{"id":3083,"date":"2011-11-21T19:01:03","date_gmt":"2011-11-21T19:01:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/?p=3083"},"modified":"2012-04-26T11:28:30","modified_gmt":"2012-04-26T11:28:30","slug":"time-out-together-on-hydra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/?p=3083","title":{"rendered":"Time Out Together on Hydra"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Harbour scene - Hydra Town<\/p><\/div>\n

Saturday midday and yet again, blessed with glorious weather\u00a0… bought ‘The Guardian’, enjoyed a coffee at Philippos then caught the Flying Dolphin XXIX at 1305 hours to Hydra, via Ermioni.\u00a0 I spent time\u00a0on Hydra\u00a0last year, early in my travels, in fact, it was from Hydra that I travelled on to Spetses in early May … Costas had visited the island before, however, had never stayed over until this past weekend.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A very tranquil and serene place with a total ban on motorized transport …\u00a0when people or goods are unable to be moved on foot, then there are always the donkeys or the small hand carts to move things around.\u00a0 We had made a booking at the Piteoussa Guest House, enjoying a walk there in brilliant sunshine, under a cloudless sky, to check in to our room on the 1st floor –\u00a0with a balcony.\u00a0 Yanni the owner was awaiting us\u00a0 … full of information and recommendations of the best places to eat and drink and it was one of these places – Isalos Cafe in the harbour that we headed to for a late lunch of omelette’s and a couple of beers.\u00a0 Time then for a casual stroll around the coastal road, to work off our lunch, on such a beautiful day.\u00a0 It was late afternoon when we returned to the town to stop off at another of Yanni’s recommended places – Papagalos … a quiet drink before retiring for a late siesta.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So far, so good … left our room rather late to find Ostria Taverna where we would have dinner.\u00a0 A small, intimate and cosy wee place … quickly we learnt that it was to be their last night before closing and therefore, the menu was a little limited.\u00a0 Ordered a Green Salad and\u00a0Tzatziki\u00a0to\u00a0share, followed by fried Shrimps for Costas and Grilled Prawns for me, with the usual lovely crusty bread and white wine.\u00a0 A table of eight or so were celebrating a birthday and so we finished with a piece of yummy birthday cake which they offered.\u00a0 Now replete and of course with it being Saturday night, we headed back to Papagalos.\u00a0 DJ, dancing and very loud music\u00a0… almost too much for this mature couple!\u00a0 Leaving there in the early hours, it was outside The Pirate Bar that we spoke to James, an English guy … together we went to a small cafe\/bar in a side alley where we stayed until 0300 hours.\u00a0 Needless to say, no complaints about\u00a0our first night on Hydra.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A late rising on Sunday as was to be expected then out once again to make the short walk to Isalos Cafe for a full English\u00a0breakfast … more than we could eat.\u00a0 Setting off this time in the other direction, to walk the coastal path … making the most of more photographic opportunities.\u00a0 Our siesta later on somewhat interrupted, however, as there was a soccer game in progress near our accommodation and the Greeks certainly know how to make a din on such occasions.\u00a0 The other restaurant recommended by Yanni was Annita Taverna … when we found it I quickly realised that I had stopped there for lunch one day last year – we would not be disappointed with the food we ordered.\u00a0 Fava and Horta to begin followed by Fish Soup for me and Beef and Kritharaki in Red Sauce for Costas, bread and white wine.\u00a0 Very generous servings and absolute tops in taste, just like you would expect to eat in some one’s home … we really enjoyed it.\u00a0 Not wanting to subject ourselves again to loud music, we then went to Sinialo Cafe\/Bar in the harbour.\u00a0 A couple of quiet drinks, good conversation and back to our room before midnight,\u00a0<\/p>\n

Today, surprise surprise, it was back to Isalos for brunch … Costas forced down another full English breakfast while I ordered a Club Sandwich and fries.\u00a0 Taking\u00a0our time whilst reading ‘The Observor’ … what I could not eat of the fries, I fed to two or three of the local moggies and I know they were most appreciative.\u00a0 Actually, there could be more cats than human beings living on Hydra … at least, that is the feeling one gets.\u00a0 Some are in very good condition\u00a0while others are not and you cannot help but feel for them.\u00a0 In particular, one we first saw on Saturday night … “our wee girl”.\u00a0\u00a0White, tiny and with incredibly short legs – we both fell in love with her.\u00a0 When we returned today to see her, among her companions was a big, darling old moggy I had befriended last year and it was so nice to see him again.\u00a0 We enquired from a local shop owner as to whether or not “our wee girl” had an owner.\u00a0 She replied “No, take her” and I can tell you we came very close to doing so.\u00a0 However, the logistics of getting her back to Spetses on the hydrofoil and the ongoing task of blending her into the family and her ultimate acceptance by the existing four … I believe Costas probably made the right decision and we left her there.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After an enjoyable walk up a path into the hills behind the town and returning for\u00a0a shared cold beer at Isalos Cafe, we caught the 1440 hours hydrofoil for the 30 minute ride and return to Spetses and home.\u00a0 It is evening now and rather cold outside but the fire burns … I have just nine days more and I know I must continue to enjoy every one of them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Saturday midday and yet again, blessed with glorious weather\u00a0… bought ‘The Guardian’, enjoyed a coffee at Philippos then caught the Flying Dolphin XXIX at 1305 hours to Hydra, via Ermioni.\u00a0 I spent time\u00a0on Hydra\u00a0last year, early in my travels, in fact, it was from Hydra that I travelled on to Spetses in early May … […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3083"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3083\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3198,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3083\/revisions\/3198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}