Greece 2012 Part 9

Greece Part 9
Lavrio & 'Taxiarchis'

Wednesday 5th September 2012
This morning I woke up at sea, on the AQUA MARIA, under bedding that included an authentic Japanese blanket – unexpected proof of the Japanese origins of this ship. Last night we left Mesta port in darkness, which wasn’t helped by the clouds of black smoke coming out of the funnels, but the engines sounded all right, and we will soon be arriving at the Greek mainland port of Lavrio, which is about 55 kms south-east of Athens. The sun still hadn’t risen when we docked at 6.15 a.m. but we could see that this small port was very quiet. Ferries could berth in one part of the harbour, and private yachts and fishing craft were in the other parts, with the town behind. Apparently the population is only about 5,000 people.

Welcome to Lavrio

Macedon of Goutos Lines

There was no port bus for the half dozen of us ‘footies’ so we all had to shoulder our luggage and walk towards the port gates and then the town. Everything seemed very quiet, with the occasional dog walker (dog on a lead) and the more frequent unsavoury-looking dogs lying around the paths and quayside, and still asleep.

I think many of us have read over the last few years about the number of people coming to this port illegally, by road or sea, and quite often from Turkey; one can feel sympathy for those who feel they must leave their own country and hazard their lives to get here, hoping for a better and/or safer life. Of course this is quite a simplistic view; I had read about refugee camps being set up outside the town and the local authorities (and citizens) finding it extremely hard to cope with such a big influx of people, often with no proof of identity, and who would not qualify for refugee or asylum status.

After walking around the town in the heat, we located the local Archaeological Museum and enjoyed its exhibits. Just south of here is Mount Sounion which is now an important site for discovering remains of previous civilisations, many of them now on display here. I liked seeing the acanthus leaves on pillars and other artefacts from the Hellenistic period in Greece (about the 4th Century B.C.). The acanthus was one of the plants that the Romans brought to Britain and I grow it very easily in my own garden in England. We saw some obsidian tools, which are made of volcanic material. We also saw pictures of some wonderful silver jewellery which had been dug up in this area, and was so fine that the Lavrio people had been asked/instructed to give it to the Athens Museum for display there. The old argentiferous ore (silver) found in the 10th Century B.C. in Lavrion had been mined and then abandoned, but the mines had been re-opened in the 1800s by a mining engineer called Andreas Kordelias but are no longer working.

I loved several of the small pieces of statuary, especially one little piece from the 4th Century B.C. which named the three people standing and then said “and adorants”, which I think is a charming description of those sitting at their feet.

Back at the harbour side, near one of the quays, we could see a white-painted lifeboat just floating, apparently abandoned. We could see lettering and a number on it, but it was almost impossible to guess its origins. It seems to be made of fibre-glass, possibly from a 1960s or 1970s passenger ship, so again we will need identification help when we get home.

Abandoned lifeboat

I wonder where this came from

Issham Al Baher

Taxiarchis and her unusually positioned lifeboats

The saintly Taxiarchis

It was soon time to get back to the ferry port and embark on our ship for the overnight sail from Lavrio to Limnos: it is yet another 1970s built ship, this time the saintly TAXIARCHIS of NEL Lines. She was built in Norway in 1976 at 10,749 gross tons and sailed in New Zealand waters until 1994 when she came to Greece, so has had many owners, routes and names over the years. She is classified as a ro-ro/passenger ship. My cabin key was made in Norway, so now I know why.

Taxiarchis for our overnight sail

My cabin key

Macedon looking good

Embarking

Flower bower

Deck view

Cabin

Deck plan

Closed cafe

This was on the wall in the cafe

Deck view on the port side

Deck view

AQUA MARIA was berthed on our port side, and we noticed a dent in the metal above her bridge. MACEDON was on our starboard side and we could see her funnel and logo more closely from our deck.

Macedon at dusk

Funnel logo

Aqua Maria, and a dent above the Bridge

Marmari Express

Goodbye Aqua Maria

Cheap fuel again

We sailed in a cloud of black smoke, so I suppose cheap fuel is being used with old engines, but hey, this is becoming the norm on this trip….


Ships seen: Aqua Maria, Macedon of Goutos Lines, Issham Al Baher the private yacht, Taxiarchis, Alios of Salamis, the unidentified lifeboat, Marmari Express


To be continued….

Greece 2012 Part 8

Tuesday 4th September 2012
I woke this morning in a medieval village house, about 4 kilometres from the sea, but in an isolated village surrounded by mountains, and felt quite disorientated for a moment. There were so many modern items around me, but they were contained in a property originally built about seven hundred years ago.

A cup of coffee at a table on the tiny terrace brought me back to reality, and the day could begin. The sun was up and high above me I could see a square of blue sky, so I made my way to the village square in search of something to eat. One of the café owners provided coffee and suggested ‘toast’, so I smiled and thanked him. What actually appeared was a toasted ham sandwich, which was a bit of a surprise but good to eat.

