We knew we wanted to visit an island in Greece after Athens, but weren't sure where. Originally we thought Santorini, for hiking and the views. But when we realized we would probably need to take another flight to get there we nixed it for something more simple. A ferry to Hydra! A friend of ours told us about this little, quiet island. There are no cars or motors allowed, with a few exceptions. It was incredibly peaceful here.
Hydra is crazy in the Summer, but was a great sleepy town when we went. It felt like we had the island to ourselves. Even though it was Winter, it was still warm enough to go out without a jacket on. The water was crystal clear, bright blue. So tempting to jump in!
We spent 4 amazing, totally relaxing days here and had a pretty awesome routine down pat. Every day we got up, hiked, came back for lunch, siesta, another hike, then dinner. It was wonderful.
Mealtimes were amazing. We could tell that the port restaurants cater to the English tourists because their menus all had things like club sandwiches, turkey sandwiches, pizza, etc. We just wanted Greek food! After a quick google search we found some hole in the wall joints that the locals eat at, including Lulu's Taverna. We met Lulu, who owns/cooks with her husband. They were the sweetest and gave us free dessert.
Hiking around the island was fascinating! We could see homes built right into the hills. It is crazy to see how high up on the mountains some homes were...and no cars to drive up and down! How do they get to work or into town everyday? And tiny churches where everywhere! It was beautiful.
The above photo shows where we stayed. We also met the owners here, a husband and wife team. Everyone we met on this island was so kind and sweet. I can't wait to come back to Hydra and I can't wait to explore other islands as well! I'm thinking a summer trip to Greece in the future.
Hydra is crazy in the Summer, but was a great sleepy town when we went. It felt like we had the island to ourselves. Even though it was Winter, it was still warm enough to go out without a jacket on. The water was crystal clear, bright blue. So tempting to jump in!
We spent 4 amazing, totally relaxing days here and had a pretty awesome routine down pat. Every day we got up, hiked, came back for lunch, siesta, another hike, then dinner. It was wonderful.
Mealtimes were amazing. We could tell that the port restaurants cater to the English tourists because their menus all had things like club sandwiches, turkey sandwiches, pizza, etc. We just wanted Greek food! After a quick google search we found some hole in the wall joints that the locals eat at, including Lulu's Taverna. We met Lulu, who owns/cooks with her husband. They were the sweetest and gave us free dessert.
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| Lulu's braised fava beans and roasted eggplant in tomato sauce. So special |
Hiking around the island was fascinating! We could see homes built right into the hills. It is crazy to see how high up on the mountains some homes were...and no cars to drive up and down! How do they get to work or into town everyday? And tiny churches where everywhere! It was beautiful.
The above photo shows where we stayed. We also met the owners here, a husband and wife team. Everyone we met on this island was so kind and sweet. I can't wait to come back to Hydra and I can't wait to explore other islands as well! I'm thinking a summer trip to Greece in the future.
as beautiful as I imagined....
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