Subject: BS: POSTCARD FROM SPETSES 2025
From:
Roger the Skiffler
Date: 22 Sep 25 - 09:23 AM
Eagle-eyed ‘Catters will have noticed there was no Postcard from ‘Dendros’ this June. We were scheduled to go but Herself came down with tonsilitis the day before we were due to fly so we had to cancel.
However, we are just back from a fortnight on our 44th or 45th Greek island, Spetses. Delays at Heathrow due to worries about a lithium battery powered mobility scooter delayed our departure by an hour and a half which meant we missed the intended ferry. The later one was slower because of dark and intermediate stops so we didn’t get to our apartment until 11.15pm Greek time. Our apartment was on the site of an old cotton factory & offices. Its Art Deco façade had been retained and housed the café and behind was a pool and ‘notorious nursery’ (famous gardens) were blocks of 4 apartments. Of various sizes. We had our block to ourselves for most of the time. The staff were very friendly and the breakfast choices excellent. Bizarrely, our kitchenette had more cupboard space than ours at home, a 4 hob and oven stove, large fridge, filter coffee machine and kettle. However, if guests were intending to cook there was only one saucepan, one frypan, 2 spatulas and 3 place settings of cutlery & china. Fine for us as we only made tea and coffee and stored only milk, wine and oregano crisps.
The highlight of our holiday was the Armata Festival which celebrated the 1922 victory of a Greek fleet led by local
heroine Laskarina Bouboulina over a Turkish fleet. She was late made an Admiral by both Greece and Russia after her assassination. The celebrations included gymnastic and dance displays, a production of Medea, a free concert by George Sabanis (the same night was a basketball semi-final between Greece and Turkey, which was as popular as the concert and had a more enthusiastic audience!) and a spectacular re-enactment of the battle with music, narration, fireworks and culminating in the burning of a replica Turkish ship. The whole island and lots of visitors from the mainland packed the main square and all vantage points.
The island used to be traffic-free and now only locals can have four wheeled vehicles and the rest, which included all sorts of 2 and 3 wheelers including some electric and some versions on golf carts , must outnumber the full time population of 5,000 by 10 to 1! Bicycles, including electric ones, and electric scooters were also popular, especially with children and invaded the ‘pedestrian’ precincts at night, often without lights, making them as dangerous as the narrow roads.
We have been to many islands where there have been small pebble mosaics in churchyards but in Spetses they were everywhere, including several whole streets and squares. With most ferry passengers heading for their accommodation with wheely luggage, this made for a steady background noise, almost as bad as the motorbikes.
From our apartment balcony, we had glimpses of the sea and the dock where many superyachts 9up to a dozen at a time) moored. Spetses is well-known from the 19th century as the home to wealthy Greeks with old and new mansions (traditional style compulsory). The superyachts all seemed to be registered in Malta. Three we looked up could be rented for between 100,000,eu and 600,000eu a week. One, owned by a Russian agribusiness oligarch, was not for rent but was reputed to cost 10 million eu to build and a million more to tun each year. Other more modest boats of all sizes, local and visiting, were to be seen and there was a daily water tanker from the mainland as well as a variety of ferries.
In the late 19th century, a wealthy patron, Mr Anygyrios, returned from America, replanted the forests on the island (depite some fires in recent years now very verdant). He also built roads, built the 5-star Poseidon hotel in 1914 which dominates the main square though the guests had a close view of the festivities their view seawards was blocked by the Armata stages and they also had the noise! His own mansion has now fallen into disrepair and is being restored.
New building has been kept to low-rise traditional styles. One area, clearly home to Greek-Americans is called Beverley Hills and includes Roosevelt Terrace, with manicured gardens and an ersatz ‘village square’.
The island was unpopulated from the 10th to the 17th centuries and was then repopulated with Greeks from Albania and Turkey so most buildings, and nearly all the churches date from the 18th and 19th centuries, or in that style.
We found a beach that was quiet, except for weekends and had a small cantina with friendly staff. We also did some, mostly level, coastal walks, there are still many traditional woodworking boatyards, but not much evidence of farming. The many olive trees seemed uncultivated. We saw one farm with goats in an enclosure (no goat on any menu we could see) and a poultry farm with chickens, geese, ducks, peacocks and, sadly, some cage birds, being bred.
The 2024 Spetse guidebook in ‘English’ was clearly written by Google Translate so made little sense! Despite this we found plenty of places to eat, the food was good and portions generous, but few local specialities. Fish baked in the oven in tomato sauce seemed to be the only one. I also had one dish I hadn’t had before: beef cheeks in an aubergine puree on a sourdough base ,like a calzone. I still managed not to have the same man course twice. We tried about 10 different eateries and by the second week had given up on lunch as the evening portions were so large (I didn’t put any weight on!). Paying cash was welcomed and bills were usually rounded down and sometimes our offer to tip was refused!
Novelist John Fowles taught on Spetses at the ‘Greek Eton’ which is an impressive campus, now specialising on environmental issues. Its Magus Café was open to the public which allowed us admire the buildings and impressive sports facilities. His own house is now a holiday let.
Given the island’s reputation as a home for the wealthy we were pleased to find prices were consistent with others we have visited. There were lots of trendy boutiques and jewelry shops but there was only an occasional cruise ship, about 12 a year thy said. The traditional pony and trap transport was popular with day visitors or to go to beaches instead of the bus. We used foot, only about half- an hour’s walk each way to the one we favoured. We were amused to see cannons everywhere, most still facing out to see, though some repurposed as mooring bollards . We speculated that the two out side the Town Hall was to repel angry ratepayers.
The preparations for the Armata were impressive. The team of riggers and roadies from Proshow put the stage up in 2 days and took it down in a day. The sea wall was whitewashed, as was the Town Hall and the roads swept, some potholes filled, though enthusiasm waned the further from the Town Hall you went. We were pleased to see much use of recycling bins, including for clothes, and attempts to deter litter, especially in the town. Apart from one large, long-derelict hotel there was no graffiti to be seen, rare for Greece.
Our new seajet return ferry, on a cloudy and windy day, made light of the conditions, unlike the old car ferries, and we had time for a meal at Athens airport before our flight home. The day after we got back we had a call at 8am (10 am Greek time) from our ‘Dendros’ landlord wanting our 2026 dates as he was already getting enquiries. So we’ve booked a BA flight for next June, cheaper than using a TUI charter flight. Now we just have to choose n island for September. Watch this space.
RtS
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sj
