could live there all the time. But in winter they might just think again. By Greek standards they will experience cold and draughts will seek them out wherever they are. We have often been in Anghistri in September and quite often we have had a day or two when we have needed warm clothes. I have a photo of my wife in 2008 wearing borrowed Christmas socks. At the time I was wearing a borrowed fleece!

But not to worry, summer is approaching and the crowds will soon be flocking in search of sun etc. I think we might not be going to Anghistri this year as we are wanting to see some of France. But we shall always have the island in our thoughts!

Old Friends

Each year that we visit Anghistri we have our first evening meal at Taverna o Fotis. Our first holiday there was in 1988 when we purchased a package holiday with Sun Med. At that time the tavernas were patronised chiefly by English tourists. Taverna o Fotis was no exception and it was noticeable how those with a good sense of humour congregated here. The taverna looked much as it does today except there was then no wall between the tables and the street. Today it looks more modern but yet is still the same in most ways.

Our first impression was that it appeared to be very traditional from what we had heard about tavernas. For instance, there was no printed menu, so when you were asked by Dimitri, the son of Fotis, if you would like to see the menu, you were being invited into the kitchen to see the food before preparation. Dimitri was then 12 years old and used to work in the taverna with his 8 year old sister, Vassu, because they spoke good English and their parents had very little English. This continues to be the case, but over the years I have realised that Fotis himself understands English quite well but has difficulty speaking it.

His wife, Katerina, presided over the taverna, and reminded us of "Bloody Mary", the character from South Pacific with her loud cackle and the severe bun in her hair. As we looked at the food in the kitchen, we chose veal. Katerina was in the kitchen and said, "Is very good - in Greek is polikola." When the veal came to the table it tasted very good and we were pleased with it. The following night we went there again and ordered two "Polikola". This caused puzzlement for Dimitri who was taking the order. The answer was that Katerina had said the previous evening that the Greek word for very good was Polikola! We were asking for two very goods!!!

Over the years we became used to Fotis and Katerina and the noticeable thing about Fotis was that he always wore denim jeans and the crotch was very low indeed. Whenever we arrived there for our first meal he would come and shake hands with us. One year he actually spoke English, "No watter!" There were obviously water supply problems on the island. On one occasion I stopped by the taverna to say hello and asked where Katerina was. The answer was, "Katerina oregano." Waving his arm in a certain direction, he was telling me she was picking oregano. It turns out that there is a church service each September to celebrate Holy Cross and all the worshippers turned up at church with bunches of oregano. That was why Katerina was picking some.

One year we were invited to a big feast at the taverna to celebrate the 21st birthday of Susannah, wife of the watersports man, Robert. Fotis had spit roasted a full lamb on his barbecue and it was shared out among about 30 diners at tables set in a line down the side street. On another occasion we held the annual Petanque match down this street and kept ourselves fortified with beer from the taverna. The match is stilled played out each year between the English tourists from Skala and Megalohori each September.

The photo at the top of this blog shows Fotis sitting at the door of the taverna. This year he became 70 years old and Katerina 62. I discovered this from talking to Vassu, herself now 29 years old. Each year when we arrive Fotis and Katerina make a great fuss of us as they welcome us home! Vassu speaks excellent English so she is our interpreter. This family have now become a true part of us. One year when we arrived to stay in the house of Athena, our friend Dina's sister, we sat on the terrace as a funeral procession went by with an open coffin. In the crowd of mourners was Katerina who was waving and smiling to us as she walked by! It made it feel like a carnival event.

Another regular feature of our visits to Anghistri is my trip each day to the bakers for a loaf of fresh bread. The bread we buy there is wonderful to taste. I always get a welcome from Vangellis, the village baker when I go to his shop for the first time. Sometimes, in the evening, he sits outside with a friend. "Kallispera, Vangelli!" I call and he smiles and reciprocates.

My greatest friend there though is Taki who rents bikes and motor bikes opposite Taverna o Fotis. Taki always gives me a special greeting and allows me special discount when I hire a motor scooter. When I call at his petrol station for fuel I get an invite to the office where we sit and share a Greek coffee and have a long chat. Last year we arrived in the port from our visit to Rhodes and needed a lift up into the village. I couldn't raise Christos from our hotel so I rang Taki and he picked us up in his small petrol tanker.

All these people we count as important friends and it is wonderful to meet up with them each year. We now say it is a visit home rather than a holiday. This so very true.

Ellie Experiences Greece

From the time we booked the flights we thought how much Ellie would love to see a different way of life. We tried to anticipate her reactions to certain things and the people we know in Anghistri. "It will, at least, interest her" we thought.

We thought the worst bit would be adapting to the toilet arrangements whereby the toilet paper must be placed in the pedal bin and not down the loo. This was no problem, once her mum explained it before she left home. So she had three whole weeks of remembering to do it the Greek way and she did very well. Only once did I catch her out and there was no return on her investment!

We had wondered how she would react to flying but that was taken in her stride. The first trip on a hydrofoil was another area of doubt but that proved to be no problem. "This is fine" we thought, "she is adapting very well." In fact she made not a single complaint. This might have been because she was being polite.

Next we decided to ask how she rated this and that. "What do you think of the swimming pool?" She answered, "It's OK." "What do you think of the food?" "OK." What do you think of the people here?" "OK." "What do you think about the village?" "OK." "What do you think of the village church?" "OK." We visited numerous tavernas and asked her opinion. "OK." We took her swimming at Aponisos, a lovely setting with views to the Pelopponese. "OK." Then we took the inter island ferry over to Aegina and took her to see the beautiful ruined Temple of Aphaia. "OK." Eventually, "Have you enjoyed your holiday?" "OK."

After travelling home we were speaking to her mum on the telephone. Ellie had waxed poetic about the whole thing! She had told her mum and dad about the lovely people, the cute village, beautiful Aponisos, great food, lovely view from our balcony, and what a fantastic place the Temple of Aphaia was!!!!!

Thank God we had this confirmation of her enjoyment.