Friday, August 06, 2004 - Greek Island of Hydra (that’s eedra)

After all my urging to wake and take the earliest ferry to Hydra, I must have turned off my alarm and gone back today. Sarah came knocking at 8:15 am, and I leaned up to answer without a shirt on. Jon was not awake. I told I would be out in 10 min. It was more like 15 min as all my camera equipment was spread out. I was apologetic and we caught the 8:40 am bus. We arrived at Pireus at 10:00am. Our boat left at 10:00 while we were wondering around the port looking for tickets. The ferry companies and the travel agencies they are connected with will only tell you their times, so we bought a fast boat ticket from Blue Dolphin. It took us about 20 minutes to find the place to buy a ticket. The next one left at noon. We walked around the port for an hour and a half. I bought a pastry that tasted like it had cream cheese and coconut in the center. Some people withdrew money from the ATM and some bought souvenirs. I almost bought a Ferrari hat for my brother. We got yelled for taking picture of the port by one of the workers dressed in a captain’s uniform. We found out we couldn’t take pictures of the train station either, because a worker there yelled at us, too. It kind of looked like the station in Harry Potter. The there was uneventful. Everyone fell asleep except me for at least 10 min. When we stopped in Poros, I went out on the back of the boat and took some pictures. There was an active little boy, maybe three-years-old, on board that ran all over the place. We later saw him at the Acropolis museum on top of the hill. We got off at Hydra and were very hungry. There were many restaurants to choose from by the water, but I wanted to go up into town a little more to eat at a restaurant with a view. We found the place Lonely Planet recommended and it had a wonderful view. It was even on a postcard that I bought later (the same exact view). I had the saganaki (fried cheese) with covered in cinnamon and apples with a spot of black currant jelly on top. Joel also had saganaki. Most of the others had a pasta dish that they thought tasted just like it does in the States. The appetizer was toasted bread with a butter spread and an olive spread. We went through only three bottle of water this time. We left and went down the port. They asked me were to go for the beaches and I said right, but they saw people in wet bathing suits coming from the left, so we walked to the left. There were no beaches but small rocky inlets. The other changed while I talked with a man dressed like a pirate who offered to take my picture. He said that he was native of the island and drew ink drawings of the island vistas. Some were from his studio across the harbor. He asked if photography was my professional. I said it was a hobby and he said that one’s hobby should be his work. Then it will never be work. He said that he a dinosaur and that he had no telephone or computer. He complained that people relied too much on computers. I didn’t tell me why I was there other than I was working for the Olympics. After I took a picture of him, I rejoined my group and went down to the shore ledges. I watched them swim, and Jon, Chris, and Vanessa dived into the water from a 20-foot cliff nearby. Afterwards we split up, Joel and I walked slower than Jon and Chris, so we ended up separate. We walked through Kalimi. We saw a few people writing donkeys, because there was no motor transportation on the island. One man was talking on his cell phone while riding on his. We turned back to Hydra Town and bought some water. They do not like it here in Greece if you do not have exact change. Joel and I walked to the North side of Hydra Town and ran into Jon and Chris who had walked around the outskirts and to the closest resort with a beach. Joel and I took pictures of the harbor. Jon, Vanessa, and I split a pizza for dinner. We were told we could only catch the 9:30 ferry back when we arrived. We waited for a catamaran from Sardonic Dolphin Ferry Lines. On the way back, we watched Mr. Bean. I got the giggles (well, more of a laughs) every time someone smiled at me. I was slaphappy tired. We think we may have caught the last train out of Pireus, but we aren’t sure. It was a 15 min. wait after we got on until it left. We rode switched at Manasteraki and rode to Ethiniki Amyna and hailed another taxi. We arrived here at 12:40pm. The driver with Vannessa, Chris and I was very particular about closing his car doors and didn’t speak English. He was hesitant about reading the card with directions to our place. He asked if we wanted to go to the Pikermi Hotel. I shook my head. He got out his glasses and figured it out. It was rate 2, due to us being picked up after midnight. Joel and I decided to move back the time of departure for the Acropolis to 9:00am.

~ Stephen

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