The mainstay of the Greek economy is Tourism. Millions of tourists each year descend upon Greece to visit ancient ruins and to go swimming in the beautiful water. Construction projects stop because all of the workers literally quit to go work in the tourist trade somewhere. Boats suddenly become regular in-between the major islands and when you walk into a shop you are greeted by English and not Greek.
However, the Greeks are also not stupid. They carefully corral the tourists into the Plaka so they have the more trendy portions of Athens. to themselves. There are some areas that tourists never venture. They may be cooking (o.k. frying to a burnt crisp) the goose that laid the golden eggs of Kos and Mykonos by vase exploitations of those islands, but they keep some other islands to themselves.
One of those islands is the island of Spetses, two posh islands with the Greeks. The tiny town of .It is located in the Argo-Soronic gulf just off the tip of Argolis. It is accessible via flying dolphin from Athens, Hydra, and from smaller costal ports such as Ermioni, Porto Heli and even Nauplion. . Spetses is also accessible via water taxi from Porto Heli and neighboring ports. It is known as the Pine Island because of numerous pine trees that cover its steep slopes. It has a very rugged coastline that plunges into crystal clear water. Since it is so small, few ferryboats call to port on the island and there are few cars on the island. The main means of transport are horse carriage, moped or bicycle. There is only one real settlement on the island. At one time there was an English boarding school that was written about by Bacon, however it closed down. Speses also gains the destination of being one of the few islands that were never inhabited by the Turks. Since the island is very beautiful, as well as close to Athens, the Greeks have kept its location a careful secret from the outside world. Spetses is the trendy place to visit. The average cost of a villa is over a million Dollars. It is the home of vacationing Greeks. If you’re anyone, you have a place there. Jackie Kennedy Onnassus is said to have had a house on the island.
On my first trip through Spetses I was going to rent a moped and bike around the island loop much the same way I had motored around Corfu. I arrived via the morning Flying Dolphin. I was already familiar with the waterfront because I had seen a play (Eummendies) put on by an American thespian troop/class a few nights before. Upon arriving on the island, the first thing I had to do was to book my ticket home. The flying dolphin operators in those days for some reason didn’t sell round trip tickets. After settling on the 4:00 P.M. flying dolphin I set out to find a bike rental place.
The first bike shop I came across (and one of two I could find on the island) had old, manual transmission 4 speed mopeds. Just my luck. I hadn’t ridden a manual transmission moped for almost four years and I had been sick as a dog that day. As I was negotiating I explained to the operator that it had been a while since I had ridden a manual transmission and could he please refresh my memory. At this the owner panicked. He probably guessed that I never had driven a moped before. He took a look at my license, which said class C automobile and said it was no good for mopeds. I pleaded with him to no avail. He wasn’t going to rent me one. He suggested that I rent a bicycle instead. I gave up pleading with him and continued to wander the street for a place to rent a bike, either mechanical or primate driven. I found a bike shop that had decent bicycles so I decided I might as well get some exercise and bike around the island.
Bicycling around Spetses was one of my more pleasant bicycling experiences. Part was the quality of the bike. The seat was the right height, the gears shifted and it ran fine. Part was because I had the road to my self. Few people, if anyone, passed me at all. Another very important part is that the road around island was for the most part under the cover of trees. Or at leas the half that I was navigating around. I was never out in the blazing sun for too long. There was always shade to retreat into, unlike Poros where, for some unknown reason, I elected to ride up the bigger or its two peeks in the noonday heat.
Bicycling around the island had some advantages over a moped. First I was going slower so I was able to enjoy the scenery more, and see more of the little side trails down to scenic baylets (small bays). I didn’t have to constantly start and stop the engine every time I got off to take pictures. There was a pleasant breeze that cooled me off during my trek. I ended up going south about 1/3 of the way around the island when I found a beach that was too good to pass up. It was a nice inlet with huge sailboat anchored in the center of it. The water was calm and clear and the beach was sandy. Most importantly, there was a very scenic taverna located up the beach. I spent a large chunk of my day at the beach before electing to return to the town of Spetses. Again, It was quite pleasant to ride under the trees, though more of the sun was able to get through. It was a nice diversion, as well as a needed bit of exercise for my legs.
Two years later I returned to the island of Spetses. The reason for my return was because I had enjoyed it because of its natural beauty. I had enjoyed the scenic pine trees and the beautiful water. Besides that, my Great aunt would have killed me if I didn’t visit the island she lived on for a good part of her life. But that was only an after thought.
On my previous trip I had only made it a third of the way around the island. This time I was determined to make it all of the way around the island on a bicycle. I decided to rent from the same bicycle shop because I knew they had good quality bikes. I passed by the same moped shop, with most likely the same old bikes and didn’t even bother trying. I most likely would have been able to rent one because I had more experience negotiating with moped dealers, and knew how to talk them into allowing me if they questioned my credentials. I biked the opposite direction. As I biked I passed numerous beaches, that called to me but I was goal driven. I made it around to the southern side of the island (Spetses town is on the north) and took a picture of Anti-Spetses to prove I had seen another Greek island. People can’t visit Anti-Spetses though, it’s privately owned.
I made it perhaps forty percent the way around when I saw a beach too good to pass. It was in the bottom of a very steep drop (that led me to believe that Spetses had volcanic origins.) There was shelving that resembled lava flows in this very scenic little bay. There were a few people there, taken to this awesome bay by a water taxi. Again there was a little taverna, much smaller than the one I had visited before, to serve patrons of this bay. Food was decent, but pre-prepared in a larger kitchen. I spent the day snorkeling in the bay. It was then time for a decision. I knew how long it took me to bike there and the terrain. The terrain was somewhat up and down and mostly in the sun, the pine trees on this part had burned in a fire years before. I didn’t know how far around the island I was. I was sure my map lacked the little bays that I had dipped in and out of on the ring road. I knew I was less than half way around the island. I elected to go back and hang out in the town. That way I knew I would be able to catch my boat with time to spare. I had failed. There was still about 30 percent of the circle road I had not traveled on. It was the 30 percent on the far side of the island from the town.
Again, two years latter I returned to Spetses. This time it was different. I had just visited 9 islands in the Aegean. It was the very end of my trip. I was taking my lay over in Ermioni and making good use of it. I was resting. I had the choice of visiting Poros, Hydra, or Spetses if I wanted to see an island or catching the bus up to Nauplion if I wanted to see a cool town. I wanted to rest though. I knew if I went one more place it would be Spetses. One evening my Aunt’s cousin asked me if I was interested in going over to Spetses in a water taxi and seeing a play put on by an American friend of his. Since I had seen Emedies, put on by the same friend, I jumped at the choice. I knew I would be seeing a good play, in English, on a very cool island. So I returned to Spetses. The pine trees refreshed my sightseeing psyche. I left glad I had come, and not disappointed I had missed finishing my bike ride around the island. For some day, I know I will return and see that elusive third of the island.
Contact info: