Hydra and Epidaurus

7 March 2024 – Poros, Greece

Kim spent another great week with us, during which time we sailed west from the Cyclades islands to the Saronic Gulf near Athens. We had two and a half day trips of great sailing to get there, and then a few hours of high winds in a squall while sailing to Hydra.

The wind up until then had been behind us, slowly building to thirty knots as we neared a black cloud. Just before we reached it, the wind died and we briefly considered putting up more sail before it did a 180 and blew thirty knots directly in front of us as we hit the squall. It got dark all of a sudden and there was thunder and lightning. We had to change course and tack upwind to Hydra, but luckily the waves weren’t that large at first due to them being behind us and calmed by wind now blowing in the opposite direction. It didn’t last for too long, and eventually the sun came back out and we sailed into the harbour.

I was super excited to be on the island of Hydra, as it was my favourite place when we were in Greece six years ago. I wasn’t sure if that would still be the case after visiting so many beautiful places, Crete especially, but as we sailed into the harbour I was reminded of how beautiful it is. It is greener than the places we have been to recently, and coupled with the fact that spring is just beginning, this meant that there were blossoms on the trees and wildflowers in the fields. The air smelled like honey.

Unlike the Cyclades, the houses weren’t all whitewashed with blue trim but a collage of different buildings sloping towards the water. There are no cars allowed on the island, so donkeys are used for transport. We Mediterranean moored against the harbour wall and had a great view of donkeys being lined up to take goods off the ferries when they came in every morning. There was also a man pulling a wooden cart piled with packages to more than double the height of the cart’s sides. It was packed so full that it was impressive even by Toronto Island standards.

Tourist season is starting up just about now, and due to its proximity to Athens, boatloads of tourists came over on the weekend. I can’t imagine how crowded it is during the summer.

While I was hoping we could stay in Hydra for a while, we were only there three days because we have to round the Peloponnese over the next week to pick up a new mainsail on the west side. We sailed to the island of Poros, right across from the Peloponnese, where we dropped Kim off and sadly said goodbye as she got on a ferry for Athens this morning. Before that, though, we managed to get in another car trip to an Ancient Greek ruin when we went to see the Sanctuary of Asclepius at Epidaurus yesterday.

We rented a car, which turned out to be a man’s actual car that he was lending us complete with a baby seat, but it did the trick. The sanctuary was a little over an hour’s drive away, through beautiful rolling hills and with a great view of the Saronic gulf. Like the Asclepion at Kos, it was a centre of healing dedicated to Asclepius, the god of medicine. Dating from the fourth century BCE, it was much larger than the previous one we saw, as Asclepius was born there according to Greek myth. People from all over the ancient world made a pilgrimage to the sanctuary to pray for healing. Surgical tools were found in the area, but it seems like the Asclepion took a holistic approach to healing, as they also advised that their patients go walking and visit the library. We saw the remnants of the Temple of Asclepius, consisting mainly of two columns still standing.

Temple of Asclepius – Sanctuary of Epidaurus, Greece

A row of columns were the remains of the Abaton, the place where worshipers would sleep and pray that Asclepius visited them in their dreams to heal them. There was also a round building called the Tholos, whose use is still unclear, though it was once ornately decorated and thought to have been the most important building of the site. Archaeologists found an underground maze beneath it, whose use is also unclear.

The most impressive part of Epidaurus, however, is the massive ampitheatre. It is repaired so that it is still intact today, and had a capacity of 13,000 to 14,000 people. It has amazing accoustics and is considered the best preserved Greek amphitheatre. We climbed the stairs to the top and sat for a bit looking at the rows and rows of stone benches rising around us.

Ampitheatre – Sanctuary of Epidaurus, Greece

We then had a picnic lunch in a field just outside of the site, with delicious bread that my mom and Kim baked, local olive oil, and my chocolate chip cookies.

Rounding Peloponnisos Again

Kim’s Visit

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