The view of the bay through the french doors of our bedroom is heavenly, with the Argo-Saronic islands of Dokos and Hydra framed in the far distance, and many a long drawn out breakfast, siesta and sunset aperitif are being enjoyed in its company.
We’ve chosen Ermióni for its proximity to this island group, which includes Poros and Spetses, but have been charmed by its down to earth port and two parades of waterfront restaurants on the Limoni and Mandrakia sides of the peninsular, that we have been gradually working our way through.
We’ve decided against a pilgrimage to Kardamyli, my hero and favourite travel writer Patrick Leigh Fermor’s village in the Mani, as we have but a week here and I can console myself with soaking up the atmosphere of Hydra, Leonard Cohen’s erstwhile home instead.
Landing there mid-morning, we discover that there’s no better way to spend an hour or so than nursing an iced frappé and watching the absorbing comings and goings of a bustling harbour like Hydra’s, as water taxis and other small craft perform their dance. Walking or riding a sad looking donkey are still the only ways to explore the interior of this island so we hike the clifftop path to Kamina with its tiny, scruffy harbour and have our pick of the tables at Kodylenia Taverna, where we enjoy a sublime lunch of seafood salad, warm split pea dip, baked peppers and crumbled feta cheese.
Retracing her steps to the main port, Sabrina hangs out at the Pirate Café on the waterfront, a favoured haunt of Leonard, Marianne and their friends, while I take the long way back through the hills.
We continue our island hopping the next day with a visit to Poros at the southern end of the Saronic gulf. It’s a raffishly charming little town with none of the glitz and glamour of Hydra. The port was leased by the ruling Ottomans to the Russian navy in the 1770s, and you can still see vestiges of its use as an Imperial Russian naval base in some elaborately carved stone ruins on the dockside.
Crossing to Spetses towards the end of our stay on the old St Karina ferry, we fall into conversation with an art restorer about her seven month annual escape to the island from Athens and as she describes her waterfront studio house with its Venetian architecture, we dream wistfully of a bougainvillea and palm tree dotted renovation project of our own. Sabrina has been on a quest all week for the ultimate whole grilled calamari and declares that today’s, which unusually is served with Horta (wild bitter greens) instead of a Greek salad, is the finest winged beast of the trip.
Whole grilled calamari: Serves 2
I wish I could find those wild bitter greens, but they are foraged locally, so instead I’m suggesting we go the classic route and serve with a Greek salad.
2 squid cleaned (look for ones with large bodies and tentacles)
For the marinade:
1 tbsp EV olive oil
2 cloves of finely minced garlic
1 tbsp finely grated fresh ginger
1 tbsp finely chopped coriander
Salt and pepper
Mix all the marinade ingredients together.
Prepare the squid by laying it flat on a chopping board, then slicing it in even lines horizontally across the body on one side. Rub the marinade over the squid and marinate in the fridge for two hours.
Remove from the fridge 15 minutes before grilling over hot coals for 3-4 minutes on one side until a bit charred or opaque, then for 2 minutes on the other side. Make sure the tentacles are evenly charred.
Serve with a Greek salad.
With our time fast running out, we visit Ermióni’s weekly Farmers’ market and fall into conversation with a beekeeper from Kilada, a tiny fishing village just north of here. Her passion for her hives and her community is so strong that we pause only to buy a couple of jars of her honey and jump in the car to head over there to the sole taverna for a standout lunch of marinated anchovies (our first of the trip), plus a Cypriot salad of halloumi and mixed leaves. So delicious is this penultimate meal that we pass a somewhat melancholy last evening.
Hopefully we will set off for Athens early enough in the morning to detour to Epidavros with its ancient theatre, but like the Mani and so much else on Greece’s largest island, that may have to be saved up for another time.
This description captures visiting Greece and it’s islands beautifully. The fact you headed straight for a Frappé the minute you landed shows you did your homework:-)) You are right about the wild horta- they are bountiful in my parent’s village and I love them. They are also incredibly nutritious- something Sabrina will be sure to appreciate! Kalamari grilled instead of fried is definitely under appreciated! Thank you for another fab recipe and looking forward to more.
The food I found in Greece during 16 of the best days of my life was some of the freshest and most delicious I’ve ever had. I’d love to have tried the bitter greens!