Sunday

Another beautiful sunny day so we decided to hire a car to visit the island and search out the treasures such as the Temple of Aphaia which we did before lunch.  Having the car allowed us to visit Agia Marina which is the bay you can see from the Temple several hundreds of feet below on the east coast of the island where we had lunch.  The ferry boats from Athens come and tie up with the visitors they bring for the day to enjoy the beach.  The beach is full of sun beds and umbrellas which appeared very unused due to the lack of people.  Not a good sign now the holiday period has started with the schools being closed until September.

When we stopped for coffee in a small bay on the north coast there were old vases in the water which was a surprise in a busy little harbour with fishing boats.

We had a lovely lunch of small fishes, Greek salad, Greek sausage and beans and a dish of tzatziki which we all enjoyed washed down with wine and beers.

The road map we had been given showed the road from Agia Marina did not continue over the mountains and along the coast.  We checked with the waitress and she said we could find the road if we didn’t mind going over the mountains.  We discovered wonderful views with houses perched high on the mountains miles from anywhere.  There were several small fishing harbours which were not very big or deep around the coast which we couldn’t get to ourselves. Great if you had a rib for weekends to discover these little coves. The road had a few pot holes but our little rental car managed to get up and down the continuous mountain roads. The views were wonderful as we travelled south to Perlika where we hoped to swim.  The wind had come up quickly and although the sun was wonderful the wind was blowing straight along this bit of coastline and the sea was rough.  We travelled back to Aigina town and out to Kypseli on the north coast and swam in a lovely little cove where the water was like glass except for the odd big ferry or power boat on its way back to Athens after the weekend.

To finish off the day we went out to dinner in Aigina town choosing a small restaurant in the back streets.  The food was good and the service excellent.

Everyone tells us that Aigina is like the suburb of Athens.  The amount of ferries which start arriving on Friday evening bringing people who stroll through the town with their suitcases on wheels made us realise how many people have holiday homes away from Athens.  On Sunday evening the crowds are rushing towards the ferries.  Sometimes there are three huge ferries all lined up at once with the Flying Dolphin the other side of the quay coming and going.  By Monday morning it is all very quiet again.  The spaces on the quay have increased again for anyone to reverse into easily.