borders and byways: October 17 Poros

October 17, 2017 Day 5 of the Cruise, day 16 of the trip – Poros

We spent most of the night in port in Spetses, but set sail in the early morning for Poros. We arrived there about 10:30. This is an island, but it is separated from the Peloponnese mainland by a 200-meter channel. There are lots of ferries regularly crossing the channel all of which are built to carry vehicles. As we sailed through the channel you could see pastel colored houses stacked up the hillside leading up to a clock tower. The harbor had lots of yachts and sailboats, but also working fishing boats.

Poros, two islands, is made up of a small area, the town and a much larger area covered by forests that is called Kalavaria. The two are connected by a bridge and a tiny isthmus. The latter has many beaches and in its interior, the Temple of Poseidon of which very little is left. (I was told that most of its materials were stolen for use on Hydra to build a monastery.)

Poros was the center of the Amphictyonic League, a political and religious alliance of the city states in the Argosaronic Sea in the 6 and 5^th centuries BC. It was under Byzantine rule for a century and Ottoman rule from 1453 until 1828, interrupted a few times by Venetian conquest. Its mariners and fleet played a role in the Greek War of Independence and in 1828 the Greeks met here to draft their first modern constitution,

We set off to walk to the clock tower at about 11:00. We walked along the harbor and then into town. Lots of restaurants and tourist shops along the harbor, but not crowded. The ferries continued to operate along with lots of other smaller boats for a very busy harbor. Across the channel we could see the mainland, the town of Galatas.

We walked up to the clock tower, a steep but relatively short walk along narrow streets and cobble stoned alleys. We passed lots of whitewashed two-story houses with terracotta-tiled roofs and many with wooden balconies. The clocktower is well maintained and continues to chime on the hour and half hour, but we were not permitted to climb it. I stayed too long and got separated from my little group, so I had to wait at the bottom.

We then began a walk around the main town. Initially we walked along the shoreline which had many shops on one side (There was an ice cream shop featuring 46 flavors.) fishing boats and small boats for hire on the other side. Then the path turned upward and inland. We walked past a gated community and ultimately came down behind a maritime training facility. We ate lunch in the town. Nothing special.

After lunch I returned to the boat while my friends went shopping. Rested and tried to catch up on blog notes. Before dinner there was Greek dancing on the boat. A nice diversion in which I participated with much energy, but little art. We had dinner on the boat while cruising.

We left about 7:00 for Santorini. We were warned that the trip might be rough, but it was not too bad, and it did not interrupt my sleep.