Back in November, we were excitedly planning a trip to Paris, France, for my winter leave (aka vacation). We’d finally found a dog sitter we trusted and were anxious to get out of the country! About one week after we purchased our plane tickets and put a downpayment on an apartment, the Paris attacks happened and the military banned all travel to France. Not knowing how long the travel ban would be in place, we set our sights on a new European getaway—Greece!
We left early in the morning for our flight from Naples to Athens and then boarded a train to a port to catch the ferry to the island of Hydra, a beautiful little piece of paradise south of the mainland of Greece. Having traveled by car, plane, train and boat, we sat down to enjoy our first Greek dining adventure- a Greek salad. Or as the Greeks call them, salads.
There’s no potato salad hiding at the bottom…
Along with 6 new feline friends… one thing Rick Steves doesn’t mention about the island of Hydra is the cats. They’re everywhere, they’re abnormally nice, and they’re well fed and healthy. It’s unnerving.
The island was fortified to protect them from pirates.
Not only do they get handouts from tourists, but the fisherman toss fish scraps to them AND residents of the island regularly set food out. Everywhere we turned, there were at least three cats chattering away at us.
Since we went in the middle of the winter, most of the shops were closed and the island was all but deserted, save for the 2,000 or so residents. Instead of shopping, we stuck to hiking the island and enjoying Greek food and beer (which isn’t as good as American, but still better than the Italian Peroni).
Part of our island adventure was going for a horseback ride up the mountains to a monastery where two Greek Orthodox nuns invited us into their home for Greek coffee and cookies.
We had the pleasure of observing the Greek Orthodox Epiphany tradition of swimming in the freezing waters for a cross that been paraded through the town, blessing all the homes. Only boys are allowed to partake in the tradition, and the first to reach the cross is given an extra blessing to have extra good luck for the year.
We were suppose to leave Hydra after 2 days, but a storm blew through the night before our scheduled departure that canceled all ferries to and from the island. We were stuck for another 24 hours. Luckily the folks that owned our apartment were more than eager to collect another night’s rent, so we weren’t sleeping on the streets. With even fewer shops and stores open (the bad weather shut the place down) we wandered around the town and the trails again. We clocked about 9 miles of walking every day we were there, with about 60 flights of stairs climbed!
No filter. The water is that blue!
Cars aren’t allowed on the island, so people walk and use donkeys to transport their goods.
Local grocery store
Not a bad view for your front door…
Southern mainland of Greece behind us.
When we returned to Athens, our hotel begrudgingly refunded us one night’s rate, but we had to majorly rearrange our plans. With one day left, we were only able to see the Acropolis and Parthenon, the Monastiraki Flea Market (a sight to behold!), and the Panathenaic Stadium.
The Acropolis is probably smaller than you think it is (Wikipedia says just over 7 acres). It stands tall over the city, but it doesn’t have much surface area. It was mainly just a place for temples to gods—and later, one Roman emperor—with the main life of the city taking place elsewhere. Only four structures still stand on it anymore, with the famous Parthenon being one of them.
Standing in front of the Parthenon
They’re constantly working on restoring the structures, so the west side of the Parthenon was covered in scaffolding. The picture here is of the east side, which made for a better shot. The Greek ruins we saw in southern Italy at Paestum (a picture of which is in the last post) actually have temples that are in better shape. The Parthenon is bigger, but the Paestum ones are nicer and more complete.
One of the more impressive sights on the Acropolis was Athens itself. It just goes on for as far as you can see in every direction.
After returning to the heart of the city for lunch and the flea market, we finished the day at the Panathenaic Stadium. It’s the largest all-marble stadium in the world and where the first modern Olympics took place in 1896. It’s also where the first Olympic marathon finished (beginning of course in Marathon, Greece). They even used it for archery and as the marathon finishing line in the 2004 Olympics.
This was probably the coolest part of our Athens trip for me (Danielle). Current day Athens does an annual marathon that begins in Marathon and ends in this same stadium (dad, you in?).
In the Panathenaic stadium with the Acropolis in the background.
All in all, not a bad way to spend 5 days!
Next up… Paris!
Two Gators In Italy 
“They’re constantly working on restoring the structures, so the west side of the Parthenon was covered in scaffolding.” And you wrote that without a hint of irony . . . . 🙂 What a marvelous time you must have had. Thanks for sharing!
looks incredible. visiting Greece is very high on my list. (as well as the marathon!)
I am so jealous. Maybe my next trip.
On Sun, Jan 17, 2016 at 11:56 AM, Two Gators In Italy wrote:
> twogators posted: “Back in November, we were excitedly planning a trip to > Paris, France, for my winter leave (aka vacation). We’d finally found a dog > sitter we trusted and were anxious to get out of the country! About one > week after we purchased our plane tickets and put a ” >