This week, as the world watches the Olympic Games in its birthplace, it’s a great time to consider a trip to historic, scenic Greece. To experience island life and try synchronized tanning, head from Athens with a buddy to the nearby islands of Hydra and Spetses.
Popular Hydra (pronounced ee-drah, not high-drah) is the more glamorous island. Hydra Town, its capital, is a maze of narrow, cobbled streets lined with graceful stone mansions. These mansions date back to the island’s halcyon days in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, when Hydra flourished. Back then, it was famous as a safe haven for those that were fleeing Ottoman oppression in the Peloponnese.
On arid Hydra, where farming was out of the question, the islanders turned to shipbuilding; many residents made vast fortunes running the British blockade of French ports during the Napoleonic Wars. Hydra’s impressive mansions are reminders of their well-paid efforts.
In the 1960s, Hydra became a favorite retreat for writers. Artists flocked here too, commenting on the shimmering quality of the light. Today, Hydra still charms its fans. With no vehicles in sight (except for the island’s garbage truck), donkeys are the main form of transport.
To explore Hydra on foot, you have two options. While you don’t need to be in Olympic-worthy shape to climb to the Monastery of Profitis Ilias, it can still be strenuous in the heat. But this one-hour hike will take you to the top of the hill and reward you with a glorious view of Hydra Town, with the Mediterranean as a backdrop. For a more relaxed excursion, stroll to a couple of nearby towns, following the coastal path that winds west from Hydra Town to Kamini (15 minutes) and Vlyhos (30 minutes). Both places have pretty little harbors and cafes – good destinations for a lazy afternoon.
While many tourists (including boatloads from cruise ships) fill the streets of Hydra, the unpretentious island of Spetses offers a quieter place to unwind. The history of Spetses is similar to that of Hydra, with an ancestry of shipbuilding and blockade-running. Unlike in Hydra, you’ll hear plenty of British accents; many English visitors have made the island their second home.
Virtually all its 4,000 residents live in Spetses Town, which covers almost half of the north coast. While commercial activity centers in its new, modern port, the oldest and prettiest part of Spetses Town lies around the old harbor. Ringed with typically Greek buildings and filled with everything from colorful little fishing boats to luxury cruising yachts, the old harbor still shows Spetses’ connection to the sea. The shipbuilders of Spetses continue to do things the old-fashioned way; dotted along the shoreline you can see hulls of emerging caiques, or traditional wooden boats.
Like other famous islands (such as Venice), Hydra and Spetses offer winding and unmarked streets perfect for exploring. On a small island, you can’t get lost.
Rick Steves of Edmonds (425-771-8303, www.ricksteves.com) is the author of 27 European travel guidebooks including “Europe Through the Back Door” (published by Avalon) and host of the PBS-TV series Rick Steves’ Europe, airing weeknights at 7 p.m. on Channel 9. For more information, see the upcoming Rick Steves’ Greece 2005 guidebook, coming out this spring.
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