Leonard Cohen’s favourite place. “Like a Bird on the Wire” celebrated the arrival of electricity to the island.

“Hydra defiantly emerges from the narrow strait that separates the island from the Peloponnesian peninsula. From the distance there was no sign of life on the grey, rocky mountains reaching for the sky and the island looked as if it was unable to support human or any other vertebrate life form. Wrong! As we sailed closer to Limin Idhras, goats, donkeys and humans became visible. The houses cheekily clung to the almost-vertical mountainside, which, after a moment of thinking, drops straight into the small natural harbour. Entering the small port is not that difficult, but every time we were completely overwhelmed by the smallness of the port and the frequency and variety of boat traffic in it. Small cruisers, hydrofoils, sailing, speed and fishing boats, ferries: all found their way into the small harbour and were desperate to moor. Usually, sailing boats and leisure crafts were rafted in two or three rows, boating accidents were daily events and swimming was prohibited. The police simply dragged anyone out of the water and banned the offender from the island. One could ask: why would any one come here?”