4th-6th May 2012
Boarding a car ferry at Piraeus port. The ferry is called the ‘Katerina Star’.
Passengers on the deck of the ferry.
Spetses Island, Saronic Gulf
Cafés and restaurants in Spetses town.
Looking out to sea. The Peloponnese, Mainland Greece away in the far distance.
Sea front, Spetses. It’s known as Dápia.
A horse and cart passing by on the road. They offer excursions around the town to tourists.
A pleasant back street in Spetses.
Outside the Kapodistrian Intellectual House. It is a library and cultural centre.
Attractive doorway to a house.
Tatiana sitting in front of the War Memorial of the Spetses Navy. There is a plaque with an emblem containing a cross, anchor, snake and owl, plus the words ‘Freedom or death’ in Greek.
A canon, part of the memorial.
Courtyard outside the Cathedral and Monastery of Ayios Nikolaos.
The island’s cathedral is of great historical importance as it was here where the island’s independence flag was raised on 3rd April 1821. It was also here where the dead body of Paul Bonaparte, nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte, who came to Greece to fight on the side of Greeks, was allegedly kept in a barrel of rum for three whole years!
Decorative stone paving outside the cathedral.
View looking down at the sea from near the cathedral.
The cathedral and the blue dome of the Church of the Spetses Martyrs opposite.
Tatiana outside the cathedral.
Looking up at the cathedral’s bell tower.
Harbour front promenade with a statue of Laskarina Bouboulina (1771 – 1825). She was a naval commander and heroine of the Greek War of Independence in 1821.
The Poseidonion Grand Hotel on the harbour front.
Tony and Tatiana by the Laskarina Bouboulina statue.
Outside a small church in a narrow street.
Hydra Island, Saronic Gulf
5th May 2012
Very close to Spetses Island.
People boarding a boat moored in the harbour.
View across the harbour towards boats and the town opposite.
An attractive view of Hydra town raising up above the harbour.
Another view of the harbour side.
Outside Hydra Cathedral, which is centrally located at the back of the harbour. The cathedral is dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and is also part of a monastery. It dates from after 1774 when the original church was destroyed by an earthquake.
The cathedral’s entrance portico.
A short passageway leading to a courtyard at the cathedral. The cathedral museum is located here.
Another passageway going beneath the cathedral’s bell tower through to the harbour.
Tony and Tatiana by the base of the cathedral’s bell tower.
Tatiana in a side street. Postcards for sale.
Outside a derelict building. Nice colour and texture on the old door and wall.
Tatiana sitting on a wall, a back street in Hydra.
Looking towards a war memorial. It is built of stone with canons at either side.
A small square in a residential area.
A small shop selling fruit and nuts.
Tatiana outside a building. Hellenic Postbank.
Outside a ladies’ clothes shop, on the main street, by the harbour.
People eating and drinking at covered tables by the harbour.
View of the harbour from a café.
Another view at the harbour side.
Back in Spetses
6th May 2012