Wednesday was a particularly clear day. From our balcony our view down the Saronic Gulf was clear to St Georges island, with Flevos on the left of it - and across the other side....
Aegina (famous here for pistachios),
Methana (on the Peloponnese, and mainly obscured by Aegina, a volcano with active vents burping sulphurous scents and hot water),
Poros (which we usually cannot discern as her outline is below the skyline of Peloponnese, and she disappears into the hazy shadows of the mainland - there lives "local-kiwi-alien") ,
and Idra (or Hydra as many English speakers prefer it).
Between us and Idra we can also see on many days (even when we can't make out Poros) Tselevinia - some rocky outcrops jutting from the bottom corner of that part of the Peloponnese; the thumb on a 3 fingered hand..
On Wednesday all these places were two dimensional shapes in varying shades of blue and steely grey, outlined by a sky, white at the horizons, shading up to that sun-bleached blue that goes with scorched environments.
When we go across the road we can also see some little rocky islets north of Aegina, and Salamis, away around on our right. (From the balcony they are obscured by an apartment.)
There is a mural down in the harbour, we can see it from F's office window, that celebrates the anticipated 2500th anniversary of the battle of Salamis. Cats aren't interested in human history or the history of human battles but I will allow F to put a link here
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| Sorry about the parked ferry - it seems to be a permanent feature these days.... |
Two and half thousand years is a long time to keep celebrating a battle. Lots of history and cultural changes have flowed over this land and the sea we can see since that battle played out. It's outcome might be of limited significance to modern people living with disease pandemic, globalization, digital technology, and aeroplanes, but it makes a good picture.
That's one helluva view there. Amazing that you can see Idra too on a clear day.
ReplyDeleteTselevina is where my husband often goes fishing. Can be very rough though.
We can see Methana and the lights of Piraeus on a clear night but Aegina is behind a hill.
I hope the celebrations can take place as planned without pandemic restrictions .
Remarkably Idra is the one thing we can see most days (well Aegina of course) and today I really studied what we can see in the direction of Salamis and realized that Angistri is part of that view as well. The charts say it's hidden behind Aegina, but I realized that bit of Aegina is long and low and Angistri sticks up. We were warned about Tselevinia when we went sailing that way last year so gave is a wide berth one way and came through the gap (because all the other yachts were) on the way back. It's a really lovely approach to Poros from that side (well it's pretty special both ways, but that has got the old fort and houses rather than hotels on the island shore - so very pretty.)
DeleteOh how I wish I had a view like that.
ReplyDeleteI’m not far from the water but I can’t see it and I certainly can’t walk there.
I guess I should be grateful for the views of paddocks and livestock rather than someone’s wall
Counting my blessings but so envious