Not Quite Gilligan's Island

Far from sunny but not quite rotten, it rained all day which only compounded the travel issues of the day. I knew ahead of time there would be construction on the metro a few stops from Piraeus (the port city W of Athens where most ferries, boats and trains depart) and that I would need to take a bus to a spot further down the metro line. Frances, who I met at the hostel a few days earlier, had informed me of all this when she made the trip to Hydra with her Dad. The only thing I didn't know was that the X13 bus that kept circling past the spot where I was waiting for the bus went to where I needed to go. I ended up waiting a good 20 minutes for a bus I knew was headed in the right direction. Unfortunately I got off at the next metro stop only to find that there was still construction going on. Assuming I'd need to wait another 20 minutes for a bus, I learned from the next X13 bus driver that he was heading to Piraeus.

I finally made it to the metro stop where I was supposed to be to go one more stop into the town. Once in Piraeus I had to ask around for where the Hellenic Seaways Co. was so I could pick up my tickets. A guy directed me to a large building at Gate 7 with their name on it, but it was closed--being Sunday and all. I asked at a nearby ferry company where I should go and they said there would be a kiosk at Gate 8 on the docks. With tickets procured and a good 45 minutes before the boat left, I walked across the street for a cappuccino.
The ferry ride to Aegina Island was nice and smooth. When I got off the rain was just barely falling, but warranted an umbrella. I walked down to the nearby sight of a temple to Apollo and a very old city which had been built over multiple times throughout history. I was debating whether or not to take the bus across the island to see the Temple of Aphaia or to just wander around town for the next 3 hours in the drizzle and cold. I grabbed some lunch from a cafe which was delightfully warm and tasty. It was a pastry dough shell with ham, cheese and a thin spread of spaghetti sauce inside. When I returned to the bus kiosk, no one was there. I opted to just wander town and see some of the streets and shops. Most things were closed, but the architecture was nice. I'm sure in summer this is a sunny, bustling island. I dropped into a church and enjoyed the fresco icons painted all over the walls and ceilings. It was warm, smoke free and quiet inside.

Along the waterfront are numerous stands with pistachios for sale. Aegina Island is considered to have the best pistachios in Greece. Having had enough of the rain, I boarded my ferry back to Piraeus at 5:30pm. It was on this return trip that I discovered I had been using the men's bathroom both times on the boat. The pictures are so small and very hard to see on a moving boat. At least now I know why the guy was staring at me when I walked in on the boat ride over.

I meandered back to the metro, got my ticket and headed toward the metro car. People were making quite a commotion in Greek and it seemed like there wasn't going to be any metro from this station. Rather disappointed I inquired at the ticket booth how else I could get back to Athens. A bus runs from Piraeus to Syntagma Square in Athens, but the stop was about 10 minutes from the docks. The lady informed me which bus to take to get to the right stop to transfer back to Athens.

I missed the bus just as I was about to cross the street. After about 20 minutes another one failed to show up. I started walking and passed two of the three stops to the transfer point. Somehow after this I got horribly lost. None of the street names matched anything in my book (which I thankfully remembered to take!) but I did recognize that I was by the small marina. I happened across a street listed in my book and discovered I was a good 10-15 blocks from where I needed to be. Fortunately I found the bus stop I needed and in another half hour I was back in Athens only a short walk from the hostel.

What a long day! I still had to do laundry, pack up and figure out how to get to Korinthos the next day after checking out. Laundry went fairly smooth and I was able to wash just about everything with me for a pricey E5. I opted to skip the E2 dryer and hang things up in my room. Hopefully tomorrow's travels will be smoother.