A Spin Around Vathy and Leaving Meganisi

With 7 crossings between Meganisi and Nidri running from early doors until 1830 every day, we had time to go and visit Vathy before leaving for Lefkada. I messaged our host and asked if it would be OK to leave our cases in the apartment and he replied in the affirmative. If they should get a last minute booking they would put our luggage in a safe place.

After a quick tidy around and placing our luggage inside the doorway, we took the short walk into the heart of Spartochori. Peter and I had had a debate about how to get to Vathy. Peter had suggested that we walk. Well, I know Peter’s idea of a ‘walk’ and suspected that it would be more of a hike. If we took the coastal road, it would be just about 8km. The inland route would be around 5km. Although the latter seemed more doable for my ever-declining bones, I suggested that we enquire about the buses.

We knew that the limited bus service revolved around the ferry service. We couldn’t see a timetable of any description at the bus stop, so we would have to guestimate the bus’s arrival time at the port and then back to Spartochori. I figured we’d be hanging around for some time, but I stopped at a nearby minimarket to buy water and ask the question. Greece, as we know, is a very car-centric country and when asking locals about the bus service, it’s usually met by shrugs and that bottom lip/chin thing Greeks do when indicating “What do I know!” This was such a case. I asked if it was easy to walk to Vathy, walking my index finger and its counterpart forward to clarify my question. This was met by short inbreaths and a pursing of the lips as if to tell me it would be a challenge. I thanked them and reported back to Peter.

Despite the doubtful responses I received in the shop, we decided to walk. We had most of the day to get there and back, but we also made a note of the taxi driver’s number just in case we got stuck. The walk out of the village was very pleasant along a good tarmac road, and enough beautiful wildflowers along the wayside kept my attention.

After ten minutes or so of ambling along, we heard a vehicle coming up behind us beeping its horn. Surely not a case of road rage on such a quiet little island? No. It was one of the customers who had been speaking with the owner of the minimarket. “Vathy?” he called to us through his open window. We both nodded in unison. Before we knew it, he’d opened the back of his van and gestured for us to climb in. We found places amongst wrenches, hammers, nuts and bolts and curiously shaped bits of metal, which I assumed was part of his job, and off we set.

Bends in the road forced us to grab onto any fixed part of the van interior to stop ourselves from sliding across the floor. Our friendly driver didn’t speak much English, but we made attempts to comment on the views to show our appreciation. We were soon on the descent towards Vathy, and once in the centre of the village, our driver stopped and opened the back of the van. We sprawled out into the broad daylight in a very ungainly manner, but were very grateful for this kind gesture.

Once we’d composed ourselves and said thank you and goodbye to the man, we walked around the harbour until we found ourselves on the far side of the bay at a small chapel called Panagia Eleousis. I was unsure whether it was a private chapel or not, as directly behind it was a newly built villa constructed from the same stone. This villa intrigued me. I know this style of villa won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but I loved it! Made from concrete, stone and glass, its clean, austere lines were broken up by flower-filled planters and neatly manicured hedges and trees on each terrace. In the words of Loyd Grossman, “Who lives in a house like this?” Maybe it will be a hotel. I’d love to know!

From the little chapel, we worked our way back to a large square laid out with shading trees and stone planters filled with brightly coloured flowers. On the edge was a children’s play park and a cafe where parents socialised whilst watching their offspring. A little further into the residential area, we found a traditional bakery where we procured our favourite breakfast item, which we consumed on one of the benches in the square. The architecture of the residential area was interesting. One minute we would walk past whitewashed houses with blue-shuttered windows and then a large Venetian-style house bedecked in the traditional Venetian colours.

Vathy is flat, making it very easy to get around. There is a wide choice of tavernas, fast food outlets and a couple of music bars along the harbour’s edge. The marina was packed with yachts and the accompanying yachting fraternity that seemed to sit comfortably amongst the fishing and tourist boats.

At the entrance to the village, sittingly majestically at the back of the harbour was the 20th-century Church of St Vissarion with its impressive bell tower. St Vissarion was a 15th-century monk who was known for his philanthropic work. It is said that after a plague struck Megansi, St Vissarion offered his prayers and the island was saved from devastation. He is now the protector of the island. The feast day of St Vissarion, is celebrated on September 15th.

Although it’s the Church of St Vissarion that dominates the waterfront, the tiny Chapel of St Vissarion squashed in next to it is the one that has the charm.

When we felt we’d exhausted everything that the waterfront of Vathy had to offer, we found a nearby cafe where we ordered refreshments and began to plan how to get back to Spartochori. At some point we saw the local bus drive past but when Peter got up to try and follow it, it had mysteriously disappeared. We realised that fathoming out the departure time from Vathy would be challenging so we decided to phone the island’s taxi driver. Another boat was due to arrive in just over an hour that would be possible to catch. To kill two birds with one stone we asked the driver to take us to Spartochori and wait whilst we retrieved our luggage from the apartment and then take us directly to the port. That all worked out well.

At the port, we left our luggage in the port shelter and went for mooch around the marina where the tourist boat Odysseia was moored up. Porto Spilia was chokka full of tourists. On board the boat was Captain Gerasimos with his pirate type bandana and a couple of the crew. He saw us looking at the boat and invited us onboard. We told him that we would be going to Nidri and were looking for boat tours when there. It wasn’t long before we could see that he was a bit of a character. He told us a bit about the boat, that the Oddeyseia was a replica of an Athenian Trireme and handcrafted entirely from wood. It had started out in life as a commercial boat and the original owner had the idea to remodel her as a trireme. Unfortunately he ran out of time and money halfway through the project. Enter Captain Gerasimos who bought the boat and spent many years completing the project and turning the vessel into what we see today!

The tour on the Odysseia takes in the Cave of Papanikolis, Spartochori village (his son was currently guiding a group as we spoke), a sail around Skorpios and the Prince’s islands and a swim stop at Klimaki Beach. He threw in a couple of anecdotes about the time when he used to work for Onassis himself. Even though we didn’t think this boat tour was for us, I suspected that the stories Captain Gerasimos was to share along the way would be pure gold!

Soon the Meganisi II was heading into the port. We paid for our tickets on board and headed up to the deck just in time to see the Odysseia sailing onto her next destination. I dare say we’d see her again in Nidri.

As the ferry pulled away from the small port we were able to get a view of our apartment up above. Although a fleeting visit, it was worth the impromptu stay and I’d most definitely stay at Scorpios View again. Use the QR code for more information!

We skirted along the edge of Skorpios islands and soon we were pulling into the bustling harbour of Nidri. The journey took a mere 25 minutes.

Nidri. It’s about the most touristic this trip would get – but I was prepared for it!