“I felt no culture shock, on the contrary, I felt that everywhere else I’d been was a culture shock, and this was home.”

Leonard Cohen, recalling his arrival on the Island of Hydra in Greece.

‘Take the Flying Cat 3’ was one of the title ideas for an emotive analogue photographic body of work, shot on the Greek Island of Hydra, depicting the end of childhood and the evolving relationship between a mother and her only son. The Flying Cat 3 is the ferry from the Greek Mainland port of Piraeus which takes approximately 1.5 hours, give or take ; the pictures were 4 years ago - there is now an even faster boat taking just 1hr 10mins called the Magic Sea. I’m pleased we held back on the title. (Inigo and I by Mark Newton, 2022).

Leonard Cohen is still synonymous with Hydra like Bob Marley is with Jamaica. Guests on the island, even with just hours to spare, make the sweaty pilgrimage up the hill to his former home just to look at the door. He has come, in my view to represent a time when the island was a bohemian utopia for artists and outliers. He represents the days when there were far fewer ferries arriving each week from the mainland and all on the island would be beckoned for an artists presentation of their excuse to continue their holiday after the families have packed up ; painters, sculptors, poets and writers. Leonard Cohen was the one who made it work, whose fame travelled far beyond the smokey corner of a late night taverna.

I only arrived for the first time in (or on) Hydra in the summer of 2020. I had just watched Nick Broomfield’s poignant documentary ‘Marianne and Leonard: Words of Love’ and on a brief trip to the neighbouring island of Spetses with my then boyfriend we added some days on the walking island. Like Leonard, as the boat pulled into the port I knew, I JUST KNEW. This is home, or my version of it, it’s a home for people who have never quite known where to call home. For the peripatetic, for those who find solace in stories, rocks and the scent of pine.

Each summer my visiting tribe has grown ; some understand the appeal of an island without soft sandy beaches and with imposing buildings more municipal than the romantic sugar-cube whitewashed homes that have come to depict Greek islands such as Santorini. The pleasure of finding your own flat piece of rock to throw your towel on to sunbathe (even if a little corner by where you lay your head is a recently created ashtray) and the triumph in climbing hundreds of steps home at the end of the day side by side with over-worked donkeys carrying crates of coca-cola, loo paper, suitcases, the elderly and even a washing machine or a fridge.

Over seven years I have found my spots - this is an ever-changing list but given that I keep getting asked, here goes for some of my favourites (the list is by no means exhaustive but is a good start for anyone visiting my summer ‘home’):

EATING and DRINKING

Breakfast

Isalos.

For my morning Freddo Cappuccino (classic greek frothy iced coffee) and watching who’s who and what’s what coming on and off the morning boats. Ini loves the waffles here.

The Lemon Trees.

For large Acai bowls with generous dollops of Almond butter and fruit at competitive prices. A healthier option in a quieter day time spot (under lemon trees) just off the main port. A more feminine vibe; vintage chairs with floral fabrics and a couple of charming resident cats.

Lunch

Marina Taverna, Vlychos Beach.

Tucked away down a little path at the side of Vlychos beach *(the one with the pylons over head) is one of my favourite bare foot lunch spots for those in the know (you are less likely to stumble across this). I particularly adore the garlic prawns here - it’s all fabulous though (particularly the sea food) and the staff are charming. This is one of the places my mind travels to when I can’t sleep on a cold night in London …

To Pefkaki / The Little Pine Tree (otherwise known as the Corridor restaurant).

Near the scented pines and Avlaki beach (stone platforms to throw a towel on and swim off) is this restaurant which is quite literally the thin corridor on the walk from the Port to Vlychos and beyond. There are only a few tables and the food is divine - make sure to order the sardines, the fresh anchovies and the meat balls. This needs to be booked in advance in the high summer months.

Tassias Taverna at the Bellevalia Hydra

Bellevalia is the new name for what was formerly known as The Four Seasons (but believe it or not, not actually ‘A’ Four Seasons …. How they got away with it for so long remains a great mystery). A new name but the charm and the team remain and if anything it this 8 bedroom hotel and enchanting beach side restaurant have improved with some sweeps of fresh paint and a subtle rebranding. I adore lunch at the family run Tassia’s restaurant run by the charming and super efficient Stephanous and his team. The seafood is magnificent here, mostly locally caught and a lot of the vegetables are grown at the property too. It is also the best place for a simple pasta or burger as, being a hotel, it is used to catering for those that don’t only want to eat local. I adore the acoustics here ; after lunch I like to lie on a sunbed on their beach (the most comfortable ones in Hydra) and listen to a melange of international chatter, the clink of wine classes, the buzzing chorus of Cicadas and the waves.

Spilia Beach Bar.

