Yesterday we came from Limni, which is a very nice traditional old Greek town, to Loutra, 10 miles up the coast. Loutra iEdipsou, to give it its full name, is known as famous thermal spa town and about fifty springs emerge in places in the town, but all the hotels have now harnessed this hot water and turned themselves into a health spa. The town could be so posh and luxurious, but it is not nice at all. Very scruffy and things closed down. We went for a walk yesterday to try to find the beach where a spring comes out nearby, where you can swim in the hot water. We think we found it, but of course there are never any notices or signs. A few old ladies were wallowing, and a trickle of water ran down a cliff. There were some run down changing rooms and a grotty shower nearby. I'm sure in the 1950s it would have all been very glamorous, but not now.
We walked further up the hill and saw a huge modern building which said it was the central hydrotherapy and physiotherapy centre of Loutra, but it looked closed down. Next to that there was an attractive but crumbling old building which looked like it might have served the same purpose in 1900, we peeped through the broken doors and you could just make out big high ceilings and side rooms with tiled walls. I think it was the original baths for the hot springs, such a shame they have decayed. We heard running water and followed the noise, and round the back of the old building we did find water running into a trough, then going into pipes. We put our hand in the water and yikes! It was as hot as a boiled kettle! Amazing! It was definitely the thermal spring.
Then we followed the running water system further up the road and not only found a huge water treatment site at the back of the modern building, with steam rising from huge tanks, but over the road we discovered the original Roman baths entrance which was built in450BC! It is called the Baths of Sylla. When I say discovered, I don't mean we were the first humans to uncover the stones and deduce from clues that this was a Roman antiquity and heralded our find in the Archaeological News and run to the local mayor with our news, sadly, it had already been discovered, and was only the entrance which was in a cave, in a fenced off area with no signs. It looked like the whole area had masses of ancient ruins but they were just being left to decay.
This town could turn itself into a splendid place, and be a really attractive place to come, but it is going to rack and ruin and in about ten years time I think it will be a ghost town. Nothing has been looked after, loads of rubbish and graffiti etc, empty buildings falling into disrepair. It is quite a busy little ferry termknal, taking people and cars over to the mainland. There is a massive huge five star posh hotel, called the Sylla Hotel on the seafront which looks so out of place. It advertises itself as one of the top ten thermal spas of the world. It must have about 500 rooms in a beautiful old restored building, apparently there is a huge inside pool full of hot spring water, and a nice outside pool with half spring water and half sea water. They advertise all sorts of special and really expensive spa and health treatments, but I wonder how many people actually go there? On their website it says famous people like Sophia Loren, Winston Churchill, Omar Sharif have been there. Yes, in the 1920s I expect, but who goes there now?

We went for drinks in one of the few bars that was open, and had an ouzo each. They brought us a free plate of meze to go with it, one of the best we've had, as in Greece they always believe you should never drink meze on an empty stomach!
Then we found a very cheap bit attractive souvlaki restaurant, everyone was sitting inside as it had got a bit chilly. The sort of greek place where they don't have a menu, they expect you to know what they have, luckily we did. You can have gyros, souvlaki, or grilled meat, with or without pitta bread, with salad, chips, tzatziki etc etc. we had a pork chop and a few chips each and a half carafe of wine. Excellent value.