ParadHYDRAcal

This weekend's destination: Hydra

An hour and a half away from Athens via "Flying Dolphin" (almost as cool as the name led me to believe--much speedier and more intimate than the massive ferries we took to Crete and Santorini),

one of the Saronic islands, and pretty close to paradise. We got in around 10:30 in the morning, found a little hotel, and then set off for a walk along the coast to the beach.

Drank a beer, laid out in the sun, floated out on the water, and then went home for dinner. Hard life.

Bon Appetit had published an article about Hydra and so I of course insisted we find the restaurant the writer had recommended, Christina's Taverna, which proved to be spectacular. The best meal in Greece I've had so far.

fried zucchini balls- Greeks apparently love fried zucchini--it's featured on almost every taverna menu, and varies in interpretation by region. In Athens they were simple fried slices of zucchini; in Crete, they were like zucchini latkes; in Santorini, they were tempura'd. In Hydra, at least at Christina's they were just...better. The flavors were so much fuller, richer, and melted in your mouth.

This was the trend of the meal: classic food, but taken to the next level. The spanakopita filling was a creamy blend of spinach and artichoke (artichoke was an unusual but excellent addition)--like spinach-artichoke dip encased in layers of flaky filo dough.

The souvlaki chicken was tender, juicy, and had an added, untraditional curry flavoring.

Pastitsio (Greek-style lasagna) had perfectly creamy bechamel, crispy cheese on top, and perfectly flavored bolognese sauce:

But hands down the best dish was my "eggplant Hydra style". Roasted eggplant stuffed with roasted tomato, garlic, and the most delicious, succulent lamb (and fries, of course...they love their fries here!)

Dinners in Greece last for hours after the food has been cleared away, and my eyes, as they're wont to do, started wandering to check out other tables' foods. I was caught in the act by the woman at the table to our left, but rather than giving me any number of looks or ignoring me, she offered me a piece from the heaping plate of beautiful fried calamari that the waiter had just set down. This was beautiful on so many levels--one, to be reminded that there are good, generous, friendly people out there; two, free food is maybe my favorite thing in the world; but most wonderful of all was that this calamari was, no question about it, the best calamari I have ever had in my life. Fresh calamari is so completely different from the usual frozen stuff that restaurants serve up and everyone eats happily enough because, let's face it, you can deep-fry almost anything and it will get eaten. But the fresh calamari is so much more tender, the flavor is so much more delicious--it tasted almost like a scallop! (And mind you, this was all from just one bite of it). Needless to say, I went home stuffed and happy after that dinner.

The next morning we walked the opposite way down the coast, and spent the day lying on another beautiful beach. 

(the water was incredible. It did have a rocky bottom covered in sea urchins which I didn't notice until I had made it all the way out into the water, however...Getting back out was an incredibly stressful process, trying to balance on small slippery rocks as the current pulled at my ankles, looking down to see that I was standing in a sea-urchin-landmine. I ended up crawl-walking on my hands, and miraculously made it out stingless)

 (I think I've found my dream home?)

We watched a spectacular sunset...

...and then went back to Christina's for dinner number two, just as delicious as the first meal. We tried her dolmades this time (wine leaves stuffed with rice and ground beef), which were absolutely fabulous. I got a different roasted eggplant dish, this time with caramelized tomato, onion, and feta. After we had finished everything, the memory of that bite of calamari from the last night was still lingering in my mind, so despite the fact that I was really contentedly full, we ordered the calamari. An excellent decision.

Beautiful beaches, walks along the coast, great food, and great company...nothing could be finer.