For a day at the rocks closest to the port it is a good idea to try to get here early and reserve the comfortable sofa and table as a base. This year I have discovered their delicious Poke bowls - I particularly love the shrimp and the salmon ones.

Dinner

Psaropoula.

Up some steps to the right (if you are looking at it) of the famous Pirate Bar in Hydras port is this charming Greek restaurant. Come here for the best Fava beans (the texture of theirs is far superior to any others on the island that I have tried), Taramasalata, Horta (greens) and Greek Salad. An easy local dinner with a great view of the port; they can also usually cater at quite late notice for large groups. I love their old Hydra black and white photos inside.

Xeri Elia - Douskos.

Tucked away behind the port along some back streets is this iconic Hydra establishment. A charming open courtyard with large trees (there is a famous photo of Leonard Cohen with his guitar and his friends under one of these back in the day) and lights strung over long tables. If we are a large group I like to pre choose the fish for the whole table and order a selection of their delicious starters and sides. If there is a birthday this is the place ; I have my birthday every year in Hydra - Stevie Wonders Happy Birthday feels like the longest song ever made when it is for you.

Giasemi.

The place for Lamb chops (and for an array of other very delicious meat dishes). Tucked away up near the football pitch it can get quite hot here when the temperatures rise but if you eat meat this is a must.

Oraia (otherwise known quite simply as Red Chairs).

Unsurprisingly this is the one with the Red Chairs; it’s in the port and is a fail safe option for delicious Greek food and people watching in the port.

Kai Kremmidi (THE Souvlaki place).

This is great for when you are restauranted out and just fancy a simple and delicious (plus inexpensive) Souvlaki or Gyros. You can sit outside the restaurant in the main hub of evening activity behind the port or take away. Also great for children and teens to have a tiny bit of independence.

Papagalos.

This seems to be the favourite Pizza place. It’s in the port on the corner as you turn to Spilia. Again an option when you fancy a change from Greek salad etc.

Techne.

Best for date night. A charming walk from the port and overlooking Avlaki this restaurant is the most refined of the options on my list but is also a more serious ‘dinner out’. Delicious and original.

Other

The Cool Mule.

Ice Creams at most hours. There is a larger shop in the port by where the ferries stop and also a hole in the wall micro version in the hum of the fun for an after dinner sugar fix and a chance to sit on a step by the shop and watch the night swagger.

Pirate Bar

Since the 70’s an institution on the Port for a beer and a cocktail after the beach.

Tassos.

For many their first stop and meeting point on the island at any time of day or night. The imposing yellow building two down from the Pirate bar but with more comfortable seats to watch the port action from. Also THE spot for live football matches; especially if you are an Olympiakos fan

L’Americano.

Opened a couple of years ago this sexy little vintage-style cocktail bar with low lighting and an eclectic selection of music is a super welcome addition to Hydra nightlife. Fun for when your night hasn’t quite finished after dinner.

Amalour.

A Hydra institution where you go when you really don’t want your night to finish.

SHOPPING.

I would suggest just wandering ; there are many charming shops on the island. A few of my favourites off the top of my head are :

Rafalias Pharmacy.

This super historic pharmacy in an imposing iconic building in the heart of the town is a must visit. I highly recommend their own made face cream in the baby-pink plastic pot which is effective and smells divine.

Turquoise.

A stunning collection of, largely block printed, Indian clothes and jewellery which have now become synonymous with the Island. Regular Hydra girls come with an empty case and fill it with these simple and chic designs. Inigo always points out to me that I am rarely wearing anything but the pieces that I have bought in here on my various trips.

Kashish.

Another shop with chic Indian designs ; I love their table cloth and sarong designs here.

Hydra Book Club.

An overdue addition to the shopping on this island. In the centre of the port a chic place to choose from a fantastically edited book collection - fiction, biographies and a lot of art books. Great for gifts too.

Everybody Knows.

A well edited proper fashion shop with a chic selection of great, summery brands.

Elena Votsi.

She is ‘the’ jewellery designer of the island who also has significant International recognition too. From charming evil eye bracelets (not cheap..) to diamond skulls and also a charming selection of china pieces with her own enchanting Greek designs. Her main jewellery shop is in the centre of the port and more of her gift-style pieces in a newer shop on the side of the port.

Koutsikou.

Close to Isalos on the corner of the port is this stunning home and fashion shop. Fun jewellery, charming cushions, sandals, embroidered clothing and a couple edited and revived pieces of vintage furniture. I love this shop and always find some unique bits to take home and for presents.

OTHER.

Apollo - Jeff Koons.

In 2022 Jeff Koons unveiled what has now arguably become more synonymous with Hydra than the great LC, his stunning monument to the sun and to Friendship. The great magnificent spinning sunshine, the ‘I’ve been to Hydra’ Instagram post. This is above the Deste Foundations project space at the Slaughter House. It is worth an early evening amble around to see this spectacular piece close up (by far my favourite piece by Jeff Koons) and to view what is on offer at the Slaughterhouse which is a particularly unique, given its history, and respected art space.

