Searching for Greek Gods Day 4: Greek Island Cruising

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Okay, so I've been here a week now, and my number of plausible Greek suitors is at 3, maybe (I think the Starbucks guy was actually Italian...I wonder if Roman Gods living in Greece count?). This is definetley not the outcome I expected coming to Greece. The ancient art, statues and religion all led me to believe finding a Greek God would be as easy as finding a Walgreens in Saint Louis. I figured there'd be one on every corner, at least, maybe two. Unfortunatley, as I said, my task of collecting a mass of Greek men to take home to my friends has been pretty unsuccesfull during my stay in Athens, so it was time to expand my horizons. If Athens didn't have the Greek Gods I was looking for, most certainly some of the Greek Islands would...

I mean afterall, when most people think Greece, they think island hopping. Sand, sun, beaches, and sky blue Mediterranean and priceless scenery. I mean Athens is great and all, but a Greek God with a great tan and a beach house sounds a lot better than one with a tiny apartment in the Plaka (even if it does overlook the phenomenal Parthenon). So today we went on a 3 island cruise hitting a few islands not to far from the Athenian port of Pireaus, Poros, Hydra and Aegina. If I couldn't find a Greek God on the islands, I'm not sure I ever will.

We had to leave bright and early to catch the bus to the port. And I'm talking before 6 am early, not my finest hour really. We caught 2 cabs to the metro station thinking we could just hop on the metro and make it to Syntagma with plenty of time to spare, even grab a cup of coffee to help wake up. Unfortunatley the Greek transportation workers had another idea. They were striking, well kind of, striking until 9 am and after 9 pm. Meaning we had to catch 2 more cabs to make it to Syntagma Square and since we allotted so much time for metro travel we were quite early. So early in fact, that even none of the nearby coffee shops were open. We tried to wait in the lobby of the hotel we were supposed to meet at, but the guys at the front desk were definetley not okay with that, loudly escorting us outside and making it known we were to stay there.

After walking quite a few blocks in search of a Starbucks, (and instead finding little more than a pack of stray dogs and a mess of homeless people) we finally turned around and found an open coffee shop in the square and relaxed with some coffee and pastries until the time to catch our bus came. The bus took us to a medium sized cruise ship complete with 3 different levels. An open air deck on top, a lounge area with tables and chairs in the middle and a restaurant type area on the bottom with booths and windows. We tried all the levels but finally decided on the lowest one, all sprawling out across a few tables to take in the scenery, read and play card games until our boat finally arrived.

About an hour later we reached the first island of Poros. This island was quite small, though the scenery was fantastic. Scattered with a mess of quaint little shops, coffee shops and fruit stands. We got 50 minutes to explore so I took advantage of all of it, sneaking into little side streets and enclaves to snap pictures. There wasn't really much to the island of Poros. Mostly just tiny shops, lots of little cars and motorcycles. There was a tiny Orthodox Church full of intricate pictures and designs which we all explored. An hour was almost too long though, as the scenery was really all there was to see on this island, and when our hour was up we gladly reboarded the boat excited for our next island adventure.

Once on the boat, we were invited to learn some Greek Dances. My aunt and I were among the first volunteers (or victims) to try out the dances. The steps werent incredebly difficult, but holding the people next to you and syncing your steps with theirs was harder. As was keeping from getting dizzy while running around in a chaotic circle. Just learning the dances and music was fun though, certainly a memory I'll bring home with me. Plus, the skill may come in handy while trying to find a Greek God.

The next island, Hydra, was by far my favorite. Not only did it have the most promising Greek Gods, but it also boasted gorgeous scenery and was crawling with adorable cats, they were literally EVERYWHERE. Another cool thing about Hydra is there were no cars, the only mode of transportation were donkeys they used to haul tourists up to the top of the hill. The serenity of no automobiles was surreal and really added to the experience of the island. The Greek God situation was decent, there were quite a few attractive young men sitting around at the coffee shop right by the port, probably scouting out all the foreign girls as boats were frequently unloading mobs of tourists onto Hydra. But while the island wasn't exactly dripping with Greek Gods, it was dripping with Donkeys. You couldn't walk 2 feet without some old man asking you to take his Donkey to the top of the hill. I declined them all with a firm "Ohi" and chose to continue exploring on my own, without the livestock. Alongside mass amounts of cats, we also managed to find a bakery and tide over our late afternoon hunger (after all the Greeks don't eat lunch until after 2) and walk around side streets mulling through all the spectacular scenery and climbing through ancient fortresses. When our 1 1/2 hours of exploration were over, it almost felt like it wasn't enough. But we re boarded the boat anyways, hoping the next island would bring just as much fun.

When we got back on the boat lunch was waiting for us. They served us salad with a mustard based dressing and traditional Greek Moussaka (cold Moussaka) Dessert was some kind of lemon cake. I must admit, I was in a fowl mood at lunch, a combination of being exhausted, hungry and anxious pending the departure of my Mom and Brother the following day. I fell asleep right after lunch and by the time I woke up my mood was much improved just in time to explore the final island of Aegina.

I don't know if it was the cold, cloudy weather, or the fact that the last island had been so amazing, but Aegina did not impress me. It was bigger and louder than Poros and Hydra and offered nothing spectacular. Its crowning glory apparently was a pistacio farm that none of us wanted to pay 25 euro to tour, so we opted instead to walk the island passibg little more than coffeeshop after coffeeshop and a few fruit and pistacio stands. I did walk around to the Orthodox church, which, while larger, didn't offer a much more interesting interior than the one on Poros had. In the end I bought some pistacios and a chocolate bar and even though there was nearly an hour left for exploration I couldn't find anything more I'd want to explore. I had a good book and warm, dry weather waiting for me on the ship, so we reboarded and as lame as it is, spent an hour entertaining ourselves more than the island of Aegina had.

So all in all, I enjoyed Greek Island hopping. It gave me an escape from the fast paced urban lifestyle of Athens as well as a preview to what a summer of Greek God searching/Island hopping would entail. While the selection of Gods on the islands weren't necesarily any more promising, the island lifestyle was much more my cup of tea. I now have to learn, "What island is your summer home on?" in Greek

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