Day 11:
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Epidavros & Hydra.We left Nafplio behind this morning as Christos drove us expertly to the ancient site of Epidavros, where we met up with Patti again for a guided tour. Epidavros was one of the most famous healing sites of ancient Greece, and many people traveled here to improve their health and be treated by priest-doctors and the god of medicine, Asklepios. The site was originally founded to worship the god Apollo as far back as the Mycenaeans, but he was replaced by his son later on and the site added sanctuaries, temples, altars, hotels, restaurants, a stadium (for more Olympic-style games), and a theater. As Patti explained, people could stay here to be blessed, but there was no hospital or a place for visitors to stay long-term, because they didn't want people dying at the site - that would be bad for business! Today, the site is most famous for its best preserved Greek theater, where performances still take place in the summer (BYOC - bring your own cushion). The theater has great acoustics (those ancient Greeks were masters of architecture), and guides will demonstrate the echoes from the stage, and you can clearly hear projections even in the top-most row!
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Dafni & Patti wait for the rest of our group
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Another group tests the theater acoustics
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View from the top!
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Lounging on some of the "nicer" seats (with backrests!)
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The prime seats in the first few rows came with backrests.
Everyone else has to tough it out!
Epidavros has a small Archaeological Museum, which features several medical tools used in ancient times. It was fascinating to see how advanced some techniques and tools were and their similarities to things still used today in modern medical practice! Patti also gave us a tour of some of the other sites, which are sadly not as well-preserved as the amazing theater where we started.
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From Epidavros, we had our last bus ride with Christos to the little town of Metochi, where we boarded a ferry boat to the island of Hydra. The boat wasn't very big (it had a few rows of seats inside and an upper deck), and our luggage was expertly stacked in the back for the quick hour-and-a-half ride. (Reminder: Pack light!)
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We arrived at Hydra in the afternoon to stunning sites of the main city and port, as well as the clear, blue ocean surrounding the island. Hydra, the city, is fairly small and the same applies to its hotels, so our tour group had to split up between two hotels for our few nights on the island. I was staying at Hotel Ippokampos, where (bonus!) most of our group activities started from. We had the afternoon and evening to explore and enjoyed a lovely lunch under vine-covered trellises. I mostly explored all the nooks and crannies of the city with a few tour members, walking as far as Spilia and Hydronetta "beaches" (more like swimming platforms) to the left of the city, and past the Andreas Miaoulis Monument to its right.
Insider Info: Greece can be really hot - made worse by all the stone, sun, lack of shade, and water surrounding you. Take time to relax and cool down where and when you can!
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We spent time in between our hikes out of Hydra at the bar above Spilia "beach" and at a harbor-front cafe, just relaxing and sipping on cold beverages. I finished the day with two other tour members, Diane and Eric, with an incredible, family-style (of course!) dinner above the city at Psaropoula Restaurant. Wow, it was delicious, with quite the perfect view!
View from the Psaropoula Restaurant terrace
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It's all Greek to me!
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Anna's Animal Encounters.There are plenty of animals to encounter on Hydra! The island is famous for not allowing vehicles, so the main form of transportation when needed are horses or mules. A group of them hang out near the harbor, ready to carry bags to and from hotels, work sites, and more.
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They move them a few times a day to clean off the stones.
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