Wednesday 19 April 2017

Looking up

Poros is actually two islands connected by a very small bridge over a sea canal.  Sphairia is the name of the smaller island where the main town is located.  It is volcanic, formed by the volcano of Methana 45 minutes down the road.  Last eruption 300 years ago.

The main town is built around the harbour with picturesque tiers of houses above connected by  narrow streets built for donkey traffic, flights of very uneven steps often made from the volcanic rock and alley ways which are sometimes just a track between houses, used by locals when taking a shortcut.  

These are photos of the main town looking up from the harbour.



Looking up from the yacht harbour and the 'Green Chair' cafe


This is the view coming in on the car ferry looking up to the Old Mill (behind the trees on the top of the hill) and the small church of St Athanasios.  





There at the top is the church, a perfect place to sit and enjoy views of the mainland and savour the quiet, broken only by the eeyore of a donkey or the bark of a dog.





This time we are looking up to the blue and white clock tower.  It is quite a steep climb up there but the view is awesome.  You can see the harbour down below,  tiny yachts and taxi boats and the houses of Galatas across the strait



 

A photo taken from the car ferry, once again looking up towards the clock tower





These steps climb up to a road above, a road without cars or motorbikes, accessed only by foot.  Imagine living up there, or even higher, carrying up bags of groceries and life's esentials.  You'll see a lot of the older women have bent legs and aching knees after many long years of scaling these flights of steps hauling heavy bags.  And still they scramble up to their houses uncomplaining even in old age



Another flight of endless steps.  In the last few years the council has at last provided handrails







Looking up to one of the impressive neo-classical buildings, flying the blue and white greek flag.   




20 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    1. Dave, it looks as though I accidently deleted your comment. It says removed by blog administrator, I guess that is me although I don't remember doing such a thing. Sorry.

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    2. No problem LA. All I said was we noticed there were very few handrails on steps when we went to the Algarve recently.

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    3. Bravo, I knew I had read it. These 'peasants'are fit and have strong calf muscles and don't need handrails to heave themselves up...like me!!

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  2. I remember climbing up steep steps to put shutters up on a candle shop for a young lady I was friendly with before the sun melted them, across from a Taverna.
    She had to go to Athens and trusted me.
    Cut it fine time wise a couple of times, arriving breathless.
    Needed ice cream after to cool down.

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    1. Just the heat can melt candles. Our easter ones I put in a jar in a dark place and by the end of summer they are all bent and mishapen.

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  3. The only thing that spoils it, all are the wretched cars everywhere. You live in a beautiful place.

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    1. Ah yes, cars. They do close the road off at peak times but this part of the island is too small for such numbers. For years the council has been putting forward plans to ban cars from the main town but nothing has been done. There have been suggestions of a scenic train going round and round picking and dropping off people, free bicycles or even banning visitors cars from the island. We await with interest this year's ideas.

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    2. Spetzes is quite sucessful with limited cars.

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    3. And Hydra has no cars at all.....except for a hearse and a rubbish truck

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  4. Thank you for the tour. I enjoyed both words and photographs - so much so that I could feel the sunshine and the heat. It has been cold and wet over here, horrible. You really do live in a beautiful place so thank you for letting us see it.

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    1. Glad you enjoyed this post. An even better one will be when I get round to showing the photos of the views from above.

      Beautiful days here.

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  5. I enjoyed the information in this post and the photographs. Normally one only thinks of, or reads of, Poros as a stepping off point for island hopping ferries.

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    1. Poros is no longer any good for island hopping. Most of the boats have been stopped. Getting to the next door islands , only a half hour away is difficult now. We are good for tours of the mainland though.

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  6. This was my Humber one problem with Greece. Everything was on top of a hill lol I'm not good with climbing

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    1. Climbing up is bad enough but climbing down is even worse! I am very careful these days and make good use of those new handrails.

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  7. The hills in Crete can be a hard work for me these days! Need to get in training for our next visit in May! I visited Poros many moons ago when we lived in Athens and I went island hopping with a visiting friend. Love to read your posts!

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    1. Lovely Crete. The island with everything. We lived there for 3 years in Mournies and Souda. I didn't want to leave!
      Thanks for your good words. Get fit!!!

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  8. I have been trying to find our pictures of Poros. I cant seem to locate them on my rebuilt laptop... :(

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    1. A lot of !one are the old style photos which I have to scan, when I learn how to do it

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