Hydra

During our holiday in Greece in 2007, we took a boat out to the small island of Hydra. It was midday on a scorching day with hardly a breath of wind but this didn't prevent us from doing what we so often do when we first arrive in a strange place - leave the tourist bustle and walk out of town.

We followed a track which skirted the coast. Hydra has the minimum of motorised transport so walking would have been a pleasure, except that it became hotter and hotter and the little taverna which we had imagined we would stumble upon simply did not materialise until, just as we were about to turn back....

....we came round a corner and found the Greek version of paradise.

The restaurant was perched over a harbour in a small bay and was almost empty of clientele. Gill did her usual thing of heading straight for the water for a swim while Rachael and I sat at a table and enjoyed the peace of the place.

We were served lunch by a very pleasant young Greek with whom we tried to exchange Rachael for a plot of land but, much to our disappointment, neither he nor Rachael seemed very keen on the idea.

We were only ashore in Hydra for a few hours but it was one of those places to which I took an immediate liking. While the town was crowded - it was June - the countryside seemed remarkably empty. Later, we talked idly of moving to Greece: had we done so we would have looked for somewhere like Hydra.