Aegina

We started our morning by going to the wrong dock. Thanks, Google maps, for leading us in the opposite direction of where we needed to be! 

We'd taken the subway to the Piraeus stop and had just a few minutes to run to the dock and we went right where we should have gone straight, thanks to the maps app. It ended up being fine, and we bought ferry tickets to Aegina for 2 Euro cheaper than had been advertised online (13 round trip) but the new ferry didn't leave for a little over an hour (12:15), so we walked around. 

Prior to that, we'd grabbed a tasty morning breakfast at a local bakery, having run out of eggs and other breakfast items the night before. I had some sort of potato pastry that was baked in layers of phyllo dough. It was delicious and I went for it the next morning too.

We were in search of goggles and a frisbee, a search which we probably should have pursued days before. On a Sunday morning, only souvenir shops were open, and none of those had those items. We'd miraculously located sunscreen the night before, a good thing because everyone except for me was a nice shade of pink (I'm surprised too that I barely got any sun despite doing all the same things) and we'd planned on another day in the sun.

We found ourselves in what I'd call a sketchy area, a place where locals wearing bags were now clutching them tightly to their chests, pockets empty in case of pickpockets (so I think the Greeks would call it sketchy too). There was an outdoor market/yard sale thing going on, and this picture makes it look tame, but it was a zoo. Bags furtively clutched to our chests, we made our way through, pushing and being pushed past tables full of all kinds of things - linens, undergarments, knock offs (I don't think Adidas shoes normally go for 6 Euro but they did here!), and honestly what looked like junk. We didn't find our desired items at any of these places, although Jenna found a pair of cheap replacement sunglasses for 1 Euro, but we did escape with all the things we'd entered the market with. At one point, Carson dropped 15 Euro and as he was bending down to pick it up about .02 seconds later, an old woman reached to grab it first and run off with it, and he had to pry his own money from her hands. So we got out of there as quickly as we could.

Down the street, we found a store selling mostly kitchen items, none of them organized, everything covered in layers of dust. Lloyd and Carson entered this establishment and mimed out their request for goggles and a frisbee. To our immense surprise, the shop owner opened a curtain, pulled out a stack of boxes, reached into a bottom one, and held up some kids goggles still in the package. Overjoyed, we returned to the ferry with two pairs of turtle goggles in hand. In Aegina, we finally located the world's flimsiest frisbee in a souvenir store and it made the trip to the beach with us as well.

Goggles and snacks in hand, we boarded the ferry and journeyed across the Saronic Gulf to the port of Aegina. The trip took an hour and fifteen minutes there (and nearly two back), so we enjoyed the view and the sunshine and found a place to do both away from the wind.

Aegina is a cute little port town, and we really loved walking along its streets, down brightly painted alleyways and past delicious looking restaurants.

There were tons of places that sold pistachios in Aegina, all of them claiming their products were local, so I guess this is a thing there! We enjoyed the samples.

After a stop for a lunch of gyros, we headed up to the Temple of Apollo, where we walked around the ruins there. I have several pictures, so I'll make that its own post, but we really enjoyed this spot. We had it almost to ourselves and we could walk around on anything we liked; in contrast to other ruins, only the pathways up to the ruins had roped off areas.

After we visited the temple, we found a path down to the beach and set about enjoying the sunny day. I am not fond of cold water, so I made a spot for myself on the beach and enjoyed the sun, while everyone else tossed the frisbee around or splashed in the water (Carson).

You can see Carson in the background flipping away between Lloyd and Jaime.

As the time to leave for the ferry approached, we got dressed and headed back into the little town. I think every place we went in Greece had tons of cats hanging around, and this wasn't an exception.

We finished the day in Aegina off with some ice cream. Mine was pistachio and something else and it was goooood.

The ferry was the last of the day, and we decided to ride it inside since the sun was setting and it would only be windy up top. It was crowded inside due to everyone having the same idea. Jaime got her cards out, and a ferocious game of Rummy was played.

It was nearly dark by the time we got back to Athens, and we went back to Monastiraki in search of a rooftop dinner. We found one with a great view of the Acropolis and hungrily dug into our Greek meals. Jordyn, Jenna and I had Souvlaki (I had lamb) and Carson, Jaime and Lloyd had Moussaka. So much for diversity, but those things had been recommended to us and we definitely enjoyed them to the last bite.

We walked down to the station past the ruins for the last time at night, and savored the view.

We packed that night and never did get to enjoy the game of charades we'd said we'd play.