My heart was unhindered by the unpredictably glum weather, as I stepped off the boat on Hydra’s harbor on a mid-May afternoon, under a sky darkened by a gang of ominous clouds. As fat raindrops splashed my face, I rejoiced at having returned.
Hydra, an Argosaronic isle just two hours from Athens, is singular in its composition of contrasts. It is breezily laid-back, peaceful, traditionally authentic and postard-perfect scenic. Yet in some ways it is also so cosmopolitan because it has been luring the world’s brightest – and sometimes most pretentious – creatives and glitterati to its shores for over 50 years. You may spot a celeb casually sipping wine at an unassuming taverna in their flip flops, swimsuit and pareo, but look more closely and you’ll see that although the scruffy hat may be a ’70s survivor grabbed off a host’s dusty shelf on the way to the beach, everything else is hyper expensive designer gear. But Hydra welcomes all kinds, and dictates nothing, in a true spirit of artidstic freedom and libertine creative promisciousness. As it often happens, it is humans who create labels, expectations and limitations, not nature. And here, the natural and cultural splendor rules.
At the busy harbor, as the red catamaran made waves and quickly left, I was soon greeted by my friend, who’d flown from Australia to organize a birthday party for several friends coming from near and far to celebrate wither her at this beloved Greek getaway. As we settled at Isalos Cafe-Bar on the harborfront to catch up on our news over an Aperol Spritz, I took ma deep, awakening breath of the sea air and let myself gently melt into the hypnotically charming energy of the island.
Hydra is Greece’s exemplary car-free island, so next I had to find a donkey to transport my luggage to the place where I would be staying, which was a steep 10-minute walk up the island’s characteristic long, cobblestone steps. Most of the main town is built up in an amphitheatrical style, with layer upon layer of mostly neoclassical buildings in shades of rust, gold, white, grey and cream, piled high, strata over srata of walls as protection from ruthless pirates and other invaders that once leapt off their ships here on bloodthirsty pursuits. Indeed you’ll still find marble plaques relating to that time in the town’s side streets.
As an animal-lover I did not feel happy to see a donkey being loaded down by my own and other’s luggage, but I was repeatedly reassured by locals that unlike in the past, when donkeys were even made to carry tourists, some of whom were particularly overweight, before a law came into place to ban such barbarism, today they are no longer overburdened by their owners.
Synching with Hydra
Past, Present & Future Meanderings
At dinnertime, my friend and I finally met Angelika, Skyrah and Kai further along the buzzy harborfront for a delicious traditional Greek meal at Piato Taverna. Stepping into the restaurant to visit the bathroom, I was overwhelmed by the sight of walls covered in painted plates and upon asking the staff about the unusual decor, I was told they are painted by customers. From children to A-list celebs like members of Pink Floyd and Pamela Anderson, guests are often inspired to leave their creative mark for others to visually savor.
After dinner, we trekked breathlessly to the house under a velvety black sky studded by bright stars, a sight city dwellers so easily and sadly disremember. It’s the kind of demanding late-night walk that can be exciting to a newcomer and is completely as challenging as it has become normal to a local.
Upon entering the dimly lit space I was takjen aback by its size, rustic beauty and an undeniably mystical ambience. Gazing across the deep, high-ceilinged living room, my eyes darting to a four-metre-long fireplace and a cistern from the 1700s, I had a vision, suddenly transported to ’60s: the room was packed with people, Angelika and George’s friends, all drinking and smoking and talking animatedly in the late hours, raucous and happy and free.
As it turned out, what I was envisioning was pretty much how life here had really been. The social couple was an integral part of the generation that Hydra is known for until today – a society of artists and poets, musicians, barefoot aristocrats and restless world wanderers. A special blend of foreigners and Greeks who found their home in each other and the island. And this feeling of combining dreams with art, human interconnection with personal evolution, continues to inspire today’s generation. “Artemis Retreats is a way of continuing my parents’ legacy,” Skyrah tells me, “Of bringing people together in this space, and creating a special meeting place for creative individuals,” Skyrah says.
The small island makes a bold and elegant first impression with its well preserved 18th-century architecture, almost like a theatre set. As you drift further in, walking on meandering cobblestone streets that it’s mostly a joy to lose yourself in. Narrow roads draped in fragrant jasmine and fuchsia or white bougainvillea that, less beautifully, often have a waft of donkey manure that you have to take care not to step on or drop your phone into as I did. There are random blasts of greenery and ever-changing blue patches of sea and sky, appearing unexpectedly as you turn corners, and balconies with clothes flapping in the wind. I stop and gawp at the starkly dark shadow of a church on a whitewashed wall, a noisily dripping yellow bikini, old men huddled by a statue in as tiny square smoking, a cat sprawled out in the sun after what must have been a fantastic meal. It’s no wonder that Hydra has served, and continues to inspire, as an idyllic backdrop for the creation of art, fathomless conversations and songs over cheap house wine and (thankfully only brief) the regular visits by those who only go to see and be seen.
