Spring Break 2025, Greece
Day 8, Friday
 |
Looking down at the water and the flowers from the path. |
Right before I went to bed last night, I remembered that I needed to order ferry tickets to go to Hydra tomorrow (which we need to remember is pronounced "ee-druh", not "high-druh"). So I scheduled one out to the island for 10:00 and a return on Saturday for 1:00. Then I went to my room to get ready for bed and get most of my stuff mostly packed. It was around 11:00. Well, the room was dark and the curtains on all four beds were pulled shut so I'm guessing everyone was sleeping (already?) and thus I couldn't turn the light on and had to be very quiet. So no packing. Luckily I had already pulled out my nightshirt, toothbrush, and toothpaste and put then on the top of my bags. So I quietly locked my credit card (ferry tickets) and my laptop in my locker using the flashlight on my phone, then took my nightshirt and tooth stuff to the bathroom. I just dumped the day's clothes in the locker and set my alarm a little earlier. I did have to pull out my phone charger though. I crawled up there, pulled the curtain, plugged my phone in and settled in. I had forgotten to take out my earrings, so I put those beside the mattress with my water bottle, phone, and glasses. It was awkward getting in and out of the bed a few times to use the bathroom, but I survived (top bunk). The guy that checked me in said that in the future, I should send a message saying that I wanted a bottom bunk. The only bottom bunk they could find was a mixed gender room, but I didn't feel comfortable sharing a room and bathroom with guys. Of course, I only ran into one of the women I shared a room with, so it probably would have been okay. Although you hear stories about guys crawling into the wrong bunks sometimes, claiming too much to drink.
With everyone asleep when I went to bed, I expected them to all be up when I got up. No such luck. So I quietly got out clothes and toiletries and went into the bathroom to shower and get dressed. I do have to say that the shower was a pretty great one. It had the overhead rain-style showerhead with a hand held to use as well (you can switch back and forth). Warm water right away with a walk-in shower--no shower curtain! Then I got ready, quietly packed my bags with a little light shining in around the edges of the curtain. Took my stuff down to the lobby restaurant and had breakfast. It was a buffet--mostly cold. Ate, checked out, then left. When I left, they asked me how I liked the dorm style bed. I mentioned that they were all asleep when I went to bed and when I got up--they just laughed and said yeah, that's often how it works. They asked if the experience would keep me from sleeping in a dorm style arrangment again. I said no, that I would just need to plan ahead better. These dorm bunks were way better than some of the others I've used. They weren't metal framed stand alone bunk beds. They were built into the wall ones with curtains, ladders, outlets, and a little extra space on the platform next to the mattress for your stuff. I did remember on the ferry that I forgot my lip balm next to the bed, but nothing else.
I used google maps to find the metro station. The train was a bit late and it had taken me longer to find the metro station and get a ticket. So I got to the harbor less than 5 minutes before my 10:00 trip. The company that I bought the tickets from had sent a confirmation of how much I paid, but not any other information. Luckily, I had taken a screenshot of the reference numbers, etc., but I didn't know the harbor gate to go to. I saw a ticket booth for my company, went there and she said gate 8, you need to hurry! and pointed. So I walked fast with my bags and kept going and going, looking for 8. It is not marked and there are no signs pointing the way. Finally I stopped and asked a ferry that was loading cars and he pointed the way. Obviously, by the time I got there I was 10 minutes late. I found a ticket seller, explained the problem, and they made me buy another ticket for the next ferry!!! My first ticket had been 35 Euros, this one was 42 Euros! So I asked for a refund for my first ticket. She said they don't do refunds, but I could contact the company to get a credit for another trip. I said that I am leaving soon and may not ever be back, so a credit was no good. She didn't care. So I was not only out 42 Euros, but also lost three of my hours of my vacation to spend on the island. I've contacted the company and they are saying that they do not issue credits nor refunds. Hmmmm. So don't use Blue Star in case you miss your ferry! So I sat in the waiting area. Then I went to the wrong ferry and had to try another (it's not marked at all! There is no signage.). Finally went in, well it was unlike any ferry I've been on. There were rows of seats and we had assigned seats. And bins overhead to stow our luggage. It was too weird. Luckily tbe seat next to me was not assigned so I could put one of my bags next to me. Read on the way to the island (two hours) while watching the pretty scenery of the islands. Mine was the second stop. Greece has about 6,000 islands, but only 227 are inhabited.
