Out of the Octopus of Grime

Athens is a dirty city.

On the surface, the underbelly and all parts in between.  

I read in the guidebooks Athens cleaned up for the 2004 Summer Olympics. That's about the same statement of an apartment manager telling you that they cleaned out the rift raft and most of the drug dealers are gone. They believe it but you know it's a lie.  

Thus a day trip to the Island of Hydra.   No scooters,  no cars.    No scooters on sidewalks as the drivers smoke and drink and I've seen a few do the trifecta of all three, smoke, drink and talk on the cell phone.  

No cars....no cars driving down the pedestrian only zone, which I am personally quite fond of. Dodging people is just not fun enough but throw in a few cars makes for a fun filled day.  

Nope, none of that. Only a few mules and jackass to carry luggage and sometimes riders around town and island.   Before hiking the island or walk the hilly, full of stairs city; lunch was in order.  

We found a cute joint. Okay, all places are cute; all with outdoor tables with shade on the marble lined walkway. We sat at Ostria and had fried zucchini and calamari.

Yeap, we asked what was fresh and that is what the owner told us. She also told us we must share, and gave us two plates. She started us off with a drink and the the zucchini. Much later, break and then bread. Much later the calamari. After that she brought me a latte and left. Yes, left as in left the premises. We had been sitting there for two hours.
You should know that lunch is the primary meal. And its to be eaten slowly.   Slow was okay. Spending the afternoon was not.  

The trip to the island is quite the destination. It starts with 40 minute metro ride from the center of Athens at 7 am to get to the port. The high speed ferry takes almost two hours. The last ferry out of the island is at 6 pm. I really wanted to put my feet in the sea.   Perhaps this is why the island is not overrun with tourist is because the island lacks any good beaches. Mostly just rocky bluff in to which you jump into the ocean.  

We looked around for the owner to pay up. We found our ticket inside the restaurant and left the amount plus  three more dollars (Euros) and walked away. The owners husband chased us down the street, "you leave too soon" he tells us.  

"Was everything okay" he asks.

"Oh yes. Very good. We would come back."

"Very well" he tells us "but you pay too much."

"Please keep it (the three dollar tip.)" "Are you sure?"

  Are we sure??? Why yes, we had a fresh lunch facing the sea, slow and relaxing pace away from the dirty big city, with sun on our face and not smoke in our eyes.   Oh yes, we were sure.