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.

Wednesday, June 23--Poros

Heading back north, we had a short swim stop at an island I am still trying to identify --Kythnos maybe? Only strong swimmers were allowed to go in because of the wind and current, so we stayed on board. We docked in Poros town for the night, separated by only the narrow Strait of Poros from the body of the Peloponnese. You can see remains of a small fortress that used to guard the passage.

It was really nice to see trees again and there was a lively waterfront here. This island is close enough to Athens to be a day trip. We walked up the hill to the clock tower.
On the way we passed the library, which was closed of course, but still it was the first one we had seen. I also like this picture because I still have my travel purse and prescription sunglasses which were later stolen---grrr!

Tuesday, June 22--Delos & Mykonos

Two of the most well-known of the Cyclades, Delos is an archaeological site with no permanent residents and must be reached by a chartered launch, usually from Mykonos, although we were picked up from the Galileo, bright and early. There was once a thriving town on this tiny island--estimated at 25,000--where there was a thriving slave market and generally trade made it a wealthy place. The ruins certainly indicate that there was plenty of money here, and many beautiful mosaics remain. It's initial claim to fame was being the birthplace of Apollo and his sister, although the Sacred Lake where they were supposed to have been born was drained in later years and is now just a bright patch of green vegetation in an otherwise sere landscape. Temples were built by those from many of the islands that traded here, in honor of the gods and this is the home of the Naxian lions.
We sailed into Mykonos at about 1:30 for a short 4 hour visit.
 This is certainly a scenic island, if really touristy. The famous windmills are here though they were not in full sail the day we visited.
Little Venice, the area where houses appear to rise right out of and defy the insistent waves, was loaded with picturesque restaurants and shops.
Don't you love the clever enticement to come in and shop for shoes? I looked at an extraordinarily expensive pair of earrings in one of the shops--beautiful to behold but I wouldn't even try them on given that they cost about 4 times my monthly discretionary income! I did find a couple of small watercolor prints on our wanderings and brought those home instead. We motored back to Syros to find safe, wind-sheltered, harbor for the night.