Hydra was fantastic. I wasn’t even sure if I was going to go, but after a little bit of research as to what to do after Athens, I thought it would be fun to see a quiet town, especially it being an island with no cars, and see this quaint place. Arriving by a hydrofoil from Athens in just an hour and half, it was an easy trip and pulling into the marina, you are greeted by rose colored roof tops of tile, beautiful water, sail masts bobbing up and down like fishing lines, and of course, all the other buildings that create this beautiful picturesque town.
We had booked a hostel near the marina, and quickly made our way there to drop off our items. They didn’t have the room ready yet, so we just left our bags and headed out for a little walk. We walked around the marina up the hill to the first look out where there was a diving area complete with rocks creating perches to dive from into the clear blue waters below. The land near the water was rocky, but had ladders coming out of it and paved areas for leaving your towels and bags to lay out. It was really a well created place for fun in the sun. As we sat for a while to watch this, we ended up finding a place for lunch and enjoyed a lunch special next to the water looking out. I had a fresh fish with salad and lemon sorbet for dessert.
After this, we went back to the hostel to get our bathing suits on and ready to explore the island. Robert had researched a beach that was a little hike away, and it definitely was! We walked all along the edge of the island on a deserted road that left us wondering how far this beach was. After a good 40 minutes walk, we started curving around the island and saw the beautiful water below getting closer and closer.
The beach was not that nice, although the water was pretty, but the sand was an ugly brown, and the facilities weren’t all that great. However, the seats and lounges were great to relax while hanging out at the beach after our long walk. We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon here and then boarded a taxi boat back to the center of Hydra.
Once back, we were hungry so ready to go and find a restaurant I had looked up on Trip Advisor. Again, it was a little bit of a hike, and at this point, I started shaking I was so hungry. We thought we might be lost, because we were really weaving through the streets relying upon Google Maps to help us find the restaurant. All of a sudden, we happened upon Portafino, a beautiful little restaurant run by Theo, a Greek-Brit who comes back in the summers to Hydra to run the restaurant. According to Trip Advisor, we should definitely be trying his curry, so I opted for the lamb curry, and Robert, the chicken curry.
Enter one of the most magical dining experiences I’ve had. It was not luxurious by any means, not fine dining. But, the flavors, portions, overall atmosphere of this place—I surrendered wholly to the experience and enjoyed the most amazing dinner.
After dinner, we walked around as the sun set and took some pictures, and enjoyed our night walk back to the hostel. It was amazingly relaxing.
The next day, we had both changed our plans to stay an extra day because of how much we were loving it. And I’m so glad we did. We walked around more, and found some really great things to buy. I bought these two handmade bronze sculptures of Athena, goddess of wisdom, and Neptune, god of the sea and protector of travelers. I absolutely love them. I also found a necklace that I’d seen the first day, came back to check the next day and it was gone (or so I’d thought) only to find it once more at a different shop—still confused as to if it moved around. Anyhow, it was a piece that is a replica of an Art Deco piece that was featured in the Bernaki Museum in Athens, and with black and white sapphires.
The next day, we spent around the harbor and went to the swimming area where we jumped off the cliffs, and I got to impress some people with my diving J I did a little GoPro video as well! After a full day of swimming and playing, we took a nap and then went to find dinner, only to be lead back to our beloved place again. Again, with the same meal J
The next day, we took the boat back to Athens and headed for the airport. I was heading to Belgrade and Robert heading to Rome.