Pistachio Beaches

The rest of our Greek week (not in a frat way*) we spent on the island of Aegina. It is pretty darned close to Athens (you can actually see the city from some points on the island), only an hour ferry ride away. We chose it because it was easy to get to, had some beaches, and there was an inexpensive apartment available to rent. It turned out to be a good uninformed decision!

So, first thing, Aegina is a pistachio paradise. Pretty much the entire island is pistachio groves intermingled with olive and lemon trees. We had local nuts every day; and they tasted different of course — lemony and soft and oh so good.

And it’s, you know, Greece, so there are incredibly ancient archaeological sites you can just sidle right up to. This one is a temple dedicated to Aphaia, an agricultural goddess (I think), built around 500 BCE (!).

And, of course, it’s an island, so there’s definitely beaches. Being so early in the season (all the locals kept saying it was cold), we had them pretty much entirely to ourselves!

70 degrees Fahrenheit, lots of shells and critters, water temperature easily tolerated — if we had been able to find sunscreen for sale we might never have left the beaches! As it was, we spent the better part of three days in three different locations (all very different “feels”) getting slightly sunburned and returning home happy.

It was a relief to be in a smaller town for awhile after Athens. And (at least at this point in the season) we feel like we got to see real lives in action, not just a moving postcard. As long as we can make it to the airport without getting pick-pocketed, we’d all say that Greece has been a very successful adventure!

* The girls are constantly describing things “in some way”. Like, “I want that dress but in a purple way,” or “I’ll be that character in our game in a girl way,” or “that guy looks like Daddy but in a hair way.” We think it’s endearing.