Island Aegina: pack a moped, sun screen, and a bathing suit

We decided to forego a planned trip to Olympia (would have been about 9 hours on a bus), then looked into car rentals and found out that our Canadian driver's licenses are worth a whole lot of nada here; you must have an International license. Susanne has one somewhere in a drawer at home, but did not bring it. So the "let's trade the bus for a car for a day idea" was out the window and when out for a drink last night, it was suggested to us by an Australian guy with a cool accent that a day trip to the nearby Island of Aegina would be a great way to spend a day without much travel in vehicles. We hopped on the metro after our "scrumptuous" free breakfast (one piece of bread with either nutella, jam or happy cow cheese...hmmmm...moooo) and arrived in Piraeus to take the one hour ferry over.

The metro here is amazing. 1 Euro and you can take it anywhere on the three metro lines for 1.5 hours, really affordable. Once we got into Aegina with a population of about 11,000 people (plus tourists, of course), we rented 2 mopeds for Chelsea and Susanne. Steph and Mark opted for an ATV they could share and we set out to explore the Island. What a drive and scenery! Beach after beach alongside the road, tavernas, and nice vacation homes. There is definitely some money on this Island ;-)
We split up for a few hours to give Steph and Mark some time to hang out. We figured that sleeping in a room of 4 with bunk beds and hanging out with us girls 24/7 would maybe tire Mark out after a while....what a guy though, loving this whole "one guy with three ladies" which he seems to get from waiters a lot of restaurants.

It continues to be super hot and sunny. After three weeks in this heat, we seem to not pay attention to temperatures anymore. Likely high 30's or so. Mark got a raccoon burn from his sunglasses (we've all had one at some point, I'm sure) and the rest of us have stripes and tans in all kinds of different shades and colors from various tank tops, bathings suits and straps. Chelsea called my tan on my legs "looks like Neopolitan icecream" today. Darker on the bottom, a bit reddish higher up from the moped ride when the shorts ride up a bit (usually nice white shorts tan from the build...yes, excellent!) and then definitely whiter at the top where bathing suits are now trying to catch up with areas that did not see the sun for a few weeks during the build. Just a treat to see from far away, very sexy ;-)

Got home at around 9 pm and packed for a few nights on the other Islands. Are flying into Santorini at 5:30 a.m. tomorrow morning and staying there for three nights, then one night in Mykonos before coming back to Athens.

We have now been on this journey for three weeks, one week to go. I think we have the conversation every day that we just cannot believe how much we have been able to see and experience. Every single day brings something new which is in its own unique way so memorable.

To buzz along open roads on a little moped in flip flops and pull over whenever a beach looks kind of fun, to then walk into the water which is clear, often turquoise and warm like bathtub water....definitely a memory I will cherish ;-)

One little note: tomorrow, August 2nd, is Steph and Mark's first wedding anniversary, they were married August 2nd of 2008. Steph and Mark, we all wish you a very special day in the beautiful and romantic Santorini (yes, they have their own room for that night!) and wishing you many, many more years of happiness, health and lots of laughs.