CENTRAL GREECE - EVIA - AIDIPSOS - ACTIVITIES - An Ancient Spa Slowdown

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BY AMANDA MICHALOPOULOU

| JAN 15, 2016

ACTIVITIES

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Unwind at a spa hotel that was built around natural dating springs from the 4th century BC.

An Ancient Spa Slowdown

It could be the setting for a whodunit: guests relaxing in plush bathrobes; a large mushroom spraying thermal spring water with traces of radon in the indoor pool, the large outdoor pool with the tall palm tree in the center, which becomes covered in dense mist as soon as the temperature drops. But there is no evil intent at Thermae Sylla; the guests are amicable to the extreme. Cell phones are not allowed and no one looks remotely like stepping out of line. The hotel is a retreat in the great spa resort tradition, voted one of the top 10 spas in the world by Conde Nast Traveller magazine, with an old-fashioned character that suits it eminently.

It’s a tragic irony that, according to local tradition, Aidipsos is associated with the biblical city of Sodom. Perhaps the area’s Roman past is to blame, particularly the visits of the Roman general Sulla and the Emperor Hadrian who came to take the waters. This is the largest spa town in Greece, a place where the water has sprung from natural springs from at least the 4th century BC. The town attracts large numbers of visitors each summer and Greek political life is analyzed in the famous, impromptu “Little Parliament” in the pine-covered park. Aidipsos is a democratic place: not far from the hotel you will see immigrants and locals seated on the rocks in between dips in the thermal pools.

It has been a tradition in our family to visit Aidipsos for detox purposes after the New Year. The region itself is not particularly attractive, despite assurances about nearby excursions to ruins of castles and bathhouses. Besides, just going to a spa can somehow make you feel like it is you who are the ruin. But though spas in the past were generally associated with the elderly, it is now clear that the hardworking middle-aged need them more. Massages, mud therapies and thermal spring water being sprayed at high pressure on shoulders and neck are a dream come true for people who spend much of their life in an ergonomic chair.

This year, as always, there were quite a few Russians (the program of spa services is written also in Russian and the wider area offers opportunities for religious tourism, especially the Church of St. John the Russian), but also English-speaking and French visitors, as well as a number of Greeks: grandparents with their grandchildren, young families and couples. In the underground (and somewhat surreal) passage that connects the reception with the spa, we also met a Bulgarian philologist who spoke to us with great enthusiasm in German about the benefits of spas and… Franz Kafka!

Our favorite pastime at the hotel is to see how the pool denizens, who wander about all day in bathing caps and flip-flops, become totally transformed at the restaurant in the evening. There’s not a lot of fun and games in such a quiet place. Socializing is not favored by the general circumstances, since most guests are “wrapped” in the mantle of a couple or group of friends.

At Thermae Sylla Spa, one appreciates the slow pace. The treatments, the heated beds on which the mud therapies are administered, and especially the thermal spring water in the pools which makes the limbs grow heavy and induces sleep of incomparable quality, are the main advantages of a stay. If you have more energy to burn, there are yoga classes and twice daily aerobics lasting half-an-hour.

Try and book a room with a balcony and view of the Euboean Gulf and before leaving, don’t forget to stock up on face masks of beneficial spa mud. Choose a package with half-board (buffet lunch with meat, fish, salads and vegetarian options). Once inside the hotel, you simply won’t feel like venturing out into the real world to look for a taverna.

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