Thermal baths, floddling, and souvlaki
13 July 2013 | Loutra Ediplos, Evia Gulf
Have a guess. It's George.
After a couple of days in Orei, we moved on to Loutra, also known as Edipsos. . Apparently this is a very classy Greek resort as there are meant to be 80 natural thermal springs found here, making it a well-known spa centre so people can bathe in the warm spring waters. There re over 80,000 hotel beds here, so I read, and some of the hotels have a natural spring within their grounds and have turned it into a spa/health/beauty centre. The poshest hotel, is the Thermae Sylla Spa, where apparently "... celebrities like Omar Sherif, Winston Churchill and Greta Garbo" used to visit. They still have a photo of Omar in the pool on their website. Maybe they haven't been able to attract any more up to date celebrities, although I'm sure a Kardashian or two, or Jordan, or Cheryl, would love to go if they were invited and guaranteed a spread in OK magazine.
I showed Tim the online spa brochure, and hoped he would allow me to spend a day wallowing in the heated mud baths, having my skin scrubbed with herbs and salt, and undergoing a thalassotherapy session with jets of hot water aimed at parts of my body. But sadly, my dreams were shattered, he directed me to the end of the beach where the pipes from the thermal waters drain into the sea, and told me to stand there. Apparently, this is what lots of the locals do, as they think it is good for them, and next morning that area of beach was crowded with old greek women in large hats standing in the water, floddling. Floddling is the verb which means to bob about in water without actually swimming, which is my normal method.
We moored Fandancer in the little harbour which is full of large sized fishing boats, local day boats, and close by is the terminal for several large ferries which go back and forth regularly between Ediplos and the mainland. Not wishing to spend large amounts of money, (nothing new there, then), we had supper in a tiny Greek souvlaki tavernas in a side street, away from the opulent hotels and posh tavernas. The very pleasant waitress spoke not one word of English, and there was no menu, but we managed to order exactly what we wanted, plus a "meso kilo aspro krasi". She even gave us another smaller jug of wine for free, as she was obviously so impressed with my efforts from the Teach Yourself Greek book. We always try to add up what we think the bill will be before it arrives, and we guessed about 22 euros which is cheap. Nice lady arrived, told us the total, and I thought she said 25 euros, which was still ok. Of course, we didnt get an actual bill, as Greeks try to put as little as possible through their tills, to avoid paying tax. My Teach Yourself Greek chapter on numbers had let me down. The bill was actually 15 euro as she wrote it on the tablecloth! And she wouldn't take a tip. Well she wouldn't would she, the whole 15 probably went in her pocket! Don't you just love Greece? Recession, what recession?