chalk mountain: Hydra island, Day 2 in Greece!

what a day. as matty said, "the ball had to be dropped at some point." and today was the day!
it was my fault, i forgot to change the travel alarm clock to one hour later from France time to Greece time, SO when i set my alarm clock for 6:45 am, we really wern't woken up until 7:45. TOO LATE, our flying dolphin took off at 8:30 and we had a 30 minute metro connection, plus a 5 minute walk to the dock once we arrived in pireaus. and we had to get out the door and to the metro in the first place.
well, we were going to try. you never know it could have been taking off late for some reason and we might have been able to make it. though we are told they always take off right on time. so we literally threw on clothes, no brusing teeth, or hair or anything and thew anything we could think of into our day bags and RAN to the metro 4 blocks away, i was in flip flops and it was really hard. then we ran through, did one transfer, waited on the next one, rode it for 30 mins. and honeslty, i think we might have made it if it wern't for subway construction, cause we had 2 unusually long delayed stops, while one track was being used by two trains. anyways, we got there, RAN out to the street, finally got to the dock, NO FLYING DOLPHIN. i looked for someone to ask, found a guy and said, "around the corner, 5 mins" SO WE RAN. and saw it and i smiled and was so thankful, However, it was not the right one, going to a different island! rats.
they showed no mercy to let us get on the 10 o'clock ferry, so we had to buy another set of tickets. so we lost that initial 51 euros. dang it! i cried honestly.but only for a minute. i was just upset. we just ran SO MUCH! i just felt like they could have given us a break, but reality hit me when the lady behind the Hellenic seaways desk said drily, " it is not my company's fault that you overslept. these tickets are now No good."
so we got over it. bought another set of 10 o'clock tickets and were on our way. we should have just bought our tickets at the dock once we got there, assuring we wouldn't miss our boat. oh well!
now is when my friend Maria entered our lives. she kept me good company for the first hour of our 2 hour trip. she was a great resource and was very friendly!
Hydra was great. it was not very crowded. we ate lunch, explored all its nooks and cranies. walked all the way around one side, spotting little swimming coves that locals and tourist alike were taking advantage of. then we peaked the hill and came over the other side. NOW this is where i saw the most cats i have ever seen in my like. 23 was the count, in ONE area. i was in cat heaven! so much fun. we just loved Hydra and all the little tiny, quaint roads. it was a blast. then we even stuck our heads out the Flying Dolphin as we approached Pireaus, it reminded me of being on the Cruise with my family as we got up early and were out in the front as we can into port!
wonderful memories of this day!
thanks Ros for you Hydra recommendations!