hydra, greece.

The siren call of the Greek islands is a strong one. Especially now when the sun is beginning to set just after dinner time when it used to be up long after little ones go to bed. Especially now that the school schedule has begun, and we’re shuffling papers in and out of backpacks and making grocery lists and coming and going with so much less fluidity than those late, lazy days of summer. The summer’s haze is beginning to wear off along with our tans and I’m never ready for it, but I feel especially un-ready this year. Oh to be back in Greece (but this time, with my whole family, please). 
Choosing a Greek island is a daunting (but welcome) task. There are like six thousand of them! No, they’re not all inhabited, so let’s whittle that number down to around 200. And now, some are truly locals only, very little nightlife or entertainment, restaurants to speak of, so whittle it down even more. But even still, it’s a large number that you could happily set up camp at and visit, taking in the beaches and the wine for a week (a summer, a lifetime) on end. Steve and I began this months and months earlier when he was invited to speak at a conference in Athens. (Let me take this moment to brag on my husband for a moment: it was no unimportant conference, but quite an achievement to be invited and I’m really proud of him–and his brain.) Upon discovering that he’d have a week in Athens in August, he suggested I come. WITHOUT THE KIDS? My eyeballs jumped ship from my head and rolled across the floor. He assured me that it could be done. I assured him he was crazy. But not one to pass up an opportunity to head to Europe, I considered it. And considered it some more. I’d like to say I worked up the bravery, but I was pretty freaked out right up until the end. Back to choosing an island!I met Steve, he was already in Athens for a week, and knowing our time was limited (I was there for a week), we decided not to head to an island too far from Athens (Corfu was high on the list! And Santorini was, of course, considered. And Paros! And Naxos! And Mykonos!) They were all so tempting. Google image any of them, and you’ll be sold. I can’t remember exactly when Hydra (eeee-dra! with a rolling “r” if you want to say it the proper way) came into the mix, but my sister Kate and our Swiss friend Claudia both had been there, and loved it. And then when I mentioned it to my Italian friend, Sylvia, her eyes lit up (and she is in the know, always. It’s true, Sylvia!). “Where Leonard Cohen used to live!” Indeed. This is a fun article on the island. Hydra, upon further research, was where more Europeans went to travel, but wouldn’t be overrun with tourists like some islands can be. Sold. A quiet(ish) few days on an island with Steve? Let’s do it. From Athens, you head to Piraeus (no more than a half hour train ride), and get a ferry (Flying Cat or Dolphin) to Hydra. Two hours later, it’s pulling up and you’re counting your luck that you landed in such a place. Friendly note: book your ferry in advance. We made the mistake of booking upon arrival since I was flying in on the same day and might’ve had delays and such. This was a mistake. We got to Piraeus at 11 am. 12:30 boat was full. 5:30 boat was full. Thankfully, room on the 7:30 boat. Didn’t arrive to Hydra until 9:30 pm though! A whole day spent in Piraeus, oh well. If there’s not room on the last boat and you’ve already booked a place at the island you’re trying to reach, that’s unlucky (and was almost our situation).  Enough about that. Hydra is a beautiful island, sort of tans and browns and beiges sweeping over it with punches of blue shutters or doors or dots of pink bougainvillea. We stayed at the Bratsera Hotel which is a two minute walk from the port. It has a stunning pool area, where breakfast is served every morning and where you can also eat dinner, have drinks, take a dip in the pool, sit forever because why not?Olive trees everywhere. All shapes, all sizes. The topiaries are my favorite but I’m afraid they wouldn’t care for Boston winters. Steve Hunt, middle left. Busy port! During the day, you can walk up to various docked boats and they’ll have a sign telling you which beach they’ll bring you to for a small fee if you hop aboard. Hydra is walkable (not that we would know–we were thoroughly lazy, hopping on and off boats and not doing much in the way of exercise this trip!), but some beaches are more easily (and certainly more quickly) accessed by boat. Our first beach was the Four Seasons beach, where you rent an umbrella, two chaise lounges, and can order drinks right there where you park yourself.
One of my favorite things about Hydra is that it’s pedestrian only. Walk along the cliffs for views of the Mediterranean as the sun is going down, and worry not about a car zooming past. We had dinner at Sunset Bar one night. We were told, though we didn’t get to try it, that Techne is also a great dinner, and also situated right along the ocean.I just love this. These random spots where you can walk down and throw yourself into the water off the cliffs. It seems these little spots are more readily available abroad than they are in the States. If you check out my IG stories, you can see this spot in the daytime, with lots of cliff jumping! This was a pretty dreamy location for dinner. Reminded me a little bit of our first dinner in Vernazza (one of our favorite dinners ever!). Our next beach we went the opposite direction to Mandraki beach. Note that the beaches we visited had their own restaurants, so leaving port with only yourself, your bathing suit, and a towel is perfectly acceptable! I always say I’m going to make Aperol Spritzes at home and I haven’t done so yet. NEXT SUMMER.They also have showers. Steve especially loved this. I will admit, there’s something nice about rinsing off the salt water before you lay down again. No body part left behind.Back to the boat we go! With most of these boat taxis, they return to the beach every half hour to bring more people, or pick people up. So when you’re ready to go, head back to the dock! You’ll notice I pretty much wore pretty much three outfits the entire trip, the above being one of them. Well hey there. Goodbye Mandraki beach! As we were leaving this beach, we began chatting with an English couple sitting across from us. In his perfect British accent he asked us, “Are you Americans? Or are you Canadians and I just insulted you?” (This is not the first time we’ve had foreigners bring up Trump to us in some way since we’ve traveled abroad!)  Oh! Real quick: another favorite restaurant, a bit behind me where I’m standing taking this picture is Gatto Nero. Delicious Italian. Like really yummy. Their Amatriciana was so good. And yes, we ate our share of gyros and feta and souvlaki too!  Some of those olive trees I was talking about earlier.The beautiful hotel grounds. It has this whole inner courtyard area where you can wander–pomegranates, limes, bougainvillea. So, so beautiful. Look at those colors. Nature’s ombre at its best. The water is so blue there. 

{clothing details: still my favorite summer shorts, and summer (especially for travel) sandals}

Athens is coming (where we DID manage to get a picture of the two of us together). Soon!