28 - 29 October 2013 One of the countries' most important National Holidays.

This beautiful morning was the start of the National Holiday that Greece celebrates the legendary
Ochi Day (Meaning NO DAY) the refusal of the small nation's request by Mussolini
to surrender during WWII.

It is worth reading this article to familiarize yourselves with the brief description of the history. The short version is when Greece said no to Mussolini, the Italians and Germans needed to march into Greece and this delayed Hitler's plan to invade Russia (Barbarosa) by 6 weeks thus giving Russia more preparation time and thus changing the outcome of World War II. Should you read the article listed below, you can see the quotes from all of the World Leaders thanking Greece for their sacrifice and valor.

http://globalgreekworld.blogspot.gr/2010/10/28th-october-1940-day-greece-said-loud.html

We went to town, it was vibrating with anticipation and excitement.

People from Athens had come for the long weekend, boats from every where had flooded the port.
Children were running to school all dressed up for the parade.

The military parade takes place in Northern Greece, while in Athens and the rest of the country including cities, town and villages have parades with schools.

The town was dressed up in Blue and white the National colors of Greece.

We were listening to the national marches and songs from the 1940s as well as the narration of that
incredible day in the Nation's history that helped change the History of Europe.

It was very touching for me as I had not been to Greece for so many years during this Holiday.

As I have mentioned at a different entry the island of Poros is located within 3 minutes by boat from the mainland and the small town of Galatas, therefore as we reached the downtown area of Poros we looked across the water and saw that the parade in Galatas had started already here it is!

On our side in the meantime the navy officers had just finished putting together the

decorations with the flags as well as preparing the marble monument dedicated to the fallen heroes of 1912-22.

The town was looking so so well and we saw a little boy dressed with the uniform of what was called an "Evzon". He looked adorable, it reminded me the time I had found one that fit our son when he was 5 and he looked so good in it, very touching. He was part of his play at the Greek school he attended.

Here is some information on this traditional uniform

The Evzon is the name of several historical elite light infantry and mountain units of the Greek Army. Today, it refers to the members of the Presidential Guard  an elite ceremonial unit that guards the Greek Tomb of the Unknown Soldier , the Presidential Mansion and the gate of Evzones camp in Athens. The Evzones are also known, colloquially, as Tsoliades 

Though the Presidential Guard is a predominantly ceremonial unit, all Evzones are volunteers drawn from the Hellenic Army's Infantry, Artillery and Armoured Corps. Prospective Evzones are usually identified at the Army Recruit Training Centres during Basic Training; there is a minimum height requirement of 1.86 m (6' 1.2") to join.

The unit is famous around the world for its unique traditional uniform, which has evolved from the clothes worn by the klephts who fought the Ottoman occupation of Greece. The most visible item of this uniform is the fustanella, a kilt-like garment. Their proven valour and peculiar dress turned them into a popular image for the Greek soldier.

The schools were at their best, the top of the class was carrying the flag and everyone was so so excited and proud! Their teachers were there ready to direct them as soon as the band struck their first note.

The band started the parade with traditional marches.

And here are the children in all their glory.

Part of the high school was wearing the traditional costumes of the region.

I remember my sparkling white blouse and crisp navy blue skirt, WOW it

was so emotional, bringing back the care free times in my life.

Even this little man was moving the flag back and forth with the beat!

Later in the afternoon, we watched the end of the summer  sailing regatta that had gone to several different islands. They came to the harbor last night, all of 75 sailing boats. The following morning they all gathered in the bay in front of our house and presented us with a phenomenal view of their exercises

 a wonderful finale for all. 

I had to take this not so clearly focused picture from inside the house it looked like a perfect shot.

The morning of October 29th was so glorious that we decided to go swimming maybe for one last time before we come back to the US. We found the perfect spot with no wind and a crystal clear sea.

The view of the open cerulean sky and the sparkling sea was perfect.

We could see the small transparent fish swim in the shallow waters.

I need to show you this amazing picture, this is a perfect shot to notice how the weather changes meaning the direction of the wind one can easily see it on the calm sea, it is almost behind the buoy.

At the edge of the beach there was an incredible rock formation, it was so impressive, as if there were roots of a large tree. 

