This post is not titled Hydra because the ferry to Hydra was sold out! After a momentary panic at the pier – our hotel assured us that it wouldn’t be an issue to get a ticket the day-of – we re-grouped and decided to catch a ferry to Aegina, another island nearby. Turns out this island is much closer but offers pretty similar attractions so neither of us were all that disappointed. We walked onto the ferry with two minutes to spare and headed out to sea.
Pulling out of Piraeus, the harbor in Athens…
…and into the port at Aegina an hour later.
The harbor in Aegina was very charming – there were rows and rows of boats bobbing in the water and numerous cafés lining the coast. We decided to grab a quick breakfast at Nisos, one of the busier places we saw. The coffees were good but the standout was Sarah’s order of Strapatsada, a mixture of eggs, tomatoes and sausage…I definitely had order-envy. After we ate, we walked around the harbor for an hour or so to take in the views.
Really nice day to be by the water!
Looking out past the harbor to the Aegean.
Once we’d watched a few fishermen pack up their boats and set sail, we headed inland a few blocks to see the rest of the town. We didn’t have much company as we strolled around the streets but that was fine with us!
The church we saw from our ferry when pulling into port. It was decorated with these flags for Easter.
All of the houses were painted bright colors but I think this one was Sarah’s favorite.
Walking back towards the water.
The main attraction on Aegina is the Temple of Aphaia, an isolated temple on the top of a hill dedicated to the goddess Aphaia. Interestingly, this is the only temple where the ancient Greeks worshiped her - seriously nowhere else.
The temple is about seven kilometers from port, all uphill; we decided it would be a better idea to take a cab rather than try to get there under our own power on a rental bike. This was definitely the right choice - not that we couldn’t have made it, but we would’ve been exhausted by the time we got to the top of the hill!
The Temple of Aphaia.
It was hard to capture both the views down to the water and the temple in a photograph – but once I stood on some rocks I was able to get a better perspective for this shot.
One more of the temple.
After we’d seen the temple we took our cab back down to the port to get some lunch. Greek salad and gyros again? Yes, please. We ate at a very leisurely pace, taking in the views of the harbor as the boats came and went. Before long though, it was time to get back on the ferry to Athens. We could’ve taken a later one, but we wanted to be back to see the sunset at the Acropolis rather than at Aegina.
Before boarding the ferry we had to stop to check out this beautiful little church in the harbor.
Our destination for the rest of the evening was A is for Athens. We’d seen this rooftop bar from the Acropolis so we thought the views looking up would be good. The service was terrible, it was overcrowded and the drinks were twice what they would’ve cost elsewhere…but it was all worth it for the views!
Fortunately we were able to get a seat on the edge of the roof that faced the Acropolis.
The Temple of Hephaestus was lit up as the sun set over the hills.
Dusk in Athens at the Acropolis – what a sight!
We woke up this morning to another day of perfect weather and figured a lazy stroll around the city would be a great way to spend our last few hours here. We wandered to Liondi for our last meal in Greece – mezzes and chicken souvlaki – before heading to the Temple of Zeus. There isn’t actually that much to see within the grounds of the Temple of Zeus (we kind of got the same experience walking by on Monday) but it was nice to sit around and people-watch for a little bit (some tourists take the most ridiculous photos!).
The Temple of Zeus with the Acropolis looming in the background.
We took a different route back to our hotel and stumbled upon the Academy of Athens, which might as well be a tourist attraction in itself.
The Academy of Athens.
We have a flight to Budapest tonight – on Ryanair, our first experience on this cheap but notoriously lousy airline – and are looking forward to exploring the city for the next couple days.