We had planned to spend our last week in Greece, and our last week in Europe, on the island of Andros. But… sometimes things don’t go to plans and we need to find a quick flex. There was a ferry strike which delayed our arrival date by at least two days, and we were concerned that we could get stuck on the island. We didn’t want the shortened stay nor the risk, so we decided to pivot – give up on Andros and find other spots for our last 6 nights in Greece. We usually book our lodgings from 6 to 8 months out so we have the biggest selection and can choose the perfect spot. We now had just 2 nights to find a place for our last week in Greece, and we needed at least 2 bedrooms because we were still hosting some friends. We searched google maps looking for another small beach town on the Peloponnese peninsula and found the small town of Ermioni that had a passenger ferry to the island of Hydra that has been on our list of “want to go”. We found a lot of Airbnb’s available (shoulder season) and we found a nice 2 bedroom with a fantastic balcony overlooking the water. Just what we needed.
After arriving in Ermioni, we realized why we were able to get a water view balcony so easily. This town is officially in the off season – it was quiet! Some restaurants were closed but most were just empty. No need to wait for a table during October, we often had to walk back to the kitchen and ask them if they were open before we would sit down. But when the weekend came, we realized the summer season was not yet over for the locals. We were going to experience their local party, the 13th Annual Pomegranate Festival. There was a kids bike parade, and lot of pomegranate decorations and some live music on Saturday night. I think everyone in town squeezed into a very small town square to watch some Greek Folk Rock music. We must have been the only non-locals in attendance.
This was another town where I wish I had a really good camera to take advantage of the sunrises and sunsets. Although I am happy with the ones I got with my phone. So….many… good shots. I was out finding good pics at sunrise and sunset. I had to force myself to stop taking pictures.
We heard about the island of Hydra years ago. It is famous for being a smaller island that does not have any cars. Freight and luggage is transported around the town of Hydra by donkeys and horses. It is still a busy island that gets a lot of day-trippers from Athens because the speed boats can get here in about 90 minutes. We were able to take passenger-only ferry from Ermioni (they aren’t on strike) and got there for a day trip in about 40 minutes. The island has about 3000 residents and is very photogenic as well as tourist focused. We were able to walk around town, see the history museum, take some pics, and have a couple of rests at their cafes to sample some coffee, beer, and wine. We had a lunch there but made it back to Ermioni in time for dinner. While other towns we’d been in recently felt very quiet and “off season”, Hydra was still bustling. While we liked it, I’m not sure we’d come back – we’ve now seen it, and the prices (at least for dining) seemed at least 20% higher than elsewhere.
After our time in Ermioni, we wanted to have some time in Athens before leaving Europe. Our friends were leaving soon so they had a place by the airport. We found an Airbnb for the 2 of us in town. This did not seem to be the off season that we had seen in the rest of Greece. It was difficult, on short notice, to find a decent Airbnb near the attractions and near a subway station. We ended up in a rough neighborhood (Omonoia) which kind of put a damper on our Athens experience. The Airbnb itself was fine, but walking a few blocks in either direction for groceries/dinner were unpleasant. As a couple we were fine, M says as a single woman she would have felt uncomfortable/unsafe. We have been here before and have seen the major sites but we were able to see the Acropolis, Parthenon and the rest of the ruins one evening with some great twilight coloring for some good pics.
This is our last spot in Greece and our last spot in Europe. The weather is starting to cool off so our plans were to head to Mexico. Unfortunately, M is returning to Seattle for a few days for a memorial service so I will be starting our Mexico touring by myself. It is been a long time since I was a solo traveler stay tuned next week to see if I can survive by alone.