Greek Island Cruising
We took 2 subway trains to Pireaus, the port of Athens, bought tickets, and boarded the red ferry. It left the dock at 10:30 and we were off to Aegina, with one seagull in tow.
t was a smooth ride. We sat on the top in the sun, and watched Athens shrink and Aegina grow, and by the time we arrived there would have been 50 seagulls swooping and soaring with us. Some passengers were buying boxes of biscuits and throwing bits, and occasionally one was caught.
I had read that there were 3 local bus routes that left through the town centre, so we walked along, looking for a bus stop or a tourist office, but no luck. On the shop side were heaps of cafes and bars, on the water side large and very large water craft. So we walked back, and then found the bus station on the other side of the wharf. We got tickets for the next bus - it didn't matter where it went - and ate our lunch while we waited.
The bus took us right across the island to Ag. Marina, quite hilly, past lots of olive groves and pistachio orchards.
The first landmark was St Nectarios' cathedral, who is one of Greece's most recent saints.
Later we passed the ruins of the Temple of Aphaia from C5 BC,
then went down into the town, which was rather like Stanley south of Hong Kong.
We caught the same bus back, then went to the nearby beach, and after a quick change behind a sarong and some bushes, went in for our first Mediterranean Sea swim. It was shallow so quite warm, and very, very calm, except for the occasional wake wave from a passing boat.
We were there for about an hour, then got dressed again behind the sarong, bought icecreams and pistachios, and boarded the blue boat back to Athens.
There was no washing machine at our bnb, so we packed up and walked 10 mins to the laundromat, so had dinner late. Kids were still playing in the yard around the church opposite our front door, the local playground and meeting place.
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