Isle Be Back 6/9/09

Ok. That was corny. But I'm having a lot of trouble coming up with titles for these posts!

We ate the included breakfast at the hostel this morning, which consisted of cakes, jams, cereal, nutella, and eggs. Two comments: 1) it was a weird combination, but really high in energy. 2) I've noticed that the hard boiled eggs in every country we've visited have been different. The major difference is in the yolks, which have ranged in color from orange to pale yellow. I wonder if it has to do with what you feed the chicken.

After eating, we walked up the street to rent an ATV. We wanted to explore the island, and we didn't want to take a bus or taxi back to the port (we found out that you can pick up ATVs on one side of the island and return them on the other).



I actually haven't driven one since I was 12, but it was pretty easy to pick up - just gas and brake. We dropped by the hostel one last time to pick up our bags, check out, and say bye to John and Maria, the hostel managers. Yesterday, John said something interesting to us - we've gotten to be pretty cool with each other, and while we were talking, he said "I can tell you guys are good people because of something in your faces." As we were checking out, I read a 2 Corinthians 3:18 to him: "But we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit." We told him that it's not us, but that we've been enjoying the Lord for the past two weeks. He nodded in understanding, and we exchanged contact information with him and Maria. I want to stay in touch. I like knowing people all over the world.

Before we took off on the ATV, Maria ran to a neighbor's store and bought us big shells from the island to remember them by. It was pretty sweet. We took a group picture together, did the Greek two cheek kiss thing, and then sped away.



For the next 4 hours, we drove through the island



and then around the coast, stopping at nice beaches to swim or climb on rocks. It was pretty awesome.













The best place we went to was on the northwest corner of Aegina - the water was warm and as transparent as glass, the sand was white and soft, and there were no waves (the other islands block big waves from hitting Aegina). It was a huge aquamarine swimming pool, and when you opened your eyes under water you could see out for miles. That's how clean it was. I have a new beach standard - Hawaii, you've been demoted.



We got to Aegina Marina at 2 PM to return the ATV, and then went to a small restaurant to eat. Guess what we ate? Gyros! I think we've eaten 10 during our stay in Greece, and I can tell you that I probably won't eat them for a while when I go back home. It was a pretty good deal, though. Two gyros and a soda for 6 euros.

At 3:30 PM we got on the ferry back to Piraeus, and watched a guy feeding seagulls all the way back. It was pretty cool. He would toss bits of bread up, and the seagulls would keep up with the ferry (which was going at a pretty good pace), catching the bread out of the air.



I should have put on more sunblock because I was wearing a tank and got pretty sunburned on my shoulders. Oh well. I'm pretty tan now :)

After we got to Piraeus, we metroed and walked back to the Reddy's flat for a quick shower (we were still salty from swimming in the sea), and then headed back out to get some packaged desserts and candy to take back (it was too hard to find any souveniers worth buying - everything was so cheap and fragile, and I didn't want to stuff it in my backpack). The foil wrapped baklavas were supposed to be decent, so I got a bag to bring home. I hope they make it back ok.

When we went back to the Reddy's, we helped them bring some old furniture down to the street (they had just recently moved). What's interesting here is that there aren't any thrift stores so people just leave their old things - furniture, clothes, etc... - in the street for other people to take (from what I heard, Albanians make up the bulk of the lower class here).

It was pretty funny because we brought a table down, and when we went up to bring the sideboard down, the table was already gone. Someone must have been watching us from their window or something. They left the sideboard until we came back down with the drawers.

Michael made us some bomb nachos for dinner, but I could only eat a little bit because of the cheese. We talked about things we could pray for for the saints in Athens and the political situation here. It was pretty chill, just eating and talking. At one point, David put a piece of melon on Sophia's plate, which she, apparently, didn't like. Her reaction was pretty hilarious. She didn't cry, but just got this sad expression on her face, walked over to her dad, and sat on his lap with her head buried in his chest. We eventually figured out what was wrong, so David took the melon off and everything was ok.

Aliki and Thomas came home from visiting her father in Gizi, and we chatted and took a family picture before Aliki put Thomas and Sophia to bed. Then, Aliki gave us a bag of Greek pistachios to take home. They're the national nut here, and taste different than the ones in the states - they're not as dense, and have a pretty distinct flavor when roasted.

Michael and Aliki just went to bed, and we're getting ready to fly home tomorrow. We have to take the metro to Syntagma Square, then the X95 bus back to Athens International Airport. After a four hour layover in New York, we'll be flying back to SFO where Chris is going to pick us up. I'm sad to leave, but excited to see my graduating friends.

I'm really surprised I kept this journal thing going for the whole trip. Everything happened so quickly, but at least I have a record of the important things. I'll put these notes in my blog when I get back home.

I just realized how crazy it is that I fly back tomorrow, and the next afternoon I'm driving down to socal. Gotta keep going - life's too short!

THINGS I ATE IN EUROPE THAT I WANT TO MAKE WHEN I GO HOME:

*Bread with olive oil and pesto/sundried tomato dip (At Ace's in London)
*Baklava - (Various places in Greece) - success!
*Macarons - (In Paris)
*Seafood - (Various places in Greece)
*Gyros - (Various places in Greece) - I might wait a while before I tackle this one...
*Pasta with olive oil, basil, tomatoes, salt, and pepper (Rome) - success!

Leaving, on a Ferry Boat 6/8/09

We woke up at 6 AM as planned, and then walked to the metro to take the train to Piraeus Port. This is the major port that has ferries to the isles.



