Greece Travel Index Greek Islands
Poros Town
|
Poros Town
|
|
"... It has something of Venice: the canal, communication between the
houses being by boats, luxury, idleness, sensual
temptation, something lustful. A place for
international lovers, providing much magic. There
is something of the closed space here, with the
moon high up in the sky, and all day long the
copper echo of the music from the Naval School.
Last night going up to bed, I stood for a moment
on the balcony of my room, staring at the mountain
lines opposite..."
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
"If I should ever
attain the fulfilment which the Buddists
speak of, if I should ever have the choice
of attaining Nirvana or remaining behind
to guide those who come, I say now let me
remain behind, let me hover as a gentle
spirit above the roofs of Poros and look
down upon the voyager with a smile of
peace and good cheer. "
The town of Poros is actually an island in itself seperated by a small canal from the rest of the island. In ancient times it was two islands, Spheria and Kalavria, which gradually became joined by an isthmus of sand. Kalavria, the larger island was wooded and had lots of water. Spheria, which is now Poros town, was a volcano. The town of Galata across the Poros straits is the doorway to the Peloponessos. With bus service to Naphlion and other cities it also serves as an escape hatch because even on those rare occasions when the sea is too rough for ferries and flying dolphins, you can always take a bus or taxi back to Athens, so you never have to worry about missing your flight home. Besides the little taxi boats there are also ferries which cross every 15 minutes so you can have a car on the island and easily get to the mainland. |
|||
| Cafe life is thriving in Poros town and the straits serve as an ever changing screen as ferries, cruiseships, sailboats and water taxis pass through on their way to the other Saronic islands or back to Pireaus. From breakfast and espresso until a late night ouzo there are always people to watch and talk to and prices are reasonable. There is an international press shop where you can buy the Herald Tribune, the Athens News and even the USA Today to keep up with baseball scores and news from home. | |||
|
|||
|
As for night life in Poros, the best nightclub is called the Sirocco which plays European music with some Greek music mixed in. Things don't really get started until around midnight but then it goes on until 4 in the morning or later. There are also a number of music bars, divided with roughly half of them playing English music and the other half Greek. Many of the bars are owned by foreigners who visited and stayed. Because many people come for weekends the bars can get pretty wild on Friday, Satuday and Sunday nights. |
|||
|
|
The Nobel Prize winning poet George Seferis has written about Poros:
Poros Town may remind you of Venice. The main street is the
channel that passes between it and the
town of Galati on the Peloponessos across
the way. Its a very lively area and just
sitting in the cafes is entertainment
enough on those days when you don't feel
like exploring the island or the Argolis or venturing into Athens. A
line of small taxi boats on the wharf
bring people back and forth to
Galati and there is the small car ferries that go back and forth all day long as well.The upper village is
very different from the cafes and tourist
shops of the main harbor road. The streets
are small and winding with many businesses
that are not tourist oriented and some of
the better restaurants wich are frequented
by locals and knowledgable
travelers.
Beyond the ferry is aline of sailboats and just after that the
Naval Acadamy and the destroyer Averoff
which is open to the public. For those who
don't know their Greek history this ship
was part of a counter-coup against the
dictatorship. When it failed, the captain
and crew sailed to Italy and were granted
asylum.
