Greece - Korina Miller [489]
The Evpalinos Tunnel is actually two tunnels: a service tunnel and a lower water conduit visible from the walkway. While the tunnel itself is wide enough, not everyone can enter, as the entrance stairway is both low and has very narrow walls, with no grease provided.
The tunnel is quite cold: as sudden exposure to low temperatures on a hot day is not healthy, wait until the sweat subsides before entering, and perhaps pack an extra shirt to wear while inside.
If walking, reach the tunnel from Lykourgou Logotheti. If driving, a sign points to the tunnel’s southern mouth after entering Pythagorio from Vathy (Samos).
DIVING
Along with swimming and sunbathing, try scuba diving with Aegean Scuba ( /fax 22730 61194; www.aegeanscuba.gr; Pythagorio marina; year-round). Professional instructors lead dives in search of moray eels, sea stars, octopuses, lobsters and other critters lurking in the sponge-covered crevices around Pythagorio. Snorkelling (€25) is also offered.
A dive with full equipment costs €60, while two dives in one day costs €85. Multiday, pay-in-advance diving gets you discounts. Aegean Scuba also offers several levels of beginner’s courses, a scuba review course for lapsed divers, emergency response and rescue dive courses. For those seeking professional PADI certification, there’s a special dive-master course.
Sleeping
Hotel Alexandra ( 22730 61429; Metamorfosis Sotiros 22; d €35) It has only eight rooms, but they are lovely and some have sea views. There’s also an attractive garden.
Pension Despina ( 22730 61677; pansiondespina@yahoo.gr; A Nikolaou; s/d €35/50) A clean, quiet pension on Plateia Irinis, the Despina offers simple studios and rooms with balconies (some have kitchenettes), plus a relaxing back garden.
Hotel Evripili ( 22730 61096; Konstantinou Kanari; s/d €50/70) This friendly and modern hotel has well-appointed, cosy rooms off the waterfront; some have balconies.
Eating & Drinking
Poseidonas ( 22730 62530; mains €6-12) Next to Restaurant Remataki, the Poseidonas specialises in seafood with an international flair.
Restaurant Remataki ( 22730 61104; mezedhes €4-6, mains €7-10) Near Elia, this place has a nice waterfront balcony and some splashy light meals; salad with rocket leaves, Cretan dakos (tomato and cheese on oil-softened rusks) and dolmadhes (rice wrapped in vine leaves) are all recommended.
Elia ( 22730 61436; mains €7-12) Elia gets high marks from locals for sophisticated Greek and international fare, though it’s pricey. It’s located at the waterfront’s far end.
Ef Zin ( 22730 62528; 10am-late) Also beside Remataki, this cafe-bar on a terrace has nice harbour views and an impressive wine list.
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AROUND PYTHAGORIO
The Ireon Το Ηραο
To judge merely from the scattered ruins of the Ireon ( 22730 95277; adult/student €4/3; 8.30am-3pm Tue-Sun), one couldn’t imagine the former magnificence of this ancient sanctuary of Hera, located 8km west of Pythagorio. The ‘Sacred Way’, once flanked by thousands of marble statues, led from the city to this World Heritage–listed site, built at this goddess’ legendary birthplace. However, enough survives to provide some insight into the workings of a divine sanctuary that was four times larger than the Parthenon.
Built in the 6th century BC on marshy ground, where the River Imbrasos enters the sea, the Ireon was constructed over an earlier Mycenaean temple. Plundering and earthquakes since antiquity have left only one column standing, though extensive foundations remain. There is something deeply disconcerting about the headless statues of a family, the Geneleos Group, from whose number the giant kouros statue in the museum at Vathy (Samos) was taken (Click here). Other remains include a stoa, more temples and a 5th-century Christian basilica. The deep trenches within the site indicate where archaeologists continue to unearth still more buried treasures.
Mytilinii Μυτιληιο
Skeletons of prehistoric animals, including forerunners of the giraffe and elephant, are displayed at the palaeontology