Andros is a mysterious island. Although it belongs to the Cyclades, it escapes the Cycladic uniformity. It has its own special identity. It is verdant. It has springs with water! Lots of water! It has a Chora with a super stately appearance, a shipping tradition and globetrotting residents who justify, in part, a lofty, snobbish disposition. It has wild beauty and trails that nature lovers and hikers fall in love with and a unique gastronomy that leaves its own strong aftertaste.
I remember many stories from my visits to the island. The first time, still a student, my group and I found ourselves staying at a rooms to let in Batsi and we didn’t even manage to climb up to Chora after a night out. The second time, in the mid-90s, was due to an exhibition (I don’t remember which one) at the Vasilis and Eliza Goulandris Museum of Contemporary Art. Every summer, his exhibitions become a great reason for a weekend on the island. This year, as part of the measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus, a temporary preventive suspension of operations for the public has been announced. So we wait… That was the time, however, that I was enchanted by the aristocratic superiority of the Country.
Then came Ioanna Karystiani with the novel “Little England” which was made into a film by Pantelis Voulgaris to convey the life and atmosphere of the era, when at the end of the 19th century, the bourgeois of the island gathered at the “Platanos” in Kairi Square, the ladies played cards at the Club and in the living rooms of the neoclassical houses with the marble infra-red walls, the shipping families lived like other London nobles.
You recall this atmosphere and the glamour of the past by walking along the main paved street of Chora. It is the Market Street that moves between commercial, pastry shops, shops with products and souvenirs, many of which are almost a century old.
Every time I’m here, I like to walk up and down its narrow alleys, to observe the shops, to see if any new ones have opened, to see if the old ones are still in their places, to stop at Makis’s photo studio, whom I was lucky enough to meet on a late autumn trip to the island in October 2018. Open-hearted, he overturns the reputation of the island’s inhabitants, who call them a bit snobbish, and he generously gave me information about the island. The Agora road, almost automatically, at some point, takes you to the Maritime Museum and the square with the statue of the Lost Sailor, a work by sculptor Michael Tombrou, in honor of all the sailors who lost their lives at sea.
The people of Andria love sugar and have considered it a basic necessity since the Venetian era, while as early as 1929 they were enjoying nougatine, filfeuille and pudding with French techniques, thanks to the Alexandrian chef patissier Dimitris Galanos, who had his pastry shop in Chora. The first stop in Chora is the “Lygizos” pastry shop, which makes sensational nougatines with almond meringues, pastitsakia, almond cakes and spoon sweets. On my last visit to the island, I tried the juicy almond cakes of the Tziotis family, at their pastry shop in Korthi, which opened in 1978 and today the locals will send you there for the best almond cakes. White, plump, sprinkled with powdered sugar, with a delicate, distinctive almond aroma and soft flesh, which dissolves in the mouth like foam.
We are on the second largest island of the Cyclades, which means that the island has routes and will easily bring out the explorer in you. . Whether you stay in Gavrio, which is also the port, or in Batsi, which is the liveliest part of the island, or in Chora, you will need a car and good driving skills if you decide to take to dirt roads and feel like an “off the road king or queen”. If you have an appetite for such driving, set the direction for the wonderful Ahla beach in your GPS, where you will arrive after a “satisfying” 13-kilometer dirt road.
If you get hungry in the meantime, this is the dish, you have to try it. The famous froutalia is the traditional omelette made with potatoes, sausage and eggs. Although it is the most famous specialty of the island, it is difficult to find it in its original form. Katerina Remoundou at the restaurant “Zozef” in the mountain village of Pitrofos (tel. 2282 051050) makes the original froutalia, upon order, since as she explained to us, the process is relatively time-consuming, while her secret is that she also uses glyna (pork fat), as the recipe traditionally requires.
Insight from the inland. Andros is not only the Chora and its urban atmosphere. In the inland the landscape is rocky and reminiscent of mountainous Greece. Wild mountain peaks, valleys, towers, stone houses, chapels and running waters form a beautiful relief. “Every householder in Andros had a large plot of land, which is why the houses are sparse, but they were also self-sufficient…” I remember the driver of a small bus saying as it drove, a few years ago, on a narrow, winding downhill road, from the island’s port to Zorkos. Around us are images of the island’s wild hinterland, filled with valleys “marked” by dry stone walls, houses placed far apart and surrounded by trees, vegetable gardens and animals that live freely.