Hydra’s beaches are few. Although a beach lover, the goddess I eternally worship is the sea, not the shores it laps, and in Hydra I love to plunge directly into crystal blue depths from any of the rocky enclaves in the town, bobbing in ebullient water delightfully disturbed by the all-day whizz of water taxis, forgetting time. That is, until I start feeling the coldness creep into my very bones and finally pull myself up a ladder to lie on baked rocks glimmering under the blazing sun, at least long enough to warm myself and then do it all again.
Most people think of Hydra and instantly picture Leonard Cohen. He was the figurehead of the island’s creative golden years and an Aslan of the arts, whose energy is still alive and kicking today despite his no longer being on this earth. His name is often repeated with fondness and awe by people of all generations, and Hydra serves almost as the shrine to his memory. His absence from the island almost creates an ache in the soul, a sense that the magnetism of the island would be yet more intense if he were still physically there.
Certainly, for locals this can be a tiresome fact, as the island has been home to many accomplished and inspiring humans, but so it is. Several documentaries, such as Nick Broomfield’s ‘Leonard and Marianne: Words of Love’ which presented Cohen in a light that surprised many of his devotees, and not in a good way, and more recently the successful TV Series titled ‘So Long Marianne’, have made sure no generation will forget the legendary singer-songwriter. In 2026, Brad Pitt was on the island starring in the new Hollywood production “The Riders”.
Artemis Retreat
I knew that gathering was going to be special as not only would we be celebrating a birthday but also staying at The Oikonomou House, a 17th century traditional mansion high up in the town, with spanning views, historical vibes and one of my favorite pastimes – yoga.
The house belongs to Angelika Lialios Freitag and her two daughters, Skyrah, an actress with a blossoming career turned yoga-teacher, and Kai, an author. After Angelika lost her husband George, with whom she experienced many summers in Hydra since they met in the 1960s, the three decided to open up their beautiful abode to the world. Combining Angelika’s lifetime experience and talent as an artist with Skyrah’s passion for yoga, and Kai’s expertise in writing, they created a summer retreat space that can also be rented during certain periods. Read more about Angelika’s art and life on Hydra here.
‘Artemis Retreats’ was born in 2022, in a destination that, to its owners, is ideal for such an initiative. “Hydra is an island in which you have to walk everywhere, which means you have direct access to its every corner,” Skyrah says. “It’s an island of pure quiet, and together with yoga, writing and art, which bring you back to yourself, the overall experience is very re-centring”.
Skyrah and Katharina, (whose nom de plume is Kai Knight), have also written a book titled ‘Blue Out’ (By Miranda Storm, their joint nom de plume), and plan to attract artists, writers and seekers for many years to come while continuing heir own writing projects. Most recently, the acclaimed shamanic healing teacher and astrologer Helen Fost, trained by Four Winds Society founder Alberto Villoldo and Swiss mystic Manuel Schoch, ran a workshop there, and the list of upcoming retreats keeps growing.
The Oikonomou House transported us to a different dimension, combining the past, present and future vision of Hydra through the effusive nature of our gracious hosts. The five guestrooms are spacious and minimal, with comfortable double beds, marble floors, tasteful antique furnishings and striking decor pieces. Yoga is held in the ballroom, a large room with mat-covered floors, a gilded gold-framed floor mirror, and a sculpted wooden ceiling. Upstairs there is also the library, lined with books collected by the family and decorated with paintings, objects d’art and furnishings. It leads to the large terrace where we enjoyed ample breakfasts of local products and pastries, overlooking an arresting view of the sea, the Peloponnesian mountains, and the main town below, crowded with white houses with red ceramic-tiled roofs.
We passed our days with a morning yoga practice, lively breakfast banter, walks down to the harbour for coffee and cat-patting at To Roloi, invigorating dives off colossal rocks into fresh, blue-green waters, dreamy glow-time dinner experiences at restaurants with astonishing views of the natural landscape and Hydra town, such as Veranda and Sunset Restaurant and delicious cocktails plus people-watching at the Pirate Bar. Read more about Where to Eat in Hydra here.
During our visit, we attended the retrospective exhibition of Angelika’s artworks, titled ‘Reflections of Change’ hosted at the Historical Archives Museum of Hydra. The collection includes evocative paintings of flowers and gardens, scenes from Hydra and original drawings inspired by Greece. Angelika, who also creates unique collages, sculptures and sketches, offered us an art class at Artemis Retreats, during which we received the valuable lesson that creating an artwork doesn’t rely on having mathematical precision or inherent skills, but chiefly on developing confidence in your personal viewpoint and then letting your creative expression roam wild.
And again, I cherished not only being on Hydra in the present with these dynamic and talented women, my old and new friends and many welcoming local folks I met along the way but also reliving a town so exquisitely scenic it has served as the mise en scene for several great films (like the classics ‘Boy On a Dolphin with Sophia Loren, ‘Phaedra’ with Melina Mercouri and Anthony Perkins, and numerous old Greek movies.
Above all, I was comforted by the fact that Hydra, a place that feels so full of possibilities – from horseback riding and hiking to cooking classes and exciting art happenings, as well as numerous incredible locations beyond its main town, can be reached so easily from Piraeus port. I stepped onto my boat home with a satiated yet sad heart, recalling Cohen’s lyrics:
“But let’s not talk of love or chains and things we can’t untie,
Your eyes are soft with sorrow, Hey, that’s no way to say goodbye.”
