The map at right shows the places we have been in our three weeks here so far: Gavrio, the port at which we arrived on the island; Batsi, where we are staying; Stavropeda, where we usually park the vans and from where we walk down to Zagora; Zagora; the capital, Andros (Chora – meaning ‘centre’), Ano Aprovato (where we attended the Tsipouro Feast), Paleopolis (we visited the Paleopolis Archaeological Museum at Paleopolis, a specially arranged excursion, on our way to work last Saturday 3 November). On Sunday 4 November, most of us went on an excursion in our two vans to Korthi, where we had coffee, and then drove west across the fertile valley of Korthi to Andros (Chora) for lunch (some photos coming in future posts).
For those of you not familiar with the geography of this part of the world, here’s a start with a Google map of the Cycladic Islands, of which Andros is the most northern. It is unmarked at this magnification (you will see it when you enlarge the map). Andros is just north-west of the island of Tinos, which is marked.
Andros is the closest Cycladic island to Athens – an hour-and-a-half away by fast ferry, two-and-a-half hours away by the slower, larger ferry that also transports vehicles.
There are approximately 7000 people living on Andros – but this number swells significantly in the warmer months as visitors come to holiday. There are few international tourists – mostly holiday-makers and weekenders from Athens.
This means you get a better experience of authentic Greek island life on Andros than some of the other Greek islands more popular with international tourists.
Greek hospitality on Andros has been warm and friendly everywhere we have been – in restaurants, cafes, museums and shops. I look forward to sharing more of this with you in future posts.
