From
Galatas (Poros) we headed in what would be our last journey south on the
Peloponnese to Ermioni (once known as Hermione), a scenic coastal road most of
the way. The roads are narrow and bendy
and so we tootled along at no more than 25-30 miles an hour, Mel pulling over
to let the Greek cars go by as they seem to think they are in some Grand Prix, racing around these small roads – numpties!
We
parked up near a little sailing club at the end of a marina. A lovely spot on the end of a narrow
peninsular, overlooking the island of Ydhra (N37.38903 E23.24835). There's a couple of outside toilets –
perfect for getting rid of all of Sonny’s waste and a fresh water tap for filling up.
We sat and watched
some of the kids go out on their little sailing boats and a couple of ferries come and
go, transporting people around the islands of Poros, Ydhra, and Spetses.
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| View from Sonny's windows |
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| Ermioni |
There
are two sides to the town, which can be a bit disorientating as you cut through
narrow streets from one beach, to end up at another a few minutes later. The town has a few bakeries, supermarkets and umpteen tavernas/bars - the norm in Greece!
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| Cutting through the streets, from one side of the peninsular to the other we came across this stop road sign. Really? There is no road, it leads to steps! |
Mel
got talking to an English guy who was involved with the sailing club and had
lived here for 20 years. Him and his
wife used to have a yacht and came travelling here over the years, they fell in love with the
place so took early retirement and bought a house here. They have just bought a camper van and wanted
to chat about travelling around Europe. He was telling
Mel about the extortionate tax prices the Greek’s levy. On cars it is €600 a year, and if you have a
camper it is deemed a 'luxury' and you have to pay hundreds of euros to have one imported and taxed (there aren't many motorhomes in Greece, as they can't afford it). They chose to buy a camper from the UK, and even though it means going back every year to have an MOT, it still works out cheaper.
He
went on to say that during the months of July and August you can’t move for
holiday makers. Temperatures regularly
reach 40°c and said the locals all have a 4 hour siesta during the day. We love the heat, but that’s too much for us
and reminded us of when we were in Sicily last year when temperatures reached
40°c plus - it was just too hot to do anything!
Leaving
Ermioni we made our way north towards Corinth, having a one night stopover back
in Ancient Epidaurus, the village we had stopped at for 2 nights 4 days
ago. We nipped in to a Lidl at Kranidi
enroute, to stock up as the cupboards and fridge were looking bear and even bought some little Christmas lights for
Sonny.
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| Yes, we know a bit pathetic but we promise to do better as Christmas approaches! |
The
journey from here took us inland, climbing up across the hills to a height of
1,300 metres. with temperatures dropping rapidly
to 12°c. We were glad to get back down
to the coast and for warmer temperatures. Ancient Epidaurus is pretty much a
half-way house between Ermioni and Corinth and it was such a lovely stopping
point last time, that it made sense to go there again.
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| Approaching Ancient Epidaurus |
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| Sonny’s kipping spot at the end of the harbour, overlooking the town |
This
time the village was sparkling with all things Christmassy. Over the last few days we have seen a lot of
Christmas shops and decorations similar to those we have in the UK, which has
surprised us, as we didn’t expect it to be that way. We
had pretty much seen everything of the town, including the ancient little
Epidaurus Theatre last time so I washed out a few bits of clothing by hand and
then we sat out in the sun. All of a
sudden, we heard an English voice shouting ‘hello’ as a woman approached us –
she had spotted the English number plate on the motorhome. Her and her husband had lived in the village
for 8 years. They took early retirement,
as her husband fell ill and decided to rent their house out in Southend and
move here. They used to come here for
holidays as her husband’s brother lives here.
She told us that there are another 4 Brits couples who live permanently
in the village and numerous others that have holiday homes and just come across
in the summer. We had to admit, it is a
lovely spot to retire to. She told us of
another beach we could walk too, just passed the ancient theatre so we took a
walk out.
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| The beach - on the other side! |
There
are so many orange and lemon groves in the village and an abundance of trees
growing satsumas. The sad thing is there
are so many that they don’t all get picked and just lie on the ground. Mel couldn’t resist helping himself to a
couple of satsumas as we passed which were really juicy. The theory is if they aren't in someone's garden or fenced off they are free for the picking!
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| Orange, Lemon and Satsuma Grove with the added benefit of a very large urn! |
We passed a field of these strange looking plants.
An elderly man was tending to them and we
stopped to see what he was doing. He
came across to us but didn’t speak a word of English other than ‘Hello’. With sign language and demonstration, he cut
open one of the leaves and inside was a jelly substance that is used for
soaps. He insisted we took it and washed
our hands and face with it. It smelt
quite nice but was very sticky.
This
morning was a lazy one. The skies were a
bit grey and it was taking a while for the sun to come out. We
eventually set off, making our way to Corinth and to the famous canal. The canal cuts through the narrow isthmus of Corinth, separating the Peloponnese from mainland Greece. The 6.3km, 8metre
deep and very narrow canal was once an important and much used canal, providing
a short cut between the Aegean and Adriatic Sea, by 131 nautical miles. The building of it dates
back to Emperor Nero’s time when he performed the initial excavations with a
little silver shovel. It was only in the
1890’s when the technology became available to cut right across the 6.3km narrow
strip that development started to happen. There
is a plaque next to the Isthmus Bridge in grateful recognition to the
Hungarians who helped plan, organise and direct the construction of the canal–
a masterpiece of 19th century engineering from1881-1893, establishing the area as a major Mediterranean port and shopping centre. Unfortunately, they financially crippled themselves in the process! A
lot of the larger ships no longer use it and is now no more than a minor
transport hub.
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| The amazing Corinth Canal |
Walking across the Isthmus bridge and looking down didn’t help my
vertigo but I couldn’t fail to be impressed by the 79 metre high walls. It was just a shame we didn’t get to see a
ship come up it. During the months of April-October you can bungee jump off the bridge – with warning signs that ‘you do so
at your own risk’. By the photos it
looks like people have taken small planes through it and even skydived into
it - are they mad!!!
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| Crossing the canal via another bridge and watching them carrying out repairs, due to a rock fall |
All in all, we ended up crossing the canal 7 times, driving and walking and never ceased to be amazed by the enormity of it all. At
the western end of the canal by the old floating bridge there are remains of the Diolkos
– a paved way along which a wheeled platform used to carry boats across the
isthmus. Used in Roman times up until the 12th century.
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| Mel adopting his best Roman pose by the ancient Diolkos – good job he never went into acting! |
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| Last crossing point of the canal – old Korinthos-Loutraki floating bridge |
Sally
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