An absolutely perfect day.

25-27 October More exploring

The night before while walking up into the higher part of the town we came across a restaurant we had passed before.
It's name is " The Garden" it is truly inside a garden and surrounded by citrus, jasmine, basil and a huge white bougainvillea.

It was so tempting, I took a picture of this part of town bellow, it was looking so sleepy and pristine .
One can see the white wash of the sidewalks that goes on in most Greek Islands religiously.
It almost looks like  a movie set doesn't it?

On the way out I was handed a beautiful bouquet of jasmine and basil by a family member of the owner of the restaurant.

We continued the next morning our exploration to this small world that keeps offering us more surprises each time as we climb it's steep steps.

Here are some memories of that walk.

We fell in love with these porches that have such abundance of color , touches of the old world that was and the basic simplicity of life.

The fall roses are still going strong with the endless vistas beyond. .

I love this door it looks as one is looking at a black and white picture, it was a very old building

obviously with such character.

The caper bush is growing on it's feet so simply with no expectations!

Nothing is wasted, one finds the right use for so many things we would have thrown away, had they ceased to be useful.

The beautiful curtains that adorn most all the doors and windows are hand made by the owners of the homes.

Giving them privacy as well as filtering the strong summer  sun from the homes.

Unlike most outdoor white washing this particular home owner additionally painted with black all the rock formations. Pretty unique.

By the way the corner tile that is placed on the tiled roofs comes from the ancient times it is called: acrokeramo.

Here is some more information on it:

 The concept has been that the symbols of the trade are entangled in a traditional Greek ornamental edge tile. The name of which is ''akrokeramon'' and goes as far back as decorating ancient greek temples, to house roofs in later days through out the coutry's architectual history course. Although unknown to most this ornament does stand for a really deep philosophical message. The uplifting of the spirit and soul or on the other hand it's downfall due to each person's life volitions (symbolized in the form of the double counterfacing spires). That can either bring each one of us nearer to God (the escalating petals on the upper part) and if chosen otherwise to the absolute elimination of virtue or any sence of goodness (the lower part of the ''flower'')

When we saw this beautiful boat, we had to stop in awe of it. It was so well kept, with its impeccable teak wood , freshly polished  brass and gorgeous deep blue color! 

A dream indeed.

A closer look of this vessel when it moved back to the port.

Although all of the house walls are made of stone, not all are covered with concrete and white washed. This house was left just with the stone and it stood out form all the white. 

We walked up to the top of this hill, the older homes were proudly reflecting  the afternoon sun against nature's backdrop.

Less is more. No space is wasted as you can see with this orange tree and its protected curb.

One of our favorite beaches which is quite secluded and covered with pine trees. It is called Agape Bay or Love Bay. We have shown it before but every time we go by,  it it looks better and better somehow!
So here it is once more, with it's small Byzantine church by the beautiful grounds of a spectacular home..

This is another beach that is called Russian Bay. You can see the remnants of the old naval station that was built in 1834 to supply their ships of the Aegean Sea. The Russians kept the station until 1900 and since 1989 it has been preserved as a historic and architectural monument.

This is our favorite Taverna in Poros. It is called Gia Mas which means to our health.
 We discovered it 3 years ago on our first trip to Poros and we have been going back ever since. The food is excellent and consists of everything from Pizza to Greek specialties, grilled meats and all types of fresh fish . The owners are Dena and Demetri and all the fish is provided fresh from Demetri's fishing boat every day.

They have almost become family to us and we do spend quite a bit of time talking with Demetri, Dena, their two handsome sons as well as Dena's Mom. A close up of some of Demetri's fish is below.  

Look at how this tree was saved as the wall and house were built around it.
The local stonework is wonderful.

A view from across the Askeli Beach of the houses where we are staying. The sun is so bright one would think that
tons of silver dust has been spread on the sea reflecting it's glorious light.

24 October 2013 a trip to Methana and Trizina

It was a perfect morning, we took the small water taxi this morning from Poros, within 2 minutes we were across to the town of Galatas.

We started off for our excursion to the small peninsula of Methana, known for it's 32 volcanos!
Filled with forests of lemon, orange and olive groves, as well as grapevines going up to practically the top of the  mountains which were painstakingly terraced throughout.