If you want to feel shipwrecked, you are in love and you want to experience the ultimate romance with your love, Zorkos is the ultimate place to spend your holidays. It is located in the northernmost part of the island and is for many the most beautiful beach on the island or even in the Aegean. This landscape was also loved by Akylas Anagnostidis, a doctor with a tenure at the Royal Academy of London, and he built an entire village with houses on the slope of Vryokastro in the style of the captain’s houses of Andros with a view to Smyrna, his homeland. This special energetic place was the favorite of Embirikos, who wrote several poems there. Back in Chora, he searched for the house of the poet Andreas Embirikos, which is in the process of restoration and preservation by the Valmas family of Andros.
The picturesque Stenies is the closest to Chora, and one of the most beautiful villages on the island. The picturesque streets with captain’s houses, offer the perfect background that any aspiring photographer would choose.
Come and cool me down. A tour of the springs of Andros starts from the most Apoikia and the famous spring “Sariza” whose water (carbonated and non-carbonated) is distributed in bottles throughout Greece. There, you will also see the homonymous water bottling factory, while nearby are the famous waterfalls of Pythara. If you want to delve deeper, consult the people of “Andros Routes” – whose main axis of action is the recording, preservation and promotion of the old hiking trails of the island. Another beautiful route by car is the one that crosses the Dipotamata gorge, and passes next to 24 watermills and an arched bridge, before ending in the village of Kohyli.
The cheeses and cold cuts of Andros have their own brand names. The hard and salty, strong flavor of veal is often compared to parmesan, while louza is our most exquisite Greek cold meat with a rich flavor, and a recipe that is lost in the depths of time, since it is the way to preserve meat, after the pork butts, a family celebration that is still held today, in October, near the feast of Saint Demetrius.
The most photographed beach of Andros, “Tis Grias To Pidima”, with the rock that emerges from the sea, is ideal for swimming, but only until early afternoon, since the sun sets early here. Discussions require trivia knowledge, which is why I am telling you that according to a legend, the beach owes its name to an old woman who “turned to stone” while waiting for her sailor son.
A breath from the sea, Sea Satin in Korthi Bay is a destination for serious foodies. Dimitris Giginis and his wife Mary, depending on the season, transform the island’s delicacies into dishes that hide the deliciousness of the place. Here you will enjoy cheese croquettes on a base of ginger jam (and yet this exotic root grows in the plain of Korthi), Korthianese salad (something like the local… caprese) with cherry tomatoes and grilled Andros volaki and twists with synkathouro (the Andrian version of staka). If you are lucky, and there is any left, ask to try sweet pambiloni which is an oversized local citrus fruit. (tel. 2282 061196)
The Cycladic temperament of the island comes out in the way the wind blows. Make sure through conversations with the locals (we last time, we had the hostess of rnnb Serenity in Lamyra, to suggest where we will go for a swim every day, against the wind direction. However, if you do or are interested in learning to windsurf, then your beach is Mylos.
Beaches with… measure. If you want variety, Andros will not disappoint you. The total length of its coastline reaches 177 km. It has something for all appetites. Families head to Kypri, Batsi and Neimporio or to Grias to Pidima, Achla, Zorko, Ateni, Paraporti and Fello. For more secular experiences, Golden Sands, Agios Petros or Piso Gialia are offered.
Batsi, is the most developed fishing village on the island, has the atmosphere of a Greek movie from the 60s and is better known to many. Not coincidentally, the whitewashed white houses with blue windows and red tiled roofs were the set for the film “Girls in the Sun”. Today, it has a lively, “tourist profile” and the coastal promenade is full of tasteful cafes, taverns, restaurants and bars, since it is the point where the heart of the island’s nightlife beats. The reputation of Stamatis (operating since 1965) for its stews and shrimp pasta has spread, while the spot for a view of the whole of Batsi is the Faros, which serves traditional dishes.
I said “Little England” again and I already feel the need to book a stay at the homonymous, doll-like hotel
in Chora. “Little England” was the second name by which the island of Andros became known, during its heyday, and in this 200-year-old neoclassical building, it feels like you’re living back in time, with all the comforts of today. I loved the relaxing colors, the ecological character of the materials, the oak floors, the dreamy mood, the music in the bathrooms and the aura of modern design, which blends in with its architecture. (Little England Hotel, tel. 22820/22207)