 |
This is the inside of the ferry
|
 |
this is the outside |
When we arrived, I followed the hotel directions and found it perfectly! It appears to be a house from the street. The front desk is in the front room. I had messaged a few times letting them know when I would be arriving (each time my plans changed). So I rang the bell on the counter and one of the owners (?) checked me in and led me through the back of the house to the courtyard and through that to a door on the back of the building--room 8. It has its own little window with shutters and I can turn the lights on whenever I want! The only weird thing is that you have to turn on the water heater 15 minutes before your shower (just flip a switch on the wall). And have I mentioned that in Greece you cannot flush your toilet paper? It is common in much of Asia, but not Europe. Evidently it has to do with the age of their plumbing. Each bathroom was a step-open garbage can for your soiled toilet paper. Every bathroom, everywhere. It makes some of the bathrooms, especially public ones, rather stinky. Oh, and the bathrooms at the second monastery yesterday were what women call "squatters"--a porcelain place on each side to put your feet, then you squat over the hole. I've used them before, and, like most women, hate them. It is difficult managing your clothing so that it doesn't get wet while also balancing in a deep squat, then wiping and having to throw that in the garbage can. Several women, including me, declined to use those bathrooms and waited until our lunch break! I was talking to our tour group guide and she said that the junior high she went to had those. Yuck. I can't even imagine.
 |
Just off the boat! |
So enough bathroom talk. After charging my phone a bit (found out my powerbank had no charge left on the ferry and my phone power was down in the teens), I headed out. I walked along the harbor--cute shops and sidewalk cafes fill the are, then followed the path along the ocean to the next village--Kaminia. I walked around that village--fewer shops. And donkey droppings in the walking path. Hydra does not have vehicles on the island--one of the primary reasons I chose it! Some residents of the island use donkeys to carry their things--grocery bags, bags of garden soil, etc. So donkeys do what donkeys do--just in the walking paths and it's not always cleaned up. Some of the walking paths wind around and meander, then disappear, and go up and down. Soon, the housing switched from being one village to another and I ended up on the harbor in Hydra town. A few times, I sat on a bench facing the sea and I felt so calm--it was such a nice feeling. Until I realized that I only have one more day of seeing stuff before having to leave Greece. Hydra has a clock tower very near us and it is very loud. I seems to start chiming at 6:30 (when meal service for dinner starts) and I think it ended at 9:00. I had fish for dinner tonight at at small sidewalk cafe on the harbour. Better than the fish earlier in the week that had its eyes and fins as well as its bones. This one had the skin like the other one, but had been deboned and no eyes or fins!
 |
The harbour--you can see the clock tower. My accommodation is just behind that. |
 |
Clear water! |
 |
The only windmill on the island ,up on a hill |
 |
the Aegean Sea and another island |
 |
a house along the water |
 |
I don't know--it's all Greek to me! |
 |
some small streets in Kaminia |
 |
Hydra Town |
Oh, I just remembered a monastery joke someone on the bus told me yesterday and I forgot to add it to my blog. So I will just tell it now. A man joined a monastery of a contemplative order (silent). But once a year, they would go before a panel and were allowed to say two words. Well, the first year the man said "Bedroom. Cold." And the panel wrote it down. The next year, the man said "Food. Bad." The panel wrote it down. The next year, he said " I. quit." and left the monastery. One man on the panel said, "I'm not surprised, he's done nothing but complain since he's been here!" Hey--I didn't say it was a good joke!
So I have until 1:00 tomorrow to sleep in, pack again, and walk around a bit more (and get a ticket for the ferry from my reservation code). I can leave my bags at my hotel (Kirki Hydra) until I leave.