Blogs from Aegina, Attica, Greece, Europe

La première nuit à bord de Nereus s’est bien passée. Il faut évidemment s’habituer aux petits bruits inévitables à bord d’un bateau. Par contre, nous nous serions passé du feu d’artifice à 2h30 du matin ! Ce matin, les Montpetit (sur leur bateau Naias) ont un problème avec l’une de leurs voiles. Le réparateur est sur place mais notre départ est retardé. En attendant que les Montpetit soient prêts à partir, nous décidons de prendre un peu d’avance et de faire un petit détour vers Salamine, Pascale voulant voir le site de la fameuse bataille. Malheureusement, c’est aujourd’hui un site pétrolier mais l’imagination de Pascale a fait le reste. Vers 15h, les réparations abord de Naias étant terminées, nous mettons le cap sur Égine. Étant donné l’heure, il n’y a plus de place à quai. Nous ... read more

So where were we? The next stop on our tour of old stuff in Athens was Hadrian's library, which is actually a collection of multiple buildings (a bath, church, homes, and a library). We decided to go after 2nd nap which put us at about 1:30 in the afternoon. This is not an ideal time to be outside in Athens in June. For the first time in our lives we busted out the umbrellas on a crystal clear day in an vain attempt to avoid heat stroke. Proof positive we live in North Dakota. The site had remnants of a fresco from a church that made use of some of the ruins as well as a tile mosaic floor with a hearts motif (perhaps made by ancient teenage girls?). The library was just a pile of ... read more

Coming towards the end of my time here in Greece, I had to take everyone's advice and visit the islands. I am very glad I did, for this place was beautiful! A key piece of advice though, buy your boat tickets early. I wanted to see some of the more famous islands of Greece, but alas, all tickets were sold out. However, there is a very easy access island by ferry only 45 minutes one way, Aegina. The island was great and really gave me a different view of Greece besides the major city of Athens. The ferry ride was pleasant enough, and going through the Mediterranean was really nice. Once I arrived, I have now come to find another place that if offered a job, I just may take it on the spot. Thus far, ... read more

Our next and finally stop is the island of Aegina. This is the largest of the Saronic Gulf islands and known for it tasty pistachios (yes, I ate some). This is the most populated island that we have visited today. We disembark from the boat. The day is coming to an end, the colors of the fading sunlight are really special on this charming town as they reflect on the water. At the end of the pier is a delightful chapel, in honor of St. Nicholas, patron saint of sailors. We walk along the harbor and see many stray dogs enjoying the sun. There is a lot more life on Aegina, we see more fishermen, produce stands and half empty tavernas. We walk through the maze of small homes and businesses to a lovely Orthodox church. ... read more

Island CruiseJulie J Vanover So today, I took a Greek ferry and the good new is it didn't sink! I did a one day excursion to a Greek Island called Aegina. Now it is definitely no Santorini (which is what I really wanted to see but it was just too long of a ferry) but it was cute. There were too different ruins in it, one the Sanctuary of Aphaia had a really nice temple that was quite beautiful. Then I went to the beach and I really wanted to swim in the Mediterranean for the first time, but there were no lockers or anything to put my stuff so I just waded around and walked the beach. There were tons of teenagers on some school trip everywhere! Yesterday I went to the Archeology Museum here ... read more