Sunday morning we woke up early to take a ferry to the island of Aegina. We took the metro from our hostel to the port and then walked to the ferry offices. We were able to get tickets and seats on the ferry pretty soon after we arrived. The ride was only about an hour, and with the comfy couches we were sitting in it didn’t seem to be such a bad ride. The problems arose after we got off the ferry in Aegina. First of all we had to find a taxi to get to our hostel. Because it was Sunday the taxi stand was empty. Because we didn’t speak Greek people kept getting in front of us and taking all of the taxis that came. We finally got a taxi and managed to communicate where we were going. We were staying in Aghia Marina, which is on the southern side of the island (Aegina city is on the northern side). Our hostel was really nice and definitely would not have been as affordable in season. Soon after arriving we discovered that the season didn’t begin until Eastern Orthodox Easter, which was actually the next Sunday. Because of this the town was a little deserted and many restaurants weren’t fully stocked or weren’t even open.
Our first stop after dropping off our bags was lunch. We ate at a nice little place which had a great view of the marina. It still wasn’t the best weather, it was pretty hazy and overcast, but it was still a really pretty view. After lunch we headed to the beach. I read a lot (and even finished the book I had bought in the airport) and we all took beach naps. One of my friends and I stayed out for hours just talking and relaxing, until finally it was cold enough to force us back inside. After a brief nap we headed out to search for a good dinner option. We ended up at a little cafe, where the two old women who ran the place were a little overly friendly for us. On the other hand, the food that they did have was really great. I had greek salad (my favorite dish) and spanikopita. I have to say that I really like the American version of spanikopita better, which wasn’t usually the case with the food we ate in Greece.
The next day was much nicer and it was even a bit sunny. We went to see the main attraction on the island, the Temple of Aphaia. In order to get to the temple we had to take a bus. After figuring out where to buy tickets and using our limited Greek to buy them and figure out the schedule, we discovered that we had just missed the bus. So we had lunch and walked around the town a bit to kill time. The town was actually pretty cute.
After our walk we waited by the corner where the bus was supposed to stop. Luckily our directions were correct and the bus did stop. The bus ride was crazy and ridiculous. We were clutching the rails just to be able to stay in our seats. The fact that the road was curving up a mountain didn’t help to ease our nerves. We arrived at the temple and discovered that there was luckily a student price. The temple itself was pretty magnificent, but the views of the island were really gorgeous as well.
We then waited around until the bus returned and went back to Aghia Marina. We packed up our stuff and waited for the bus again to take us back to Aegina city. We arrived with several hours to spend before the first ferry back to Athens. My friend and I ended up sitting in a cafe with everyone’s stuff for a while in order to pass the time. Our other friend decided to walk around in an attempt to see the few attractions in the area. Finally we saw the ferry pulling up to the docks and we headed over. After staking out a couch area we took turns going up to the top of the boat. Again we were able to get gorgeous views of the island.
After the ferry ride we traveled by metro back to the hostel where we had last stayed in Athens. After checking my email I discovered that one of my friends studying in Athens for the semester was available to meet us for dinner. After setting our stuff down and relaxing for a bit we walked over to the Olympic stadium where we met him for dinner. Of course it didn’t turn out to be as long of a walk as we had thought. So on the way we stopped to take some night shots of the Temple of Olympian Zeus, Hadrian’s Arch, and the stadium itself. Dinner was really great because we were served small portions of a lot of traditional Greek dishes which we had been a little afraid to try before.
The next day, Tuesday, we started off by visiting the flea market again. The first time we visited many of the antique stores had been closed, and I had really been looking forward to visiting them. After a good long time at the flea market I still hadn’t found anything I really loved. So after writing down a couple of addresses and noting the correct metro stop, I gave my friends the guidebook and headed off to a couple more stores on my own. Though I didn’t find anything I loved, I got to see a completely different part of the city. I also got to explore on my own which was a new experience. I had arranged to meet one of my friends at the National Archeological Museum to do some touring. So I headed over to the museum, navigating by stopping every ten feet to ask for directions again. We had arranged that I would wait on the steps of the museum. Of course because we didn’t have cell phones it was a bit of a risky plan, and though I waited a bit longer than expected, we were able to meet up okay. The only problem was that once we got inside we discovered the museum was closing at 3pm, and hour from when we met up, and we still hadn’t had lunch. (This was a very annoying discovery because everything from my guidebook, to my friend studying in Athens, to the museum pamphlet indicated we had until at least 7pm, though this time apparently only applies during the season). So we had to breakdown and grab a quick snack in the museum cafe. After which we did the speed walking tour of the museum. We made sure to hit what are considered the main points. Of course while we were in the museum speaking to each other in Hebrew we came across some Israelis. So we quickly walked away to a different exhibit so we could speak to each other again without getting mocked or approached by the Israelis. We saw some pretty cool stuff in the museum, including some really well preserved statues, the mask of Agamemnon, a Grecian skeleton, preserved spices, and paintings preserved from rooms.
After returning back to the hostel we spent the usual time napping and relaxing. We then had a somewhat early dinner and spent a little time doing last minute tourist shopping around our hostel. I then had to head over to the metro to go to the airport. I had the first flight out of the three of us. It was a little odd taking a 10:30pm train with all of my luggage, and when I arrived at the airport they still hadn’t opened my counter. So I spent some time looking around and checking my email. After getting my ticket and making it through passport control I did a little bit of duty-free shopping. I then waited around for my 2:20am flight back to Israel. After getting back to Tel Aviv I took a taxi back to Jerusalem and then napped from 6:30am to 11:30am. Afterwards I met up with my parents for the Passover portion over my spring break.
