Thursday, June 24--Aegina

Our last island of the boat tour--so sad it is coming to an end. This Saronic island is also just a day-trip away from Athens. Aegina is also treed with pines and pistachio orchards and was--thankfully-- cloudy on the day we arrived because we walked up a long hill to a monastery and to the Temple of Aphaia.There were beautiful flowers in some gardens along the way...note the incline of the street here.

Here is a view of the harbor with the Galileo prominently in view.

We could not take pictures in the monstery itself, Agios Minas. This is a small chapel just at the entrance.I found the monasteries to be incredibly serene (at least to the casual visitor) as well as beautiful--often well-tended gardens outside and the ornately painted interiors of the churches.

Dating from 480 BC, the Temple of Aphaia is one of the best preserved examples of Doric architecture, and is built on the site of much older ritual celebrations--possibly 2000-3000 BC.

We then wandered down the hill to have lunch in town with friends Steve and Nancy.  Lunch was accompanied by some accomplished beggars.

The four of us wandered around town and did a little shopping. Here's a picture of one of the many waterfront cafes in Aegina.

We  then reboarded for the short return trip to Zea, Piraeus to spend our last night on board.

We went into town for a wonderful dinner with our whole group and then headed to the Dora Stratou theatre for the folk dances. After several attempts interrupted by rain, they gave us rain checks and we took the bus back to the boat. If you want to see all the pictures from our cruise through the Cyclades, the photo folder is here.