The Outdoor Cinema.

Conceptually my favourite Cinema in the world. You walk in to four walls with no roof, the seats are coloured directors chairs and the VIP is an upstairs shelf at the back. It’s not comfortable viewing but it is enchanting; I love the 11pm showings of classic films.

Pilates.

A few people have asked me about working-out on the island. This time I tried the Pilates which is above the sports shop next to the Outdoor Cinema. They have two reformers there and the teacher is extremely experienced ; her husband is also a personal trainer.

Agios Nikolaos Beach.

This is my favourite of the further beaches only reached by boat (there is also Bisti beach which is smaller and surrounded by pine trees which you can smell as you approach by boat). Agios Nikolaos is a bit further away but so worth the journey. Even on a windy day, providing the boats are still running, the magnificent bay is calm - like a giant sparkly swimming pool. You can call ahead and reserve your sunbeds with Yannis or try to arrive by about 11 am in the summer to secure your favourite spot (the German in me..). There is lunch in a shack here - simple Greek salads, burgers and the odd specials ; the service is slow but the girls charming. You can drink cocktails out of plastic cups while you are waiting ; you have no where to rush to from here so roll with it……

Boating.

If you are not already arriving by boat it is fun to take out a big Greek wooden boat for a few hours. I have tried a few and Nektaria and her husband are my favourite; a super comfortable deck with large cushions, bowls of chopped up fruit and wine while playing music floating in the Aegean until the sun starts to set.

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29^th July 1981, the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer. With my parents at their friends house in Rock in Cornwall, there was a box-like black and white TV in the corner of the room with the orange carpet. At one moment in that afternoon, the train on Diana’s dress filled the small screen.

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• Write a Haiku.

• If you are in London go to see the Tracey Emin ‘A Second Life’ …

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My fellow women please, oh please stop this dialogue about us being ‘invisible’ beyond 40, 50, 55 whatever…. you say it, you believe and perhaps you may even manifest it. Menopause is not a ‘curse’ - the ‘curse’ is now over.

I caveat this piece by mentioning that I am 51 and proudly menopausal as I will now remain for the rest of my days, not peri-menopausal, not pre peri-menopausal, not on HRT or on the pill where I believe I will never be menopausal, not in a ‘I had no menopause’ denial but in a ’wow, why did no-one tell me how empowering this feels’ kind of way.

I hear women in the public-eye talk about ‘becoming invisible’.: One assertive, strong and intelligent British TV presenter and podcaster often discusses her own feelings around this which, I imagine she believes help her to be relatable to some of her interviewees and to the listeners however, in this case it feels lazy, cliched and frankly weak journalism (a decline in oestrogen is not the end of life), either that or she is on.a kick-back from a magic eternal-youth elixir. This presenter and others in our public eye can be a testament that age ‘shalt not wither’ and has potential to make us significantly more powerful. I so wish they would use their platforms to remove this victim rhetoric around our new empowerment. Paulina Porizkova talked in an interview about how after 45 she could easily ‘rob a bank’ she was so invisible. Let’s be clear here, the level of superficial attention that she would have had before from both women and from men will have been unfathomable for 99.9% of the world and was surely irritating for her 99.9% of the time. It must have been bizarre, and I would hope refreshing, to occasionally go less noticed by strangers.

In my own case I felt significantly more invisible younger. I was pretty, most definitely not in a Paulina Porizkova kind of way, let’s say more in a Virginia Giufrre in ‘that’ picture kind of way (hold that thought even if it triggers as it is relevant to what I want to say). Blond, bubbly, up for life and possessing the bouncy glow of youth. Graham, an old friend of mine, used to call our type of blondies ‘fresh lettuces’. There we are, categorised by a friend and a, seemingly intelligent, man. I was ‘pretty’ and ‘skinny’ (it was the 90’s) enough to become a model, not a particularly good model, and in my extensive experience in the fashion industry (a majority on the other side of the camera), despite what the ignorant may believe, being a model is not necessarily an indicator of how attractive you are in ‘real-life’ and more a gauge of how photogenic you are (there are measurements that can determine this as opposed to ‘that thing’ that those truly attractive may possess). I include this superficial and seemingly un-defining fact because it displays an extreme experience that I have of being physically compared to other women.

