At 4:45 am this morning, my first alarm starting blaring. It was the indicator that I needed to roll out of bed to get ready for the 5:40 am taxis that'd be waiting outside our apartments to drive us (9 other classmates and I) to Piraeus, the port city in Athens. From Piraeus, we were taking a Hellenic Seaways ferry to the Greek island of Aegina for a day trip.
Amazingly enough, all 10 of us made it downstairs at 5:30 am to start filing into 3 yellow taxis. The drive to Piraeus was...interesting, especially given the time of day. It was still dark, and bars/clubs were just closing down from the night before. We passed a minimum of 20 strip clubs on the main drag of road near the port city. This exemplified that a lingering influence from ancient times still exists in this area; Piraeus used to be a major hub for prostitution in Greece thousands of years ago. I wrote a term paper on this precise subject last fall, so I was particularly intrigued to discover first hand that this phenomenon is still very much alive - in its own modern, more regulated way, of course. We actually arrived at the port 30 minutes before the ticket windows opened, so we wandered across the street to a little bakery that was (thankfully!) open. I desperately needed coffee - and soon found out I also needed this enormous chocolate-glazed donut. A double espresso and a boatload (get it? har har) of carbs never tasted so good. At 6:40 am, we finally bought our tickets for the 7:00 am ferry to Aegina. We wanted to catch the first one of the day since we were only staying on the island until the last ferry departed back for Athens (4:00 pm). No one missed the boat. And no one got sick, either. We also got the amazing pleasure of seeing a gorgeous sunrise over the Saronic Gulf. I honestly can't remember the last time I even saw a sunrise, so this experience was quite nice. Once docked in Aegina, we wandered to a little beach to bide some time before all the archaeological sites and museums opened. We all took some great photos in the perfect natural light of early morning, climbed on the rocks, skipped stones, and collected shells. We continued walking around the coastline until we came upon a road that led to pistachio groves. Aegina loves its pistachios; at street vendors and shops across the island, people sell raw and roasted pistachios, pistachio pesto, pistachio gelato, pistachio honey (which I bought), and sweet pistachio spread, among other goodies. Fun fact: Aegina is the second largest of the Greek islands and is known for being the country's largest cultivator of pistachios. Mmm. Eventually, after stopping at a little bakery and getting a cheese pie (which made me feel like Alice in Angelina Ballerina), we made our way to the archaeological site of Kolona. After a bit of walking through the small museum attached to the site and exploring the limited grounds, we all laid down on the ancient ruins for brief naps in the sun. Let me tell you: the sunlight in Aegina is divine. It was hard to get up every time I did this (it happened later as well). I actually got a bit of a tan while on the island from this. When we were finished at Kolona, we each bought bus tickets up to the Temple of Aphaia. Thanks to the painfully early start to our day, almost all of us passed out on the bus ride there. At the top of the mountain, a single Doric structure awaits. No offense to history, but this site wasn't too exciting. The temple is the only attraction in the area, and the buses only run every 2 hours. So....we all found ancient rocks and slept in the sun again. Sunbathing is always a good way to pass the time, right? After Aphaia, we had about an hour until we needed to catch the ferry. We stopped at a small restaurant right by the dock to grab some food, where I ordered spinach and feta-filled ravioli with pistachio pesto. So tasty. Immediately once I got onto our boat (called the Flying Dolphin XXIX), I shut my eyes and took a brief nap yet again. This long, fun-filled day wore me out. Back in my apartment, I found a little surprise that came with my from the island: 2 little hermit crabs were living in some of the shells I'd collected at the beach! I named them Sheldon and Permit Drab (after the hermit crab in Does Anyone Know Where a Hermit Crab Goes?), respectively. They're currently living in a little glass of water in my kitchen. 'Til next time, Hannah
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Hannah BisbingStudent @ Penn State. Figure skater. Writer. Traveler. Coffee fanatic. Foodie. Semi-professional people watcher who recently returned home from backpacking around Europe. All photos taken by me, unless otherwise noted.
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