Arrival 8:00am – Departure 5:00pm

8:30am (4 Hour) A Stroll through Spetses: A Mindful Living Tour

As we boarded our tender today, large clouds loomed overhead and the prediction was for a bit of rain. The temperature was delightfully cool, but the clouds blew away and the sun shone brightly all day.

Our guide, Elinia, is not only a brilliant historian but also regales us with the best little folklore tales and stories. We are thoroughly enjoying her! She’s a bubble of energy and calls herself, “our momma” and we are her “babies”!! Almost all of our tour guides have been good but she is the best by far.

The paths and little alleys of the Island are decorated with charming black and white pebble mosaics which also decorate house courtyards and focus on maritime themes such as frigates, mermaids, octopuses, and anchors.

Spetses is an upscale affluent island in Greece. The name Spetses is derived from the Italian word spezie “spices”. The town of Spetsai is the only large settlement on the island. The lush green island is surrounded by turquoise bays and is home to about 4,000 full time people, but swells immensely during tourist season.

An unusual aspect of Spetsai is that no private automobiles are allowed within the town limits which is lovely except that the motorcycles are annoyingly noisy and far too numerous! Other modes of transport are walking, horse-drawn carriages, bicycles and mopeds. Ferries and high-speed hydrofoils arrive regularly from the Athenian port of Piraeus. 

The island boasts a long maritime tradition and is famous for its significant Naval contribution to Greece’s 1821 War of Independence. We visited the Museum of Bouboulina, named for a female warrior who played a significant role in the War of Independence. Her 6th generation grandson welcomed us into the courtyard and provided a history on her house in which he still lives on the lower level.

The house has a beautiful carved, wooden Florentine ceiling, 18th- and 19th-century furniture, an interesting collection of old weapons including her favorite gun as well as fine porcelain and rare books. Laskarina Bouboulina was a heroic naval commander who went down in history for her role in the revolution. An inveterate businesswoman, she managed her own trading ships and ended up leading them into battle when the Revolution was declared, and all the while raising TEN children. But the only woman in Greek history to attain the rank of admiral did not enjoy her glory for long. She fell victim to male treachery and was murdered (shot in the head) in 1825 by a fellow islander in what was basically a riot in the tradition of the Hatfields and the McCoys.

As we walked along the paths through the shops and businesses, we stopped for refreshment at a little café along the waterfront…..the ever famous Greek Ouzo (licorice-flavored liquor) and a glass of White Greek wine, and perhaps a little taste of the states, Coca Cola! 

Adorable colorful cafés dot the streets of the quaint little town.

There is a wonderful fish market where the locals will come to peruse the catch for their dinners tonight.

The seas are crystal clear and you can gaze down at fish and tons of sea urchins.

This is the most famous church in Spetses. It is found in a picturesque location a short walk from Dapia, the port of Spetses. It is easily distinguishable by the tall bell tower made of Tinian marble

The Celebration of Agios Mamas takes place on September 2nd in the small beach only 2 min walk from Dapia. After the evening mass children gather on the beach at the foot of the Agios Mammas church. They then set sail to homemade small boats with candles on them. The legend goes that each boat carrying a lit candle helps save the life of one man at sea.

The island’s craftsmen have kept alive a centuries-old skill of building and repairing wooden vessels.  Only problem being that in older times, they cut down all the pine trees to make boats.

We’ve really enjoyed our day on Spetses and could totally envision living here!

We decided to have a lazy evening and order room service for dinner. Dressing up every evening takes effort!