The Bois Family Trip to Athens

Noontime of March 21, 2001 Hydra

On our way from Poros to Hydra, we saw this mountaintop island in the distance.  The little bit I know about geology leads me to believe that there are valleys under the water as deep as this mountain is high. And there's also the possibility that there are mountaintops just below the surface.  I wasn't worried because the Greeks have sailed these waters for thousands of years.

We continued on between these two islands.

We were on the boat's top deck coming into the port of Hydra when Danusia snapped this picture of me.

	The town surrounds the harbor like an amphitheater.

 

Motor vehicles are not allowed on Hydra.  The only transportation is bicycles and donkeys.  This line of donkeys were waiting for our boat to dock so tourists could take a ride.

We saw a sign that said Taxi, and it took me a second to realize that here the taxi is a donkey.  Since we had only an hour on Hydra, we decided against the donkey ride and set out on foot.

We also bypassed the gift shops near the dock and headed west along the shore.  There were fishing and pleasure boats, a small church and, of course, a few dogs.

However, Hydra is known for cats.  With a population of 3000 people, there may be a cat per person.

 

The town is beautiful.  I don't know who the statue is about, but it looked good in the middle of the street along the shore.  Fish swam under the boats floating in glass green water

Since the harbor is so small, no more than a lagoon really, our boat had to head back out to the sea so another boat could dock.

We walked along a wide path along the shore.  From there, we got a good view of the cliffs of either the Peloponnese or an island, I couldn't really tell.

 

We rounded a bend and came across this small village above the shore.  There are stairs that go down to the rocks on the water's edge.  We walked to the village and returned on a path closer to the water.

The stone wall on the building at the top of the cliff gives it the look of a castle, but the sign reads "Disco Heaven."

 

Back in Hydra, we started exploring the narrow cobblestone streets.  Oblivious, a cat slept in a planter.

Next:  The afternoon of March 21, 2001 - Aegina