Epidavros and Hydra

On Thursday, June 14^th, we got on the bus again and headed for Epidavros.  This was another temple complex, dedicated to Asklepios, god of healing, and therefore one of the leading medical facilities in ancient Greece.  Twenty years ago, Mary Joy and I were on Santorini, and in a restaurant there we met an American couple with two young children (6 and 8, maybe?).  They had been touring around.  We asked them how the children were handling it.  Very well, they replied, though their daughter had once asked “Why are we looking at all these broken buildings?”  Epidavros, like Olympia and Delphi, has a lot of “broken buildings,” so it is hard to get a feel for what it must have been like in its heyday in Hellenistic times.  In the museum there is what may have been the very first Corinthian column capital, elaborate with acanthus leaves, perhaps used as a prototype for all the others, first at Epidavros, then elsewhere.  On the grounds there was, oddly, the anchor stone from a boat, probably an offering to the god. 

The big draw at Epidavros, however, is the ancient theater, best-preserved in all Greece, capable of seating 15,000, and still used today.  The acoustics are amazing—words spoken in the orchestra can easily be heard in the upper seats.

From Epidavros, we drove east to Metochi, where we left the bus and got onto a small ferry boat, for the 20-minute crossing to the island of Hydra.  This would be another “vacation from our vacation.”  Hydra is popular with weekenders from Athens.  No motorized vehicles are allowed on the small island.  Goods are moved around by horse, mule or donkey.  People get around on foot or by water taxi.

The group was divided between two hotels: Ippokampos and Mistral: we were in the latter.

We went for lunch at Psarapoula, which has a terrace overlooking the harbor.  Very good.

Late that afternoon, the group had a “happy hour” with drinks and snacks at the Ippokampos.  We decided not to have a full dinner after that, but eventually got some ice cream (made from goat milk) at the highly recommended Flora’s sweet shop, served by the elderly Flora herself.  Very nice.