Greece! Part 6. Last Day in Athens!

Friday was our last day in Athens before boarding the Sun Princess.

It was a low-key morning, when we spent doing laundry and starting our packing before getting one more delicious Greek lunch, another museum, and one last temple. 

Lunch in Monastiraki Square. We chose our favorites: dolmadakia, Greek salad, and feta encased in phyllo dough and fried, served with honey and sesame seeds. My oh my

Bellies full, we found our way to the Museum of Modern Greek Culture, where we toured several buildings in a little neighborhood, each building showcasing a different aspect of modern (roughly the 19th-21st centuries) Greek culture.

A few photos.

And then. And THEN! A sunset tour to the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion at sunset. 

A bus took us and a bunch of others up to the top of a cliff, where the ancient Greeks had built a temple to the God of the Sea, Poseidon. 

Sorry not sorry for lots of photos.

First glimpse of the beautiful temple

The guide mentioned that Lord Byron loved Greece and Cape Sounion in particular, and he would visit often to watch the sunset. He carved his name in a pillar here, too. She gave the general area to look for it, but I used Google's help to find it.

When you visit, you can find it on this piece of stone:

Byron was an important figure in Greece's fight for Independence. See an explanation here, along with his poem "The Isles of Greece," in which he mentions the cape.

Can you see the airplane? It's at 1:00 from the sun.

Maybe it was this one?

We got back to Athens quite late, and instead of heading straight to our hotel, Trish had the great idea to find a rooftop bar for one last view of the Acropolis.

We were there!

Greece! Part 5. Out of Athens: Aegina

We took a ferry to the nearby island of Aegina. 

What a (literal) breath of fresh air. No traffic, no fumes, and fewer motorcycles threatening to mow you over; Aegina is a sleepy little island, with plenty of people watching, wandering, and a temple to boot. 

Ready to board the fast ferry

First thing's first: a seaside breakfast. A yummy Greek yogurt bowl with allll the toppings, including local pistachios, which are produced on the island. 

The shallow channel along the sea held some fishies, see below.

After breakfast, we waded in the water for a few minutes and then caught a taxi to The Temple of Aphaia, another beautiful temple. 

This one, along with the Parthenon and the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion, form an isosceles triangle. You know the Greeks; they loved their mathy stuff. 

There are many such triangles in Ancient Greece; another isosceles triangle binds the Parthenon and the Temple of Aphaia with the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, which I shared with you in a previous post.

It's a little bit of a mystery; but the Ancient Greeks must've had some pretty sophisticated measuring capabilities, as they were accurate even over the sea.

Here are pictures from our day on Aegina.

The opening at the top to the cistern

The cistern

The view from the temple

I can't help it. More photos means it is seared into memory better, right?

We walked through the cute town, did some shopping, and ate lunch.

Our delicious lunch at Ouzeri o Skotadis was topped off by pistachio baklava and ice cream! Oh my!

We had time in the afternoon for more shopping and people watching, then we took the ferry back to town. Aegina is a lovely spot for a day trip! You should go!