February 10

I once again awoke to the blissful silence that permeated over Hydra Town. While I didn’t particularly enjoy awaking at 5:30 A.M. to turn the hot water on, my discomfort was mitigated by the experience of watching the harbor come to life in relative silence. I’ve been to quite a few places which captured the feeling of being back in a different era. But, I’ve never been to a place where I felt that emotion as deeply as I did in Hydra.

After getting ready for the day (with hot water this time!), we headed out to explore some more of the island. The day was as sunny and perfect as the previous two had been. We decided to explore the island’s northern coast. Before we could do that, we needed to get some food. Having picked up some great food at the Il Forno bakery the night before, we knew exactly where to go for breakfast. We bought some freshly baked cheese pies, chocolate milk, and a ham and cheese croissant for 1,650 drachma. We took our breakfasts to a bench overlooking the harbor. There, we enjoyed our food while watching the ships arrive and depart.

Since we were still a little sore after our hike to the monasteries the day before, we decided to walk along the coastline until we got tired. We would explore the northwest coast first, and then see the northeast coast. We set off along a road that left the harbor to the northeast. No sooner had we rounded the first bend than we had arrived in Kamini. We had noticed from the monasteries that Kamini and Hydra Town look like one large town. But, we saw there were differences between the two towns once we started walking through them. The biggest difference is the harbor. Hydra Town’s harbor is very large compared to Kamini’s. Additionally, the houses in Hydra Town are a little grander than those in Kamini. That’s not to say the houses in Kamini were run down. They just weren’t as grandiose as those in Hydra Town. Still, Kamini kept that same timeless quality that Hydra Town possessed. It seemed to be a more laid back alternative to Hydra Town (laid back being a very relative term).

We continued walking until the houses of Kamini were behind us. The ground became increasingly steep. However, we didn’t really notice the slope because the views were (once again) incredible. A couple of small islets floated just off the Hydra coast. In the background was the Peloponese, providing a perspective on how just how small Hydra was.

After about an hour, we reached a beautiful stone bridge that spanned a stream on the edge of the town of Vlyhos. We crossed the bridge and walked into the town. It almost looked like a ghost town. There were only a couple of people on the street with us and most of the shops appeared to be closed. But, the image of a ghost town was solidified when we reached the beach. The beach was dotted with cabana umbrella frames just waiting to be adorned with canvas. There were also boats turned upside down, hibernating before the summer crowds would come to use them. Finally, the only taverna on the beach was shuttered for the winter. It might’ve seemed pretty desolate in another circumstance. But to us, it just seemed like another spot that reflected the island’s natural peace. We spent about a half-hour listening to the tide brush up against the beach’s pebbles.

We were feeling a little tired and very hungry by this time. Since there didn’t seem to be anything open in Vlyhos, we walked back to Hydra Town to get a bite to eat. We decided to try a place other than the Taverna To Steki. We ended up at Stofilia on Miaouli just a few feet from the harbor. The meal turned out to be excellent, particularly the tzaziki (to which we were getting addicted). The only downside was that Stofilia, as was the case throughout Greece, did not take credit cards. The owner of Strofilia told us the same thing that the owner of the To Steki told us: ignore the credit card signs on the door, we just haven’t taken them down yet. Other than that minor flaw, it was definitely worth stopping at Stofilia for a meal.

We decided to walk off our meal by heading off to Mandraki, which is on the northeast side of the island. It is considered the island’s “resort”, because its pebble beach is Hydra’s largest. It didn’t take long into our walk before we noticed the big difference between the northeast and the northwest side of the island. Some absolutely beautiful villas lined the road to Mandraki. These mansions were in direct contrast to the simple homes that were found in Kameni and Vlyhos. We continued to marvel at the beauty of these homes until we finally reached Mandraki. There, we were in for a surprise. The “resort” on the beach, called the Hotel Miramonte, didn’t look like much more than a collection of cottages. There were the same umbrella skeletons that were in Vlyhos, as well as the overturned boats. The hotel was closed for the winter, which might explain the run down condition. It probably cleans up very nicely for the summertime visitors. But, given what we saw of the condition of the hotel, we were glad that we weren’t staying there.

We walked back the one mile to Hydra Town. As we walked, we were able to watch a glorious sunset that lit up all the area in a bright red light. It was dusk by the time we made it to Hydra Town. We stopped by the grocery store next to the Taverna To Steki, bought some food, and went back to our rooms to eat and retire.

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