We’ve been in Greece for two nights and have averaged 10 hours of sleep per night. It shows we were due for a rest.
Breakfast is at the 📍The Lemon Tree; it’s the only location that I could find that served specialty coffee on the island. We ordered yogourt with fruits. Every restaurant seems to insist on specifying yogourt is Greek yogourt. We’re in Greece, that would seem obvious. Maybe it’s only the translation that specifies it? Feels like we would need to specify that it’s “Canadian Bacon” on menu we give to Americans.
Pedantry aside, we ordered the yogurt with stuff in it, coffee (flat white) and sparkling water. That became our standard breakfast during the last trip and we’ll keep it for this trip too.
Breakfast done we grabbed sun sport sunscreen at the pharmacy, a six-pack of 1.5 litres water bottles at the supermarket,as well as a focaccia with a kourouli each from the still aptly named 📍Oven bakery. We brought all of that home, packed our running shoes and snacks, filled our water bladders, applied the sweat and water resistant sunscreen and headed out for 17km hiking loop.
Advertised as a beautiful loop that combines sea and mountain with a total elevation gain a little over 800 meters , the Mount Eros Loop Trail had all our keywords. We opted to start with the mountain ascent so did it in reverse. We started by hiking straight to the top of Mount Eros. A 4.5km hike up mainly in the shade on stone roads. Only the last 500 meters with its 100 meters in elevation gain were technical. Even during peak sun we were comfortable and happy. The view from the summit is a little hazy but gorgeous nonetheless.
From the summit we got back to the loop with most of it in from of us. We hiked on a rocky and uneven trail from the summit all the way to the 9th kilometre. The views were gorgeous which made up for our slow pace. Just a little before 9th km Karine lost balance on a rock and fell into prickly bush. The poor woman had half the bush clinging to her skin when she got back up and had to pick branches off hers’elf. She cleaned most of it as well as she could but we kept on going. In retrospect we should have seen it as a sign to turn back.
Kilometres 9 to 13 were downers. No views, dirty trail with some sections where a poor farmer tried to get shotgun shells to grow. Sadly all his effort at a magic ammunition tree failed as none of the shell sprouted. We’ll blame the dry conditions this year on his lack of success.
By kilometre 13 were at the sea side. It starts modestly with a boat boneyard but improved as we approached the city. It turned out to be too little too late. By that time we were ready to sit and relax on a terrace and no amount of clear blue sea and cloudless skies could have changed our minds.
We stopped at the 📍Red Club. We picked it only out of availability of tables next to the water. Karine went for an Aperol Spritz that turned out to be bare bons but good. I stayed with sparkling water. Sadly we were reminded that smoking on terraces is still a thing in Greece and were smoked out of our spot.
We headed home where we took a shower to remove all of the dust that clung to our feet and shins. We then chilled processing our pictures until our late dinner at the 📍Veranda.
The dinner itself was delicious. We almost got our order refused when we asked for three appetizers to share with one salad on top of our two mains. Luckily our not quite disastrous hike made for the perfect excuse to say we needed more food.
Tomorrow we’re designating our “do whatever we feel like day” which might turn out into a beach day or simply a lazy day.
Places
Veranda Restaurant · Hydra
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The Lemon Trees Hydra · Ύδρα
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Oven Bakery · Hydra
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Mount Eros Loop Trail, Attica, Greece - 127 Reviews, Map | AllTrails
Mount Eros Loop Trail (Κυκλική πορεία στο Όρος Έρως (Έρε)) Very beautiful route on the island of Hydra, which harmoniously combines the sea with the mountain. The course starts from the settlement of Hydra and heads southwest along the coastline, reaching the interior of the island and the Episkopi. From there the path ascends northeast along the mountain ridge, reaching the Eros Summit. The view of the island from above, as well as the coasts of the Peloponnese and the surrounding islands, is fantastic. The return to the picturesque and beautiful preserved settlement of Hydra takes place descending from the northern slopes of the mountain.
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Red Club · Ύδρα
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