Memories of Our Trip to Galaxidi
By Helen Grubner. Filed in Uncategorized |
Galaxidi on a Sunny Day
Wednesday 7 November 2012 – Our planned holiday away with Ray and Heather had arrived. We had booked two rooms at the Art Hotel Archontiko in Galaxidi (near Delphi) for a three night stay. Just before 1000 hours we all met on the jetty to catch the sea ferry “Katerina Star” over to Kosta on the mainland. There we would load up the car and get on our way … first stop at a bakery in Porto Heli to buy breakfast delights. The day was rather overcast, however, not cold … second stop for coffee high up in the hills above the new town of Epidavros.
From there we headed north, then west until we reached the Rio-Antirrio Bridge. The world’s longest multi-span cable-stayed bridge and an engineering masterpiece … the piers can slide on their gravel beds to accommodate tectonic movement. Opened on 7 August 2004, this bridge is 2.88km long, with six lanes and the car toll is Euro 13.20. The bridge crosses the Gulf of Corinth near Patras, linking the town of Rio on the Peloponneses to Antirrio in mainland Greece. We would stop at Nafpaktos (meaning boatyard) – a town with a population of approximately 20,000 and situated on a bay on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth. Costas new of an excellent restaurant called Papoulis … we would go there after a stroll through the town and around the lovely tiny port, having lunch on a balcony directly over the water. We shared various plates of wonderful food … the Kalamari being especially outstanding and a very good wine too.
Our travels then continued east along the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth until we arrived in Galaxidi … a distance of some 325km from leaving Kosta in the morning. Galaxidi is a very picturesque small town with a population of approximately 3,000 … it looked so attractive even on a cloudy day. Situated on a natural double harbour surrounded by mountains, the deeper main harbour provides docking facilities for yachts and small fishing boats and is lined with restaurants and bars. The smaller harbour is more residential and it was near here where we found Art Hotel Archontiko where we would stay. Some rooms have round shaped beds, others have boat shaped beds … we looked at four then chose two rooms next to each other upstairs with conventional shaped beds, stone walls, balconies and views of the Gulf of Corinth and Parnassos Mountain. The owner Argyrula was very charming and nothing was too much trouble. Breakfast was enjoyed sitting in the sun in a lovely stone-paved courtyard … on leaving we were given a pot of her homemade jam to take away with us which I thought was a very nice gesture. Once checked into our accommodation, we decided to take a walk to the main harbour … it was late afternoon, we slipped into the first establishment we came to, had a drink or two, left there and moved on to a restaurant called “Memories from the Ports” for dinner, back to our earlier watering hole then a rowdy walk home in the rain at an hour I cannot recollect.
During the night the wind howled and I thought the next day would not dawn with favourable weather for our excursion to Delphi, however, although it was a little windy, the sun was shining in between the clouds and in fact, it was a perfect day for taking photographs. The drive from Galaxidi to the Archaeological Site of Delphi is a splendid one. Acres upon acres of olive trees, a silvery pale green, stretch across the valley like a carpet. As the road winds up the mountains it is such a wonderful site to look down upon, with the Gulf of Corinth and the town of Itea further in the distance. Best known for The Oracle at the sanctuary which was dedicated to Apollo, Delphi was thought of by the Greeks as the centre of Earth. We decided to walk through the archaeological site first, doing our best to avoid all organised tour groups then after a refreshments break at the cafe on site, we visited the Archaeological Museum. Lastly, it was a walk to The Oracle a little further down the road. When I first visited Delphi back in the early 1970’s, I felt very much a sense of belonging there … that same feeling I had nearly 40 years’ on. Immediately west of the archaeological site is situated the modern town of Delphi … a perfect place to stop for a drink and to share an amazing platter of mezes. Returning to our hotel for a siesta, that evening we again walked to the main harbour for dinner, finishing up at a more modern bar for drinks … what a fabulous day.
Friday we awoke to the most glorious day and Argyrula suggested an excursion to Trizonia. The only inhabited island in the Gulf of Corinth, we drove the half hour or so there, found we had just missed a boat and so telephoned for a sea taxi to take us across from Hania. The island is incredibly green, it has a beautiful natural port with a marina for luxurious yachts … we strolled around the port and coastline where sea urchins were clearly visible on the rocks, before sitting down at a seaside cafe to drink the island dry – they only had two beers! Once back in Galaxidi, we set off to walk around the town, returning to “Memories from the Ports” for lunch then back to our hotel for a siesta. There is only one restaurant in the smaller harbour … built in 1800, Art Cafe Liotrivi is an old olive oil press now turned into a gallery/taverna by owner/artist Giorgos Minas. We ate there that evening before heading around once more to the main harbour for drinkies.
On Saturday it was time to leave and the weather once again could not have been nicer. On the road by 0930 hours, an hour later we were back in Nafpaktos, ready to explore the Venetian Fortress archaeological site which towers above the town and with wonderful views of the Rio-Antirrio Bridge in the distance. After sitting in the sun for a coffee break at a cafe on the side of the hill, we set off yet again, stopping next in Rio to photograph the bridge. It was getting well on in the afternoon when we finally made it to the taverna where we had planned to stop for lunch. Once back in Porto Heli, we visited a bakery to buy bread and for Costas, what he called some ‘light’ sweets … he cannot say no to them. It was also in Porto Heli that I captured the amazing sunset … a sea taxi from Kosta to Spetses and back in the house a little before 1800 hours feeling very satisfied with our time away.