Unless you live in Greece, it’s likely that you will not have heard of the island of Salamina.
Despite its proximity to Athens and the fact that it is the birthplace of Homeric hero Ajax and tragedian Euripides, it’s not on the tourist map.
One of history’s most significant naval battles took place between the island and mainland in 480 BC, namely the Battle of Salamis in which a Greek fleet defeated Persian invaders.
Yet, it is home to a population of around 37,000, a significant proportion of which rely on steady work at the numerous shipyards located in the area of Paloukia. Other residents live in Salamina and commute to Athens.
For Athenians, the largest island of the Argosaronic Gulf – at 93.5 sq km, located one nautical mile off the coast of Piraeus, is almost considered a suburb of greater Athens.
While we have both lived in the Greek capital for over 20 years, we had only ever visited by sailboat for mooring practice with our sailing club, off the coast of the locality of Selinia, in the northeast.
So, when friends asked us if we wanted to spend the day at Salamykonos – as it is affectionately called by some, we happily got on board.
We drove to the suburb of Perama, west of Athens, and hopped on the car ferry that takes just 15 minutes to cross over to Salamina. It was a public holiday and the weather was sunny, which meant that the ship was bustling with people, some sitting in their cars, others resting on the rails and chatting.
Arriving at the port in Paloukia, we took a quick drive around the nearby coastal areas. While development has seen rampant building of houses, some less pretty than others, it was much greener than we had expected.
Later, we drove to Selinia and took a walk around, watching as kids – girls and boys - played soccer in the main square.
We headed down to the jetty and the beach, where the blue and white church of Agios Nikolaos, the patron saint of seafarers, stands proud.
Lunchtime rolled around and, being on an island, that meant seafood, so we picked out a fish taverna and ordered grilled octopus, calamari and other meze along with ouzo and its firewater cousin tsipouro.
It was off the coast of Selinia where in September 2017, a tanker sunk in mysterious circumstances, causing an oil spill which sent crude all the way to the shores of southern Athens.
The ensuing cleanup was intensive and, according to water sampling tests run by the authorities, the waters around Salamina and Athens are deemed safe for swimming.
Indeed, during our mooring and anchoring sessions around the island, we had spotted coves with deep green waters which looked rather appealing for a dip.
The day ended with coffee at one of the tree-shaded cafés that is part of an attractive strip of cafes and bars on the water along Agiou Nikolaou St.
Momentarily, we forgot that it was a day off for most people and little did we know that our return would take much longer. Endless queues of cars stretched out along the streets leading to the port, waiting to board the ferries that – thankfully - come and go every 15 minutes.
At least a couple of hours passed by until we finally reached the ferry but, as Greeks tend to do, we laughed off the ridiculousness of being so close yet so far from our homes in Athens. We took full advantage of the time, forgetting the wait as we delved deep into conversation, silly at times, with our friends about all sorts of issues, from crime to, of course, sailing.
Drone videography and editing by Carlo Raciti carloraciti.com
Videography by Helen Iatrou
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