It's time to announce our next meetup on Hydra! It will take place during the second weekend of June 2015, from June 12 to 14. Some of us will come a bit earlier (or stay for some days longer; it will be up to your own plans! Most participants who will stay for some extra days will probably do it again before the meetup weekend).
In 2002 we had our big Leonard Cohen Event on Hydra (report at http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/hydraevent.html). Later we have had biennial meetups in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013 and now again in 2015!).
Last time, in 2013, we organized an one day excursion on the Peloponnese across Hydra, to visit the ancient theater of Epidaurus and the picturesque city of Nafplion. It was a huge success, and we probably will do it again either on Thursday June 11 or Friday June 12. Number of seats in the bus will be limited to about 50. More about this later. In 2013, the price was 70 eur including boat, bus, ticket to the museum, delicious meal and guiding by our local friend Lakis. Budget for 2015 is still open (it will be up to the number of people who want to do the excursion).
We also hope to have the grand opening of the Famous Stone Bench!
We will also rent the Open Air cinema for Saturday evening (June 13), and are going to show you some interesting video footage... Some 5 eur per person will be collected to pay the rent.
We have to underline that this will not be any official gathering, just a meetup for people who want to spend some time on the beautiful island with like-minded Cohenites. We will give some advice about the connections from Athens/Piraeus to Hydra and some addresses for booking your accommodation, but all arrangements are up to the travellers themselves.
Early June has been chosen again for several reasons. First of all, the tourist season has not yet begun - there are rooms available at all hotels, and the prices are lower than a week or two later. The weather is ideal, not yet hot but warm enough. The restaurants are not full, and serve the most delicious food.
One more time: this unofficial gathering is only for people who want to spend some time together on the beautiful island. We will suggest good restaurants for dinners, we enjoy some Mythoses at the Roloi Bar in the harbour, maybe do some walks in the Hydra city and up to the hills -- it will be more like a holiday! We hope that those who play guitar will take their instruments with them!
Even if the meetup is less formal than our Events, we need to have some idea of the number of participants. Please let us know by email to Jarkko (use email button under my avatar on the right), if you plan to come. Your name will be listed on the Hydra Meetup page at http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/backtohydra.html (let us know if you don't want to show it). You will also find links to photo galleries and videos on that page.
