Day 10 - A Three Island Tour

 On Saturday we booked a day cruise out of Athens to Hydra, Poros and Aegina. The cruise included bus transportation to and from our hotel. The bus pickup was at 7:25 so we really did not have time for breakfast, but I planned to at least get coffee. That did not work out, the hotel did not open the breakfast on time, and the breakfast elevator kept going up/down by itself. I gave up on the hotel and even walked from the hotel up the street. I could not find a coffee shop. Em would say 'first world problem' but for me, life starts after coffee each day!

Our planned route was Hydra, Poros then Aegina. 

We were picked up around 7:30 and were boarding the boat by 08:30. When we first saw the ship we thought it was jammed with people. But in reality, even though there were a lot of people, it was a big boat and not that crowded. 

The weather was sunny but a bit cool in the morning.

The first leg of the cruise was the longest, about 3 hours, but they had coffee on board and it was a pleasant cruise. Things were looking up!

We arrived in Hydra about 11AM. Hydra has no autos (except for trash collection), no scooters or bicycles. It is purely a pedestrian island. If you don't want to walk, you can ride a horse or donkey. 

The water is crystal clear, the harbor is busy with boats coming and going. 

The island is beautifully picturesque.

We declined the tours offered on the boat and strolled the town.  It had warmed up and it was a pleasant walk. We purchased a banana and a water bottle at a local market for 1 Euro, very inexpensive. We later stopped for pastries and ice cream at one of the local shops. 

 Hydra got notoriety in 1957  when Sophia Loren's film 'Boy On A Dolphin' included scenes from Hydra. The windmill featured in the film is now called Sophia's Windmill.  

I find it interesting that they don't use dock fingers, maybe it is always calm or they move the boats during rough weather?

There were many great spots for photos. 

We walked to the other side of the harbor and climbed up on the fort that gave some really nice views. 

Our stay on the island was only 1.5 hours but it was enough to know it would be a great place to come back and spend a day or more. 

From Hydra we set off for Poros. When we boarded, the crew had lunch ready for us. We loaded our plates and took a table outside on the rail in the sun. It was just warm enough to sit outside. 

Poros is also very pretty, it is much larger than Hydra and vehicles are allowed. 

Once again the boats were docked without fingers, this time in stern first. 

It was a quick stop of 45 mins but long enough for us to take another nice walk about. From Poros we set off for the last Island of Aegina, once again we had a great table in the sun on the back deck. 

 It was a nice cruise but eventually it did get cooler out on the deck and we retreated to seating in the heated cabin. Ed is such a baby. 

On the island of Aegina we had almost 2 hours to explore the place and we planned to get a warm drink and dessert. We strolled along the water front and eventually stopped at a place that appeared to specialize in desserts and coffee, we were not disappointed. Everyone but Fred had Baklava, Fred had the biggest Crepe with ice cream we have ever seen. 

On the boat ride back to Athens we sat inside the cabins since it was a bit cool.

We did not realize that the cabin we were in was the entertainment cabin. They had a live DJ (he was a hoot), live Greek Dancers and a Magician. 

We also struck up a conversation with an 18 year old kid from Canada who was on a 17 day trip of Italy and Greece with his school travel club. There were about 90 students and 9 advisors....god bless those advisors. Overall the cruise was definitely worth it for us, we would never had been able to see those beautiful islands otherwise and the boat ride was enjoyable on such a beautiful day. 

Sunday we plan to do some more touring of Athens and spend the rest of our Euros before going back to the USA.