My favorite day yet!

Yasas from Aegina!

I'm just gonna start off by telling you this was my favorite day here so far. I'll be honest, I've really enjoyed Athens and I've learned a lot, but I had a different image of Greece in my head on the plane ride here. Athens is busy, and filled with history and people and business and shopping. It's a city. 

What I had in mind were the islands. 

Aegina was beautiful. The water was clear and aqua-turquoise, there were small fishing boats everywhere and mountains surrounding everything. There were ruins here and there and tiny little streets with vespas and people who don't speak much English. Sweet-talking restaurant owners compete for your attention, smile a lot, and they serve things like octopus and pistachios. 

I'm loving it.

This past Saturday we spent the day on one of the Greek islands closest to Athens: Aegina (pronounced ay-ghen-uh), is the country's number one producer of pistachios (yum!) and home to the Temple of Aphaia, one of the oldest temples in Greece. We caught the ferry from the port at Piraeus around 8 and traveled across the sea for a comfortable 45 minute ride. 

As soon as we got off the ferry, we caught a bus up to the Temple of Aphaia. Though the history behind the temple is that it's one of the oldest in Greece and served many purposes over the past few thousand years, the Greek mythology is much more interesting. 

The Temple of Aphaia is in honor of Zeus' daughter, the goddess of fertility and agriculture. The legend behind it is that a beautiful woman named Afea fled the Island of Crete after an unwelcome arranged marriage. She was rescued by an Aegean fisherman who also proposed. She fled at the site of the temple. The fisherman decides she was taken by the Gods and the temple was built in her honor. Aphaia the goddess is only recognized on the Island of Aegina.

Here's one of all the girls in front of the Temple

Isn't that way more gripping than the truth?

We also found out that this temple, the Acropolis, and the Temple of Poseidon we visited last weekend   are all in a perfect equilateral triangle. 

How'd the Greeks figure that out? 

We spent the rest of the day grabbing some lunch at a local restaurant on the boardwalk, spending a little time at the beach, and wandering the streets of the town. We tested some fresh pistachios (the stands were all over the place!). 

By 7:30, everyone was happy and tired. The sun was setting as the moon was rising and the mountains looked red. Truly, one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. 

Everyone throwing around a Frisbee at the beach

An old fishing boat

We found some coral flowers falling off of a tree, right next to a moped. I couldn't help myself.

Octupus anyone?

Towards the end of the day, we found some snails on the wall by the beach

Ship at sunset

The Port at Sunset

As we rode the ferry back, we watched people hold out bread in their hands and seagulls would dive in and take it right out of their hands! 

Naturally, we had to try.

It took a while, but the whole deck cheered when we had some success. 

Cheers!

KP