HDRA (IDRA): THURSDAY 1st September.

‘Hold your horses’

It’s the saying Harriet (of Harriet’s Hydra Horses) used, with a wry smile, each time she wanted us to stop on our four hour guided horse trek from Idra town to Palamidas beach, about five kilometres south-west along the coast.

The day started early, as the agreed time to meet Harriet was 8am, with the location at least 15 minutes walk from our apartment. I quickly made some scrambled eggs with the four eggs we had left from the previous day’s breakfast and served it with pan-fried day-old bread (no toaster) and the most delicious, sliced fresh tomato, that didn’t even require seasoning. Dave’s usual morning ritual continued by making me a lovely cup of tea that I gulped down as I packed my back-pack in readiness for the morning’s adventure.

I joined two other ladies (both English) on today’s trek. I had chosen the longest of Harriet’s ride options, not necessarily because I wanted a long ride, but because it included a beach visit and swim with the horses, a long term bucket-list item for me.

The trek started with riding slowly through the back streets of Idra town, past opening shops, early morning coffee drinkers and many, many cats, all obviously used to seeing horses being ridden in the streets. As I mentioned yesterday, Hydra has no motorised vehicles, so horses, donkeys and mules (majority) are the usual form of transportation.

My gorgeous horse, ‘Ruly’ was named because of his tendency to be ‘unruly’. His obsession with food is, according to Harriet, second-to-none having been rescued from near starvation a few years ago. He is constantly seeking food in case the tables suddenly turn on him. So, the food obsessed, unruly horse was chosen for me… not sure if there is a message there ?

Ruly and I soon became buddies and once I made it clear early on that stopping to eat roadside plants every two minutes was not on, we made steady progress along the cobblestone streets and stairs following Harriet and her horse with the other two riders and horses behind us.     

I was very surprised how well the horses managed the bumpy, cobblestone streets and stairs. They certainly manage them better than I do with a suitcase! All of Harriet’s horses have grown up on Hydra so I guess they are used to stairs!

The route to our destination took us through the back of the town, then along the coast, past the beaches of Kamini, Vlychos and Plakes until we reached the small harbour at Palamidas. Palamidas is a tiny village, with a couple of houses, a shipyard and a small cargo wharf where goods are loaded and unloaded for that end of the island. The four of us chatted occasionally along the way, but mostly just watched in wonder at the magnificent coastline and the rugged beauty of the island.  

Once I nervously dismounted Ruly (the broken ankle and leg still etched in my memory from the last time I rode a horse) we changed into swimming costumes and sea shoes (great advice to bring them Michelle!) while Harriet removed the saddles and moved the horses into the water. We gave the horses a splash bath and a rub down and then got back on the horses and rode bareback in the horse-waist deep cool water. Harriet then took two of the horses out of the water and we each rode the lovely, but broody, chestnut mare while she swam in the harbour. It was such an amazing experience, holding onto her mane and moving easily through the water. She is an expert swimmer and the bonus was if you fall off, which incidentally I did not, you don’t get hurt!

We dried off and dressed while Harriet re-saddled the horses and then set back towards Idra town, this time along an inland track that rose quite high on the steep hillside which allowed for the most magnificent view over the island and coastline. There was so much to see along the way, gorgeous old stone houses, villas, hotels, the odd home-based restaurant, goats with clanging bells, farmland, monasteries and churches. Even though there was so much to see, the 1.5 hour return ride was so relaxing, listening to the clip-clop of the horses hooves and taking in the natural beauty of the surrounds.

I must admit that my buttocks and legs were ready to finish by the time we got back to Harriet’s stables, just before midday. Even though it was the first day of spring, the heat of the sun was quite intense, the breeze non-existent and my mouth parched, despite drinking plenty of water on the ride. I said my goodbyes (including to my new BFF Rudy) and wandered back to the apartment, albeit gingerly with a few aches and pains ?

A cold shower, lie down (with another cup of tea) and a full recount of the ride to Dave and then we headed out for postal duties. Dave has written a few postcards, so he bought some stamps at 1 euro each and popped them in the mail box. We also had some lunch while out, this time in a back alleyway where the food seems to be more authentic and cheaper. The ‘Mum and Dad’ run restaurant we chose served Dave slow cooked lamb and chips (8 Euros) and for me Taramasalata (pink this time) and rice stuffed tomatoes (also 8 Euros) . I could only eat half of it, not because it wasn’t delicious, but because I was exhausted and hot!

The rest of the afternoon involved reading, napping, chatting with the hotel owner and completing important social media work 😉 . We had pre-booked dinner at Techne, another of Hydra’s highly rated restaurants, but by mid-afternoon I knew that a long walk there and another rich meal was not what we wanted, so we cancelled and instead went to a very close-by café for a simple kebab (Dave) and grilled local squid (me).

This few days of rest on Hydra has already been great, for both my physical and mental well-being. Having time to do lots of resting, clearing my mind of busyness and only making simple, low impact decisions (like what to eat!) is really helpful to rest my body and brain which is most often on overdrive. I’ve stopped wearing makeup, thongs are my shoe of choice and I’ve even got a summertime glow from a bit of sunshine. I think Harriet’s well used words today to ‘Hold your horses’ were as much about metaphorically what I need to do here on Hydra as they are about actually stopping a horse!

Note to the close observers... I deliberately chose a blurry picture for the cover photo, OMG that poor horse having to carry me that whole way 😉 😉