Forgotten Photos from Hydra

Found in my archive some forgotten photos from Hydra this summer which. As I feel sorry to delete them, I publish them belatedly.

In Hydra it is prohibited to bring in motored vehicles (although I did see one or two trucks that bring garbage etc), beasts of burden are still essential part of ordinary life. They bring construction material, food, water, luggage and human beings. Hubby said they were donkeys, but I thought many were mules or small horses.



I did not find food in Hydra interesting. Probably you get good fish, but the cooking was uninspiring standard taverna affair. Even so, we found a taverna we liked, this one in the left side of the photo. I don't remember its name. It is located near the bar Paramour and the hotel Amaryllis; Hydra town centre being so small, it should not be difficult to find it.



We are here twice and tried various things. Menu ranges from classics to some originals and they were all well-executed. Here in the photo is pork souvlaki, with some vegetable in between. I liked the twist, as the Greek souvlaki is made only with meat.



Before leaving Hydra, we sat at cafeteria Haagendasz to wait for speedboat. The cheese cake was dry and oozing the smell of freezer.



I am not sure if I want to go back to Hydra. The town was beautiful but it is not something I want to see repeatedly.

Greek "Tost" & Greek Crepe

Snacking in Hydra Town. We ate these in one of the port side cafeterias. Don't remember the name.

Tost.



The word come from "Toast" in English, but Greek "toast" (pronounced 'tost') is always a hot sandwich with cheese (and cheap ham) inside.

You think the combination of bread and cheese cannot go wrong, but you are underestimating the deadly combination of long-preserved bread and cheap sliced cheese and ham.

We had also Crepe with cheese, ham and tomato.



It looks terrible, but tasted actually quite good; it was a home-made pancake sort of goodness.

Sunset Restaurant @ Hydra

This is one of the restaurants where we ate in Hydra this August: Sunset Restaurant.

It is at one edge of Hydra town, just above Hydroneta. It is so called because there you can see beautiful sunset. But when we went, it was already dark and it was as it was in the photo.



Even after the dark, there is a sea view, but the sea in the night is just dark and I don't think it is so beautiful.

It is a classy sort of place by Greek standard, and accordingly, the price is rather high. The service personnel isn't friendly or serviceable either.

The portion of bread is also stingy: this supposed to be for 2 people.



Lettuce, dill and spring onion salad (€ 5).



'Home Made' melizanosalata (€ 5.50).



I was disappointed in this one, as the aubergine did not have smokey flavour, but Hubby said he liked it.

Hubby's Pork Chop (€ 9.50).



The meat itself was just average, but the chips were terrible. They must have been under the heater for some time.

This one I think was called Tassia's Pan Fried Pie (€ 8.50).



It was from Mezedes section, but it turned out to be a huge pie. The crust, similar to Arabic paper bread, was crispy and nice, but I didn't like particularly the brend of cheeses.

With a bottle of water and a bottle of beer, the bill came to € 36.50. This is not an exorbitant sum, but I left disappointed because the quality of food was not up to the price tag.

In my personal opinion, this is not a place where I should come for food, but just for the view.

http://www.sunsethydra.com/

Please check out also my WHERE TO EAT IN HYDRA TOWN.

A Weekend in Hydra

We past this weekend in Hydra.



Unfortunately, I cannot go to vacation this summer. To compensate it somehow, we went to Hydra just for 2 nights/2days.

The Hydra town is lovely, but there is few things to see; two or three small museums and pretty much that is it. Beaches were mediocre by Greek islands' standard - mind that Greek islands' standard is very high -, but considering it takes 90 min from Piraeus port, we thought it is all right.

Down side is that it costs 50 euros to go and return from there and the hotels/rooms are pricy, if you find vecancy, especially during the weekends in summer.

We spent about 400 euros (i.e. 200 euros P/P) for this 2-day vacation. Not so good, not so bad. It was just all right.

Trip to Hydra

Recently I went to Hydra island for a small 'business' trip.



It is a small island in Argosaronic Bay (the bay situated between Attika and Peloponnese peninsulas) and famous for the ban on motored vehicles on the island.

It was the first time for me to be there, but have heard and read about it quite a lot. One of the things in my mental notebook was that it is an island of artists; it is reputed to be home to many artists from every corners of Europe. To be honest, however, I did not see many artistic activities, except for some Europeans selling drawings and small objects on the street.

I have heard also it is frequented by many celebs, which might be true, but my impression is that it was a glory of the past. I guess, nowadays, the celebs go directly to Paros, Mikonos and Santorini by Hi-Speed or by airplanes, without bothering cosy Hydra.

Summing up, some of the things said in guidebooks or by people who had visited the island many years ago belong to the past. It is true that the island is relatively expensive, but, in my opinion, it is because of the middle class Athenians who come to pass their weekends there.

All of these, however, do not mean that Hydra lacks in charm. On the contrary, it is more attractive for those who look for a stylish but not busy island. I am willing to go back to pass two or three days of vacation.

I stayed only one night and ate at this taverna called "Loulou" or "Lulus".



I ordered aubergine imam from 'magirefta' counter and horta (boiled green).



The imam was tasty, if a bit too salty. With a big bottle of water and a basket of bread, it cost only 11 euros.

It is on Miaouli Steet and closed only in December-January. If you are looking for a cheap and cheeful place to eat in Hydra, remember the taverna Lulus.

And I stayed in this pension.

Hotel Kirki

It is not a "marvellous" hotel, but good-value-for money sort of place. It is clean and very central. I paid 40 euros/night for 1 person. If you can obtain this sort of price, it is a good place to stay.