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A lot of people visit Methana for medicinal purpose due to the volcanic actions which formed a number of hot springs and visit the area for hydrotherapy. There also are chlorine springs and springs with fresh water.

This area was involved in the Peloponesian war therefore there is a number of archeological sites also.

On the way into town,we passed by this wonderful beautiful church and the blue coloring of the domes definitely got our attention.  The grounds were spectacular with the trees, playground for children and the view of the sea.

We chose to start by driving first to the area were we would start our climb / hike up to the Kameni Hora (Burned town)  crater of the volcano.

It is located at an altitude of 1.500 feet high and it is very steep and extremely rocky after a certain point.

Ron and I had never climbed such a rocky terrain, the large boulders were not necessarily conveniently placed for two old fogies to get to the top, at one point I started questioning our judgment, were we out of our minds or what???

At last we reached the top and looked at each other in awe, unfortunately, we were not able to climb over a huge bolder to see down to the 190 foot deep crater!

Can you believe the moon over this so harsh landscape, it looks as if we were on Mars!

We found our way back down and took a very deep breath of relief and with tons of satisfaction of
our abilities got back to the car.



I must admit that on our way up, once we had a steady foot and were able to look up the view peering through the rocks and trees down to the sea and beyond all the small islands was unbelievable.

The ferns, cyclamens were covering the rocks all around us, the slow whisper of a slight breeze through the trees was such a joy.

We then went around the island over mountains and down to the water visiting villages that were small and quaint.

One can see the volcanic rocks just before the village below as if the village appeared after the lava cooled off!

This little boat was the only one on the water in a little bay near Vathi,
it looked somehow so special all by it's self, so simple and with hints of yesteryear.













As we reached a high point on the zig zag road coming down the mountain, we could see bellow all the way down the water, we saw a very small port that was completely protected so we drove down, only to find an adorable small village surrounding it with 3 restaurants with tables and chairs right by the dock.

We ordered a delightful lunch with fresh grilled fish and calamari with a Greek village salad.
The sun was warm and sweet, the water calm and two sailboats were dancing slowly in the port.

This is the entrance of the little port, only one boat could go in and out of it at a time.

Hard to leave I must say, we traveled back completing the circle of Methana, we then decided to
head back towards Galata and diverted on the way to the Ancient town of Trizina.

It was obvious by looking at these rock colors and formations that there was a lot of history of numerous minerals from years gone by. The colors reminded us of Sedona only the structure was not the smooth rock formation of the Southwest US.

We drove up to the top of another mountain about 600 ft above Trizina, we saw on the very top this immense and very impressive monastery. We could not go in as it was closed for another hour, a place we must come back to next year. We understand that 17 monks live there and they most likely have a great number of visiting Orthodox monks from the other countries.

The convent of the Mother of God Kecharitomene, “Full of Grace,” was founded joined with a male monastery dedicated to the Mother of God.

We went down to the forests of Trizina they were filled with citrus mostly lemon trees, their limbs were
so heavy with their fruit.

On our way to the gorge that is in Trizina we did see one of the antiquities which was a tower used in the 9th century as a defensive fortification, it was built with such large stones, we were able to get upstairs on it's higher level.

We could see the detail of it's structure and the beautiful views beyond.

As if the day was not exciting enough, these two spring chickens decided to walk up this ...other mountain top where we had been told there is a tremendous gorge filled with lush vegetation and water with waterfalls running through it. Well how could we miss this, we started up the steep path and headed towards the:

I am not sure if I was going much more slowly at that point or was I just out of the energy I had earlier this morning. 

These two sycamore trees were breath taking, it is my favorite tree and they both looked like they had so much history, just look at these trunks!

We were able to hear the water running very far down bellow our feet practically, we peaked down to the gorge and we could not see the end, we arrived at the Devil's Bridge (which is a man made bridge that straddles the gorge), it was a wonderful view of the

waterfall and river bellow. We used our weak telephoto to just give you a hint. The water at that point must have been at least 100 feet bellow.

It is not spring but these two beauties were the perfect ending to a spectacular experience and day for us both.