Aegina

7/15/2009

After a quick breakfast, and throwing all of the island necessities together, I headed to the ferry terminal with Jon, Athena, Amanda and Kara.  We were going to meet Sara, David and Katie there.  It was a brisk walk to the terminal, as we didn’t want to be late, and then we purchased our tickets and boarded the ferry.  We went up to the top deck, and settled in for the hour plus ride.  I slept for most of it.  The sun was shining and it was nice and warm.  Upon arrival at Aegina, we arranged our return tickets, and then went off to explore.
First, we stopped at a beach that was visible from the ferry, and maybe a five minute walk away.  The water was some of the clearest water I have ever seen.  Jon and I were the only two that went swimming, while everyone else just waded near the beach.  We ran in to one of the professors on the ship and his family, and he showed us a map and explained what some possible activities for the day would be.  He also told us that there was a much nicer beach about 10 minutes away.  Following his advice, we packed up.  Sara, David and Katie went to find food, and the rest of us went to Apollo’s Temple, where we first walked through a museum of artifacts, and then to the lone pillar still standing.  It was different from all of the other ruins, because it was possible to walk right up and touch it.  That is exactly what we did too!  We took several pictures and from the temple, we could see the beach we wanted to go to.
We wondered down to scope it out, and all of us decided to go swimming.  The water was the perfect temperature to be refreshing without being cold, and was crystal clear.  It was so relaxing just to float.  When we did finally start to cool down, we decided to get out and dry off for lunch.  It did not take long to dry, as the sun was pretty sweltering.  We gathered up our towels and bags, and headed into town.  There were several restaurants that looked good, and we settled on one with outdoor seating under a shady umbrella.  I ordered watermelon, because I was not that hungry yet, and it was some of the best watermelon I have ever had.  When we were looking over the menu, I had been skeptical, but then I saw a heaping plate of watermelon come out to another table, and that solidified my decision.
In Greece, even while sitting at an established restaurant, street vendors and gypsies approach you during your meal.  We had a guy come up and try to sell us watches, another with sunglasses, and then a man playing the accordion whose daughter (that could not have been over 10 years old) came up and stood right by our table with a little plastic cup and pleading eyes.  It was definitely a new experience for me.  Once we had taken our time eating, we decided to wonder through some of the little shops.  Most of them had pretty similar stuff, and so our shopping escapade did not last long.  We headed back to the beach.  After another swimming session, and then just spending time in the shallow water soaking, we all got out to dry.  We laid on the beach, and then dispersed to little patches of shade where the others read or wrote in journals, and I wrote some post cards to send home.
Around 6pm, we left the beach to walk back to the ferry stop, and make sure we had enough time for ice cream.  We made it back on our ferry, where we sat outside for the ride back.  I was much more awake this time around, and got to enjoy the beautiful views of islands and the sea.  We made it back to our ship in one piece, and after a shower and a little down time, Kara, Amanda, Athena and I set back out to find a late dinner.  I went along just because it was such a nice night, I had already eaten dinner and wasn’t’ hungry.  The restaurant we found was very quaint, and we sat outside and looked over the menu.  While we were looking at the menu, a man walked over and said “MV Explorer?”  We all nodded, and he introduced himself as one of the guys that helped to build our ship and its sister ship the Voyager.  He said he built the Jade Spa, and we all commented on how nice it was.  He told us we had found the best restaurant in the city for fish, and asked why we hadn’t ordered any.  (There had been some misunderstandings, and some of the food we ended up with was not expected at all).  Kara and Athena asked his advice on how to order the fish, and he tried to explain, then he went back to sit down.  A few minutes later, he came back and said “I ordered a fish for each of you” in a very proud way, and we thanked him before he left again.  Sure enough, a few minutes later a platter shows up at our table with four fish on it.  Athena and Kara each had two, Amanda and I opted out and offered ours to them.  We thanked the builder of the MV again, and then walked back to the ship for bed.  It is amazing how draining a day on an island can be.