Beautiful relaxing day in Hydra

We awoke to blue sky and lots of sun on Tuesday March 21.  The high was 19C, though it became cloudy in the late afternoon.  We headed out early as we wanted to explore Hydra.  We have learned that from 1204-1566, Hydra was under the control of Venice and from 1566-1821 was part of the Ottoman Empire.  At the time of the Greek war of Independence against the Ottoman empire, Hydra had a population of 16,000 and supplied 150 ships against the Turks.  Hydra went into decline in the late 19th century.  During the German occupation of Greece, over 8% of the Hydriots (residents of Hydra) starved to death.  Today the permanent population of Hydra is around 2000.

View from our room-- lemon tree just beside us

Alain in the front of the Guest House

Donkeys in the morning in the port

We stopped at a wonderful bakery and got some treats for our breakfast.

Wonderful Bakery 

We headed back to the port for a coffee and to watch the cats and boats.  We have discovered that there are hundreds of cats on Hydra.  They are fed by the tourists and locals, though some have to be rescued during the winter months when it is pretty quiet on the island.  The cats in this picture are watching a boat where fresh fish is being sold.

Cats watching the small fishing boat

Line up for fresh fish

View from another side

                                                    Gorgeous view of harbour with lots going on

After our coffee, we decided to check out a museum in a historic mansion, that was in the hills, just below Leonard Cohen's house.  We passed the outside of Ostria, where we had dinner on Monday.

Outside of Ostria

 There were some amazing views of the port as we climbed higher.

View of the port-- most buildings are painted white and are well-kept

Donkey train with goods heading uphill

 A very well-kept cat- this one had a collar

View of two churches

When we reached the mansion, we discovered that the museum does not open until April.  We headed back to the port and then started to walk on a lovely seawall to the community of Kamini, about 20 minutes from Hydra Town, where we are staying.  We had wonderful views of the Saronic Gulf.  There were also lots of cannons and cats en route.

Beautiful coloured water

More cannons from the War of Independence

Cannons and water en route to Kamini

Not yet opened bar/restaurant on the water

Water, water everywhere

                                                                      Cats en route

Cat among the wildflowers

We arrived in Kamini, another small town with a protected port.  We wandered around, seeing more white houses, donkeys and cats.  There weren't too many people out and the restaurants hadn't really opened yet as it was still before noon.

Young donkey in Kamini

Cat walk in Kamini

 We sat on a bench in the port, enjoying the sun.

Kamini port

We then headed back to Hydra Town taking some pics of blue water, cats and more cannons.

View of Kamini harbour 

Very beautiful water

Cat walk

On sea wall with Hydra Town in the background

We went back to the room for a brief rest and then went for lunch.  As we were walking back to the port, we passed a small restaurant that looked like it would have good local food.  We were right.  We had a lovely lunch of a beetroot salad and zucchini fritters with sea asparagus.

Alain with beetroot salad

With zucchini fritters

As we were eating, the cats nearby were enjoying themselves too.

Pretty cat with water across the way from restaurant

                                                  This cat took a snooze right beside our table

After lunch, we walked on the seawall in the other direction from our late morning walk.  We passed the Hydra Historical Archive Museum and found more cannons and statues commemorating naval commanders.

1821 Hero

Adreas Miaoulis- Admiral during Greek War of Independence 1821-1829

                                                       The Guns of Hydra

After our walk, we went back to the room to rest before dinner.  We headed out at about 8:00 p.m. to a small outdoor place that specialized in kabobs and souvlaki- called Kai Kremmydi.  We shared a tomato-cucumber salad and both had a lamb kabob plate.  We sat outside under a heater and were joined by a cat.  I had a glass of ouzo and Alain had a Greek beer called Fix. For dessert, they gave us a plate of sheep yogurt with a home made preserve on the house. 

                                                                             Tomato-cucumber salad

                                                        So nice to be eating outside in March

                                                                    The cat that came for dinner...

                                                                    The Fix (beer) was in...

                                                              Sheep yogurt with sweet fruit preserve topping 

We were full as we headed back to the room to pack for the next phase of our journey.  We head out tomorrow morning to Nafplio in the Pelopponese.  We have to take a 45 minute ferry to the mainland (a town called Porto Heli), then a taxi to Kranidi and then the bus to Nafplio.  We will be in Nafplio for three nights before returning to Athens on Saturday March 25 for two days.