Little Sister Adventures

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!

Trish and I grabbed tickets for a hop on/hop off bus on Tuesday to explore Athens. The ticket was good for two days and covered three routes, so we did them all.

The first day, we explored the ancient agora (which included an ancient temple and a museum), the modern agora (which included a lot of shopping), Syntagma Square (which included the changing of the very stern guards in ceremonial dress at the tomb of the unknown soldier).

We walked 7.25 miles on the first day of this "bus tour."

It was a great day! Here are photos.

First, a little morning visit to the rooftop of our hotel, the Ermass.

Dunno what the smoke was; I'm guessing garbage?

First stop: Monastiraki Square, including Hadrian's Library.

The Temple of Hephaestus (449 BC). Hephaestus was the god of blacksmiths. He helped birth Athena by knocking Zeus's head open and letting her come out, fully grown and fully armored.

His temple is pretty!

The Ancient Agora and its museum. Aristotle wandered the agora and talked to the citizens.

Here stood the mint.

This baby was buried in the pithos below, 750-725 BC.

A young girl's grave. She was buried with bracelets, rings, and those jars

An early ballot system!

Ostraka prepared by citizens with the name of Themistocles. They thusly ostracized him. 482 BC

The "Prison of Socrates," but it's questionable if it really was.

Finally, the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier at the Parliament Building. Later, I'll make a video compilation, which will include the ceremonial movements that these fellas do.