Aegina Island

My feelings of wanderlust made my feet itchy to travel and explore the world. I want to make memories at destinations I was unaware of. So last July my heart took me to Athens, 'The City of Gods' as we all know it. There's this picturesque beauty about Athens that got me attached to it day after day. I won't start talking about sightseeing or about the warm feeling among the locals and how friendly and interesting they're and how I loved how Greeks would live a night like it wewe their last night but I'm going to talk about the personal experience that affected me the most.

So here we are at Piraeus Port, after suddenly deciding we're going on a trip to Aegina. There's nothing easier than getting around in Athens. We lived in Glyfada so we hopped on to the bus (A1) which took us straight to the port. It was about 1 hour away form Glyfada and although I hate long rides I enjoyed this one. I couldn't get enough of looking at the beaches along my right side and the beautifully built buildings along my left side. Finally, at the port there was the ship 'AΓIOΣ NEKTAPIOΣ' (ps: I spelt the name just right the woman high told me). It was a roundtrip just 13 euros per person so it was a hell of an offer!

Welcome To Aegina! , to one of the most beautiful places I've seen and with the perfect atmosphere to live in. I don't want to forget to mention the weather. It wasn't too hot but just the ideal weather for a day at the beach. I could just feel the the sun's warmth soaking into my skin walking down the streets of Aegina. Aegina is quite simple Island, you will find they still keep their traditional means of transport for tourists 'The horse carriages of Aegina' to take a ride all around town and the suburbs. Also, many people use bikes to get around and there are less cars so it's not a traffic jammed Island although it's small.

If you walk to the right side of the port along the harbour you'll come to this point, where you will be able to see the Yachts. Most of them are foreigners who rent Yachts to sail around the Aegean sea visiting the mmajority of the destinations in Greece. Morever, about 500m away from this point there's the spectacular Panagista Church dedicated to the Virgin Mary and built in 1673 using "pouri" the soft local stone.

After walking for about 5 mins back along the harbour we decided to get lunch at 'σωσωvn', and let me tell you I have no idea how to pronounce that! The man who owned the restaurant was very friendly and welcoming who turned out to be an Egyptian who had been living in Aegina for 15 years! The food at the restaurant was extremly delicious and the dessert too. We also got to meet a half greek/half egyptian civil engineer and it was very pleasant to get to know him. At the end the owner gave us directions to Avra beach five minutes walk to the left of Aegina port.

Finally, we got to the beach, the moment I was so much waiting for along the whole trip. The Entrance to the Avra beach was free but you pay 6 euros for a sunbed and an umbrella. I ran with my dad and sister to get in to the water but before that I took a minute to cherish the warmth of the sand filling in the gaps of my toes, the cold water running up on the sand and the cool breeze that swept my hair while rays of the sun gleaming down on me. Smelling the scent of the water, watching the kids as their splashes and laughters fill in the beach.