We have been excessively bombarded recently with tales of the man formerly known as Prince Andrew and his alleged antics with his deceased diabolic friend, confidant and party partner Jeffrey Epstein. I think back to my own reaction to that landmark interview of his with Emily Maitlis and when asked about his interactions with Virginia Giuffre he stated that he ‘had no recollection of ever meeting this lady’. Like most of us, I was appalled by this apparent blatant lie. There were pictures, there was ‘that’ picture, there were her words accompanied by many similar stories from other girls (when a pattern of sexual behaviour is reported its validity is supported by akin anecdotes of the specifics in the behaviour by other victims of the same accused predator). With the more recent bombardment of unavoidable vile press activity around ‘Epstein and friends’ I have started to consider that maybe this was a part of the Maitlis interview where the former Prince might have thought that he was telling the truth. Maybe he, and I believe there is a high possibility of this, really did not remember her. Perhaps the young smiling blond in the banister picture was ‘invisible’ to him.

The then Prince Andrew called me once in fact he called me twice.

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I don’t think that there is actually an affluent and exclusive seaside community on the East end of Long Island, New York known as Little Hampton (and if there was I am confident it would be two words and not one). Social media can however unintentionally confuse and friends, some of whom I think I know reasonably well, have quizzed me on my other life …

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A couple of days in the Big Apple to host a dinner for .Here, a recently launched, German owned, super luxury resort in the Maldives. It’s cold outside, I mean really cold, ‘Long Johns essential’ climate but I will max out this trip with culture, joy and discovery - ‘Ice-cream for breakfast’ larging-it.

I was last in New York in November 2024. I was there for the election and in what, from our British media’s sway appeared could be a close-run outcome but in hours a former US president appeared to coast back in to his old job, and this time undeniably winning the popular vote. I was hosting another dinner, that time at the newly re-vamped Surrey Hotel, with my friend and colleague Kate. Our guests were glamorous, highly educated, high net-worth and travelled ; what seemed odd to me was that only one guest was surprised and angered by the result (the one guest that lives in Brooklyn).

Here a year and a bit later and the mood has altered - more than the November to February sway. There was faint lull, an emptiness. JFK was ghostly - in 15 mins we were off the plane, through customs, bags collected and at the taxi rank (yes I did have a large suitcase with me for 2 days - only to carry my enormous, ready for Carrie Bradshaw fun, puff-ball skirt) . JFK is notorious for the mighty queues at customs - where are the people coming in?

Kate’s travel agent had arranged for us to stay in the Upper East Side (near our dinner venue) at The Gardens Sonesta Suites. These were a find, not where I would aspire to for a dim-the-lights weekend of do-not-disturb passion but for a few fun days in town they are perfect. Our rooms were large (rare nowadays), immaculately clean, staff at the desk charming and no room service but you order in and get whatever you like, when you like and without the crazy add-ons. The other guests seemed elegant but a few bandaged and on crutches as it’s on a road of hospitals.

For shopping my first retail stop was always Barneys but since their sad demise it was off to an empty Bloomingdales behind our hotel. Bloomingdales will always sit as an ‘otherworldly starlet’ in my mind as I recall, as a small child, my parents having been in New York and bringing me home a ‘Little Brown Bag’ with a packet of knickers in with the days of the week delicatley embroidered on the back. This was my first conscious exposure to, and excitement around clever branding. A bag without the name of the store just labelled Little Brown Bag - does it get any better? The pants were pretty fabulous too but I became irritatingly obsessive about wearing the correct day. I remember my mother trying to convince me that it didn’t matter and it won’t work with the washing. Seriously?

Straight to the contemporary floor - that’s what the US does best. I love Ulla Johnson, Sea NY, Reformation, Khaite, The Row and Doen. Sadly Bloomies (as Bloomingdale’s is affectionately known) does not stock Doen but I did a big try on of everything else - I found a stunning Sea NY embroidered dress but the high neck did that marginly too tight thing which I know will ultimately mean it would end up, unworn, on Vestiaire. I did buy some fabulous oversized but perfect fit pale denim jeans in Reformation. I established that their denim cuts are particularly good.

Lunch was at the recently opened and hotly anticipated members club Maxime’s on Madison. The beloved export of British elegance guru and hospitality king Robin Birley. From the flat mood on the cold empty streets of Manhattan the sunshine blasted on entering at 848 Madison Avenue. This club is an abundance of chic and a feast for my shameless colour-hungry aesthetic cravings. It is bright, sumptuous, authentically elegant and joyful. I can already picture the uptown attempted rip-offs of this in a country where Pottery Barn is considered luxury and proper upholsterers do not, as far as I know, exist (I am intrigued as to where Robin had his plenitude of sumptuous sofas, vibrant cushions and inter-lined curtains created - I am confident they were imported).

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Chapter One

An outing that would ordinarily be deemed unremarkable has been etched into the recesses of my being. The sinister silence of an unenchanting local department store, the familiar and the ordinarily comforting smell of First by van Cleef and Arpels. She usually reserved this scent for ‘special’ occasions – why did she deem it worthy of today? …

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