Happiness and Hairpin Turns

It was a great weekend. Friday evening as the clouds filled with sand and rain covered Athens, my friends and I tried out an Italian restaurant in my neighborhood. (I saw clouds filled with sand because the Sahara Desert was having a sandstorm and we were getting the effects of it - cool, eh?)

Saturday morning, Dwain, Miah, Kate and I met on the metro and it took it down to Pireaus the port. We boarded a 10 ferry to Aegina - which is the closest island to Athens on the west coast. The ferry ride is about an hour long. It was a beautiful day sunny with a few clouds. (So from my house to the island it takes about 2 hours).

We walked around the harbour front and decided to eat at a taverna near the fish market (as we read this had the best fish). I had galio - some white fish and others had calamari and grilled octopus. Good meal, nice view and good company.

We had heard the beach on the other side of the island was good. We had missed the bus which only comes around every two hours so we hopped into a taxi for a 12 Euro ride to the other side. We found Marina Beach and the desolate area in which it was located. We were having a hard time imagining this place spruced up and active during high season. It was quite charmless and deserted. However with the sun still shining brightly we all took a little nap on the beach. We lasted for about an hour and then it was getting darker and cooler.

So how were we going to get back to the port? Good question.... as we walked along the deserted street we did find the bus schedule - it was 3:30 and the bus was coming until 4:20 - so we found one open restaurant and did what Greeks do best - had a cup of coffee! At this point we had already missed our 4pm ferry back to Athens so were aiming for the 5 - 6:30 was the last ferry. Surprisingly, the bus did show up at 4:20 where we hopped on. The constant speed up and then brake and the hairpin turns were wearing on us as the time was now 4:48 and the ferry was leaving at 5. And of course where the bus dropped us off was down the block from the ever-so-long pier we had to run along to catch the ferry. I have to say Miah was doing quite well for being 6 months pregnant! By the hair of our chinnie, chin, chins did we make that ferry!

We all had a good night's sleep from all that fresh air and sun! As Sunday unfolded, I was happy I had today to relax, do laundry, do a lot of research on the computer and watch the rain fall.