Our Greek adventures have so far been more than magnificent. Every so often we stop during our stroll, meal, sunset, swim and before we go to sleep say our thanks for having this incredible opportunity to travel, discover and create memories together.
There are so many moments that are overwhelmingly beautiful that you want to hold onto forever and in this modern day and age, technology and social media make it more possible than ever. Reliving these special moments will always be impossible but recalling them is as easy as flicking on your phone.
This post is really about Batsi, a small village on Andros Island where we spent our first few island nights in Greece. Our first honeymoon in Italy in September 2017 was busy, ambitious and beautiful but we didn’t have enough oasis, calm and moments of serenity as we would’ve liked. As we planned our Greek summer vacation I wanted to make sure we had a peaceful and somewhat quiet beach time. Batsi village met and exceeded our expectations.
We stayed at the Elpida hotel, located on a hilltop as you turn towards the village and a short 10 minutes drive from the main port. The friendly and kind lady who received us answered “yes” to all questions I asked! I almost thought maybe she didn’t speak English, but she did. She escorted us to the spacious ‘studio’ room with two twin beds pulled together – that reminded me of my childhood, when your friends come over for a sleepover and you would make a castle with all available beds, pillows and blankets (haha!) Anyway, it was an absolute delight staying at this place and I would recommend it if you plan to visit Batsi.
In the midst of the day’s heat we seemed to be the only tourists strolling around the village, beach and restaurant boardwalk (in fact we think that we brought good business to the souvlaki and resto owners just by choosing their site.) Interacting with the locals who are so kind, friendly and hospitable reminded me of my good Greek friend in Toronto who I’ve known for 14 years and who I still blame for not convincing me hard enough to visit her beautiful country earlier – you know who you are (Tita).
In Batsi we had time to read, reflect, discuss and appreciate the calm of a Greek Island that is not Mykonos or Santorini. A village built on a semicircle, with beautiful white staircases that lead you to chapels, restaurants and colourful contrasting alleyways. Crystal clear waters that open to the Aegean Sea with fishing and excursion boats on its shore.Batsi was a Greek oasis that I’m sure we will return to, maybe next time with our family of more than just two 😉 .
I hope that you do yourself a favor and when you plan your Greek adventure find your own oasis, it could be this or on another island or city/village but try to disconnect from the wild, busy and larger Greek towns, in exchange for the charming private ones that will offer you so much without making many demands.
We lovingly and gratefully continue on our Island hopping journey!
Stay tuned for more Greek posts.
XO Dalia
What do you think?