Trip to Hyrdra Island Greece

 We took this boat from Athens to Hydra Island for the day.  It took us about 1 1/2 hours to get there.

 The island was beautiful!

There were lots of boats in the port, clear water, quaint shops and places to eat. 

As you can see most of the houses were up the hills.

 see how clear the water was?

 About one week before we left I wrote some friends of ours just to see if they might be going to the same meeting that we were and if by chance they were going a couple of days early to do some sightseeing.  Our friends, Daren and Shawna, were going so we hooked up and spent these two days together.  One thing that was neat to me is that out of all of Athens we had each picked a hotel which was just a few blocks from one another which made it easy to meet up and share a taxi.

 

 It was a pretty hot day.

 

 We decided we wanted to walk up some of these hills and see more of how the people lived.  It was quite a trek but very interesting to see their homes.

The evil eye is a curse believed to be cast by a malevolent glare, usually given to a person when they are unaware. Many cultures believe that receiving the evil eye will cause misfortune or injury. Talismans created to protect against the evil eye are also frequently called "evil eyes".

The idea expressed by the term causes many different cultures to pursue protective measures against it. The concept and its significance vary widely among different cultures, primarily in West Asia. The idea appears several times in translations of the Old Testament.  It was a widely extended belief among many Mediterranean and Asian tribes and cultures. Charms and decorations with eye-like symbols known as nazars, which are used to repel the evil eye are a common sight across Turkey, Greece, Albania, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Southern Italy (Naples), the Levant, and Afghanistan and have become a popular choice of souvenir with tourists.

We saw these everywhere!  

 There are no cars on this island.  I think there is only one garbage truck on the whole island.  People either walk or ride a donkey or horse.

 

 

 me and Shawna

 

 After walking around the town for a couple of hours we took a boat taxi to another part of the island to enjoy the beach.

 

 

 We were able to enjoy this beach for a few hours before heading back to the town.

 All the beaches around the island were mostly pebble.  The water was pretty clear too so we could see fish.

 We had lots of fun with our friends!