This was to be our last day in Athens (well, sort of-the plane left the next day), and wasn’t it spectacular!

One day cruises

Some ruins on one of the islands

Isn’t that just stunning?

The one day cruise we were embarking on took us to the islands of [Hail] Hydra, Póros and Aegina, and it was rather relaxing as you sat out on the miniscule deck with the smell of cheap smoke wafting through the air, looking out at all the fabulous little islands surrounding Athens’ coast.

Hydra

The first island, Hydra, was a heavily sloped, sleepy little town where the population of cats seemed to outnumber that of humans, with the sun-baked orange rooftops and rolling hills in the distance. After fifteen minutes of obsolete trudging through the slanted pathways and rough-cut stone steps and getting totally bewildered in this maze of alleyways, we returned downwards-that was the significant direction I guess-and eventually, through some side streets past a forlorn-looking half-starved horse, we reached the dock once more, ate a satisfying lunch provided by the ship on board, and sailed to Póros, the second island on this one day cruise.

Side view of the small town

Lunch!

Mirror reflection.

Póros was probably the dullest of the three islands-with nothing except an abandoned high street and a desecrated WWII outpost, now converted into some form of overgrown greenhouse. Hardly anyone was about, and we couldn’t stroll off too far or we’d never get back in time, so that was quite a disappointment.

Maybe there wasn’t much on Póros, but there’s definitely a view!

And this…the light actually brings the photo to life, in the end.

#NotaSelfie #IHaveaLife #IHaveFriends

A beautiful flower surrounding the ruins.

Mmm, pistachio ice cream!

The Temple of Aphaia

Finally, we arrived at Aegina as the last of our destinations before returning to Athens. A quick coach journey through beautiful vineyards and untouched led us to the Temple of Aphaia, a construct even older than the Parthenon and the Temple of Poseidon! As we walked through ancient history to a fabulous golden-pink sunset on the horizon (and ice cream), I couldn’t help but take some pictures of our last day in Athens.

News and Announcements

So, finally we’re done with the Athens trip! I’m going to be posting lots of photos from the last year. Hope you enjoy!

~MW