Harrowing view

Part of the village square

An excited babe in arms

The dog

Mesta medieval village

Then there was good news from the outside world: the little 1956-built Hurtigruten ship NORDSTJERNEN had arrived safely in Bergen on 1st September and was now at the Agotnes AKER Solutions shipyard. Many months ago I had been asked to write a piece for the Ferry & Cruise Annual 2013, and I chose to write about NORDSTJERNEN. I travelled on her last year and she made such an impression on me, that I was happy to research and write something that was now in the hands of the Editors, together with photographs and captions, ready for publication in late October 2012. I was so pleased to know that the ship had done her trips around Spitzbergen during the summer and was safely back in Bergen in Norway, although her future is still unknown.

My travelling companion had found this news for me via his internet connection as we sat under the trees and canopies at one of the three village cafés (hooray for free wi-fi). After the coffee we were ready to be tourists and visit the imposing church of Saint Taxiarchis and look at the bell tower beside it. It so happens that we are to travel on a ferry with the same name in a couple of day’s time.

Aerial view of the village square through mesh fencing

In the church of Saint Taxiarchis

Gold in the church

The church was built in 1868 and inside it contained wonderful crystal chandeliers, tapestries, embroidered banners, ornate golden this and that and other things that looked hugely valuable. As is often the case, one cannot help comparing the wealth in this beautiful church with the rather obvious lack of it in the buildings and inhabitants outside.

Outside the church

The Bell Tower

One local lady wanted to make sure that we went and visited the church and I assured her that we had been inside and thought it was wonderful – all this conducted in Greek and English – so she patted my arm and all was well. I wondered what the villagers must think of the Medieval Castle apartments and the tourists, but as long as we bring in some income then I’m sure that must help, but it is a humbling thought. Certainly there was some beautiful hand-crafted jewellery and other items for sale in the tiny shops we discovered in our morning walk. Having found our way around the village (more by luck than judgment) we managed to get back to the village square again, and many of the people sitting there looked up, and I found I was saying ‘For our third appearance….’ as it felt like quite an achievement.

We saw a donkey amble through one street, with several small children suddenly appearing and speaking excitedly with the man leading him. Several young mothers with toddlers in pushchairs met for a chat in the square too, and of course the
usual alert young dog was ever hopeful of food being dropped from the tables.

Walls, wires and wheelbarrow

Medieval Castle Suites offices

Village telephone box

We found another café tucked into a side street house, which had the typical Greek gyros meat cooking on the rotating spit, so that was the obvious place for a tasty lunch. I had the shaved meat with tzatziki and tomatoes tucked into a wrap – delicious.

Later at 5.30 p.m. we were collected as arranged by a taxi at the edge of the village, and taken down the mountain road to the tiny port of Mesta. I knew we were sailing on another ship of NEL Lines, the company created in August 1972 in Mytilene, Lesvos, which was why I was happy to sail on the ship of that name recently. We could see our next ferry, the AQUA MARIA, already tied up at the quayside and moving gently against the mooring ropes. The narrow bay seems a natural harbour, as usual surrounded by mountains.

Aqua Maria and another

Aqua Maria

End of the quay

I think that during the first hour we spent walking around part of the bay we probably saw just two people, but we enjoyed the views and sight and sound of the water in the hot sunshine.

Pontoon and dredger

View

View as the sun went down

We could see a bar/café with seating on the quayside near the ship, so that boded well for a cool drink and then an evening meal before we could embark.

The lady of the house at the café took our food order, from a choice of the usual meat or chicken dish, and then I went inside to find the Ladies facilities. I was so glad I had my camera with me, because these were most unexpected. Like me, the lady of the house obviously loved lavender/purple colours and had enjoyed herself creating a chiffon-draped room and door, with a deep shag-pile patterned rug on the floor. The actual porcelain facilities were perfect and beautifully offset by the colours of these soft furnishings. What a wondrous little room to find in this tiny tiny port.

Memorable facilities

Have a nice trip message from Aqua Maria

More people gradually appeared and came to drink at the café, presumably arriving from unseen hill or country-side homes. We were able to board the NEL Lines’ AQUA MARIA at 8.30 p.m. for the overnight journey from here at Mesta port to the Greek mainland port of Lavrio, which is south east of Piraeus.

Deck plan

One of the bars

Near the bar

Deck seating

Something drastic must have happened here....

Interesting floor tiles pattern

Interesting staircase rail joints

We are due to sail at 10 p.m., call somewhere at 11.30 p.m. and arrive at the small port of Lavrio at 6.15 a.m. tomorrow. This is yet another ship built in Japan in 1975, this time at 3,484 gross tons, so just a little ship but still going about her daily business with the aplomb of many a larger ferry or liner.

Bed, blanket and book holder

Authentic Japanese blanket

Away we go from Mesta port


Ships seen: Aqua Maria, Agio Kypiakh, and dredger NX76 at Mesta port.

To be continued….