Getting To Poros

"I don't know which affected me more deeply-the story of the lemon groves just opposite us or the sight of Poros itself when suddenly I realized we were sailing through the streets. If there is one dream which I like above all others it is that of sailing on land. Coming into Poros gives the illusion of the deep dream.Suddenly the land converges on all sides and the boat is squeezed into a narrow strait from which there is no egress. The men and women of Poros are hanging out of the windows just above your head. You pull in right under their frosty nostrils, as though for a shave and a haircut en route. The loungers on the quay are walking with the same speed as the boat. They can walk faster than the boat if they choose to quicken their pace."
Henry Miller-The Collossus of Marousi

With ferries leaving every few hours and Flying Dolphins leaving from Pireaus almost every hour, going to Poros could not be easier. You don't even have to wake up early. The trip there is enjoyable. I prefer to take the ferry boat. I stop at a kiosk and pick up the International Herald Tribune and before I have read the whole thing we have arrived at the island of Aegina. From there the trip gets more interesting as we stop in Methana, a town on the Peleponisos.
 

The narrow straits between Poros and the Peleponisos has always been my favorite ferry trip and I have taken it dozens of times. It always seems to me like we are sailing up a big lazy old river with the mountains of the Argolis on the right and the wooded hills of Poros on the left. In the coves and bays there are  sailboats and yachts anchored in safety while the sailors themselves swim nearby, water ski or eat in the tavernas on the shore. This whole sheltered area between the island and the mainland is like a watersport paradise.

The town of Poros is impressive enough, even without the destroyer Averoff anchored there. It serves as a Naval museum and has taken the place of the original Averoff, liberator of the Dodecanese islands and the most famous ship in Greece's history, which sat in the bay here for decades until it was moved to the bay in Faliron, where it too is a museum. This is probably the second most famous ship for its part in the countercoup against the dictatorship when it left Greece and the captain and crew were granted asylum in Italy.

As Henry Miller describes it above, the impression you get upon arrival is that you are sailing down mainstreet. The harbor road is lined with cafes and alive with activity. There are taxis waiting to take you wherever you need to go and the small water taxis that can ferry you to the mainland. There is also a small car ferry boat that crosses continuously,every fifteen minutes all day long.

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