A Walk to a Beach

On Friday, June 15^th, we had Hotel Mistral’s set breakfast (beginning with a sort of soup in a glass, an egg, etc., etc.—all of our other hotel breakfasts were buffets).  While a number of people in the group were going to take an all-day boat tour around the island, Mary Joy and I decided to walk out to Plakes beach, two or three miles from Hydra town.  “Hydra,” by the way, is pronounced something like “EE-drah,” with the “D” more like the “TH” in “then.”

First, we stopped at the cathedral, originally a nineteenth-century convent church.  Then we headed west along the coast.  Up a hill near the harbor is a windmill that was restored for the 1957 film “Boy on a Dolphin,” starring Sophia Loren and Alan Ladd.

In the village of Kamini, we saw a woman feeding more than a dozen cats.  In cat-friendly Greece, Hydra is apparently known for being particularly fond of them.  I joked that this was because (as is true) Hydra’s great War of Independence hero was Admiral Miaoulis.

Farther along was the village of Vlyhos.  At the eastern end, before you get to a small, shady beach, is a nineteenth-century Ottoman bridge.  At the far end of the village is the larger Plakes beach, divided in two by the Four Seasons hotel and restaurant.  We rented chaises and an umbrella and took turns swimming.  The waves weren’t as strong as at Kardamyli, but the seabed was much more uneven, with big rocks.

After a couple of hours, we headed back, stopping for a late lunch at Castello, a restaurant just outside of Kamini—very good.

We had reservations for dinner at Sunset, a restaurant that was given a star by Lonely Planet.  The views over the water, next to a cannon, were spectacular, the food much less so.  From the opening salad we were disappointed.  This was one of the very few times that Lonely Planet has let us down as to restaurants.