After looking around to find a booth that sold ferry tickets (it was still a holiday), we ended up being about half an hour for the early ferry, so we went into a cafe, got some pastries, and chilled at the ferry gate. I got a big donut, which was breadier than the ones in the U.S. David got this donut that looked like a cactus and was covered in syrup. It was one of those things that you eat, but the whole time you're eating it you're like, "why am I still eating this?"



We finally got on the ferry around 9, and went to the upper deck to see the view and get some fresh air. As soon as the boat left the port, it was amazing to see how blue the water got.



Piraeus was understandably dirty, but I've never seen bluer water than the water on the way to Aegina. Also, the ferries here are more like cruises - they have lounges and a bar on the bottom deck. It's pretty nice for how much the tickets are.





It was only an hour to the island, so we took a cat nap and read/soaked in the sun. Once we got to Aegina, we found out that our hostel was on the other side of the island at Aghia Marina, so we took a taxi to get there (the wasn't going to leave for another two hours). I totally crashed on the taxi ride over, but the driver was pretty chill. It ended up being a pretty expensive ride - 14 euros vs. a 2 euro bus ride.

Once we got to Aghia Marina, we circled around for a bit trying to find the hostel. Unlike our Paris experience, though, this was during the daytime and we were on the coast with some spectacular views of the sea. It was actually pretty good because we got a chance to scope out our corner of the island and look at some good places we wanted to eat at.



Arriving at Hotel Rachel, we were happy to discover that it was only a one minute downhill walk to the "best beach on Aegina." I thought the manager, John, was just trying to sell the place, but the beach is pretty nice.

Unfortunately, our room wasn't ready so we left our backpacks behind the desk and went out for our legit seafood lunch. We got a seafood plate for two, which came with Haddock, Dorade (two types of fish), prawns, calamari, and four small fish. It was fresh and oh so good:



About 20 minutes later, it was gone and we were happy:



Too bad they don't have Dorade in the States. That was my favorite thing on the plate.

We walked back and our rooms were ready, so we dropped off our stuff, changed, and went to the beach. We swam for three hours, leaving only because the tide was coming in and clouding up the water. We laid on the sand for a little, buried some water bees, and found some pretty cool shells.



Aghia Marina is nice and peaceful, but we found out that the area is pretty small and consists mostly of tourist shops, grocery stores, hostels, and small restaurants. After swimming, we decided to head back to Aegina Marina the other side of the island to see what was up.

One crazy bus ride in the hills, and we were there. The bus ride was pretty insane (and now we know why it was so cheap) - basically, the buses here drive wrecklessly on narrow, winding two-lane roads on the side of a hill, swerving around curves and going off road if another bus comes by. The bus driver kinda looked like Otto from "The Simpsons," too.

Aegina Marina was just a large scale version of Aghia Marina, but we were craving grilled octopus so we ordered a small order (really good and not rubbery!):



While we were waiting for the octopus, we walked by a man in an alleyway with a kid (looked about four years old) lying inert across his lap. The kid was emaciated, and I felt like death when I saw him. It was even worse that the man looked completely defeated. As we walked passed and kept going, I had this strong feeling that I had to do something so I went into a store and got water for the man and milk for the kid - we were in a touristy area so there wasn't much else. But when we went back, they were gone! I felt sick, but I guess there's nothing I could have really done. I hope they're alright.

After we ate, we took the bus back to Aghia Marina. On the way to the bus we met a fascinating Greek lady named Kataryna, who we recognized because we saw her swimming near us at the beach earlier in the day (we were the furthest people out). She's over 40, but still seems young. She told us she loves to travel, and I think that's why she retained her youth. I really think that traveling = fountain of youth.

Interestingly, while we were talking to her the conversation turned to God (again...this keeps happening), and she talked about how the major religion here is the Greek Orthodox Church. The way she described it sounded pretty similar to Roman Catholocism, and although she said that she didn't follow the Orthodox church she said that sometimes she thought about God. One striking thing she said was that "all people are seeking something." I wish I had my bible on me because I could have shared Ecclesiastes 3:11 with her: "God placed eternity in man's heart."

When we got back to Aghia Marina, we went out to get gyros for dinner (again...this keeps happening). We ate them on the balcony of our room, and talked. It was pretty nice until the people in the room next to us started to smoke off of their balcony, so we went out to go get some drinks and fruit at the grocery store.

A funny thing happened when we came out of the store: Three little girls were playing at the storefront (it was family-owned), and they tried to speak to us in broken English. One pointed at us and said, "Jackie Chan?" to which the other one said "Beautiful Jackie Chans!" after we laughed at the first girl. I guess they never see Asian people out here. I like how the kids aren't shy here. People love kids in Greece, and we've even seen old people on buses get up to give their seats to children. It's really sweet.

Another thing that surprised me is how crazy the work hours are here on the island. It was after 11 when we went to the store, so we asked the owner what time he starts in the morning. "7 AM," he said. The hostel managers, John and Maria, who we've gotten to be good friends with, have similar hours (they own a shop attached to the lobby). Even though they work all day, people here seem happier. I wonder what makes life here different from the States. Maybe it's the lack of traffic or the proximity to nice beaches. Whatever it is, I would love to live here some day.



When we got back to the hostel, it was still nice out so we walked to the beach to watch the moon rise.



It was calm, and eerily peaceful. We watched eddies created by schools of fish, which disturbed the dark water under the moonlight. Then we walked along the coast as the tide rose, putting the island to sleep.

We realized that it was getting late, so we went to the hostel, showered off, and soon I was out like a light. It's pretty weird, but I've gotten some of my best nights of sleep and worst nights of sleep on this trip.

I have to say that it was an awesome day.