We love Greece, everyone knows Hydra.
Beautiful eco island with many claims to fame. Just covering 55 square kilometres it has one of the most gorgeously picturesque harbours in the Aegean. And, astonishingly for a place only 64 kilometres from Athens, its primary mode of transportation remains the donkey.
Several art exhibitions of a high standard take place annually in the Miranda Art Gallery. Hydra is only 45 miles from Athens and the island has become a stronghold of contemporary art. Tucked into the town are several world-class contemporary art spaces, found on the labyrinthine back streets or in repurposed commercial buildings. In addition to the Slaughterhouse, which used to be just that, there’s the Hydra School Projects, a pop-up in the local high school; and the Hydra Workshop, a gallery run by the collector Pauline Karpidas in an old ship-repair garage of a mansion once belonging to the Bulgari family. So nice.
And finally: for music fans, it is the island, where Leo met his Marianne and the Canadian poet singer still has a house.
A living legend in gravel-voiced lugubriousness, Cohen was a near-permanent resident on the island in the 1960s and still visits occasionally. Ironically, the British climate can claim much of the credit for his decision to move to Greece.
On a rainy afternoon in the Sixties Leo found himself wandering bleakly around London’s East End, his spirits further depleted by raging toothache. Then he spotted a Bank of Greece sign on Bank Street, entered the bank and asked what the weather was like in Greece and was assured it was already springtime. On the spot, he decided to pack his bags.
Arriving in Athens on 13 April 1960, Cohen took a boot to Hydra, the destination wasn’t random, he’d heard from friends that there was a flourishing group of expat artists and writers on the island. In that respect it was an obvious destination for an itinerant poet. But, for a city-dweller, living conditions could hardly have been more different.
There was little electricity, plumbing or running water. Houses were lit by kerosene or oil lamps; water was collected in cisterns, or drawn at the Kala Pigadia meaning “good wells” site above the port; records were played on a battery-operated player. Cohen loved the simplicity of the island. The quality of the light delighted him: “The sun’s all over my table as I write this… I can taste the molecules dancing in the mountains”.Cohen found himself drawn to the island’s colony of English-speaking artists. As is the way with such communities, they adopted a local establishment as a hub. This was not a cafe but a grocery shop on the harbourside.
The bohemians crowded round six wooden tables, carousing, declaiming and arguing into the night, amid lengthening columns of empty wine bottles. It was here that Cohen performed his first formal concert. And it was here that he met Marianne Ihlen, the beautiful Norwegian who was to become his partner for most of the decade. Their parting was commemorated in the classic anthem So Long Marianne.
Later on when he bought his own house on the island, Marianne moved in with him. A photo on the back cover of the album Songs from a Room shows her typing at a table on Cohen’s battered Olivetti, smiling in half-embarrassment at the camera. Wow, thats a love story.
If you are travelling and flyin out from Athens, our resto tips:
A fantastic eating experience, the basement taverna on the corner of Sokratous and Theatrou at the bottom of the fruit and vegetable market. There are no menus but you can look around and see what everybody else is eating. It’s almost like a private club and it is a little intimidating.
The wine list 6 the wine is great. It comes sometimes without even asking for it.
The grilled fish eg. psa- ree psee- toe is incredible. We tried everything split pea( fah -va), with bread (psoh- me ), soup( soup -ah) and a few other things that looked fine at the surrounding tables.
Another traditional estiatorio at # 3 Sokratous Street is the brand new Meidani right by the corner of Evripidou Street. Perfect lunch address, great red wines and a very large -fine- menu which includes just about every Greek oven dish you can think of plus bakaliaro me skordalia, podi, and some salads.
Unfortunately it is only open in the daytime. If you are in the mood for a fine air-conditioned restaurant with a large traditional menu and a few interesting entrees that will satisfy you.
Come over, Zorbas is waitin for you.
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