The Town

We saw more "angels" on roofs. These angles looked a little different than the angels in Aegina. Later, when we went to the New Acropolis Museum, we saw ancient "angels" that Greeks used to decorate their houses before Christ. These have been around a long time.



A statue by the harbor that honors sailors. The column has a trident with the fish that represents Poseidon entwined on the handle. Greece has influenced the entire world. This same type of fish is entwined up the light poles on the Victoria Embankment on the river Thames in London.


From the top of Poros looking down at the harbor


Looking up from the harbor


The clock tower. I used this to orient myself as I hiked all over the island.

Food!

Greek food is so pretty and tasty. I tried to take pictures before I ate it but this is usually how it turned out: shrimp shells and fish bones!



Once in a while I actually managed to take a picture but usually because the food was so amusing-



Yes, that's an olive in his eye socket! And, green pepper for gills and red onion for ribs. Here's a close up of that eye.



The spaghetti was fab-



I think I pretty much captured the same taste with this recipe-

1.5 lbs. ground beef
5 tomatoes
1 sweet onion
3 or more cloves of garlic
Romano cheese
Dried oregano
Red wine
Salt

Use two pans. Chop the onions small. Chop the garlic small. Chop the tomatoes big. With a little oil, saute the onion and garlic for 5 minutes. Stir it a bit. Add the big chopped tomatoes. Sprinkle on some salt and oregano and let it cook a bit as you look the ground beef in the other pan.

Cook the ground beef with a little salt and oregano. Drain when done. Once the ground beef is done and drained add the onion mixture and reduce the heat a bit. Add some red wine, salt and some oregano. Sprinkle in a small handful of romano cheese. Cook for about 10 minutes and add more red wine. Cook for about 10 more minutes. The tomatoes will melt.

If the meat is too chunky, take a pie crust mixer to it (You know, one of those wire/cutter dealies with a handle).

All the alcohol will be cooked off but the wonderful smell and taste will remain. It will look like that picture!

Streets of Poros

Poros is a cool island. It has two roads: one going around it and one going up almost to the middle. Otherwise, all the roads are walkways and stairs. If fact, its faster to walk over Poros than around it.

Since we were on the edge of the season, the people of Poros started painting, fixing and getting ready for next year. Almost everything is painted white with a colored trim. Even the stair and walkway edges are painted white.

You cannot get lost on Poros because there is a clock tower at the top that you can see from nearly everywhere. I hiked all over and took many pictures of streets.

I'm usually not so easy, but I went home with a man!

We set sail for Poros and we got "picked up!" Travel aficionado, Rick Steves, says that in Greece you should go home with strangers. Many Greek families rent out rooms in their homes or own pensions or have motel-like rooms to tourists to make money. They advertise locally and you can pre-arrange in the tourist season but you can also just show up at the dock and go home with someone.

We did! It was exciting! We arrived at Poros and started walking. Greeks are not loud and a man started trailing us and whispering. My husband was dutifully trudging along, avoiding him like it was bum asking for money. I finally caught on and said to my husband that I think this man wants to talk to us. We slowed down and looked at him.

"Lady, you looking for a room?"
"yes"
"How many nights?"
"Two" He grabs my hand and starts shaking it.
"I have rooms! Come see my rooms!"
"Are they far?" He grabs my hand and shakes it some more.
"No, not too far but just right!" He grabs my husband's hand shakes it as well for good measure.

Now about the hands. This man wasn't over-weight, or very tall, but he was rugged. He must have worked hard physically all his life because his hands were like small shovels! I could not even wrap my fingers around this hand to shake it properly. Neither could my husband.

Also, he must have had palsy or a stroke that caused one eye to droop. But he fixed it! He took a long piece of of cellophane tape and just taped that sucker up! So we're going home with a stranger who has one eye tapped open and could kill us with his bare hands. My husband looked at me like I'd lost my mind.

However, this landlord really wanted you to receive value so he took us on a walking tour as well. he pointed out the best fish tavernas, where we could get our laundry done, and where we could get breakfast. We took the room.

Poros is the smallest island we went to. It is built into the hill and all the roads are stairs between the houses.

Poros-


Looking across the harbor towards the mainland-

The little water taxis-

Cute!

A cafe in the harbor. All the buildings look freshly painted.

Our room is just up these stairs-

Pictures around the town of Aegina

Pictures of the streets-









Lovely painted doors-







Restaurants in streets-





Tomorrow we go to the island of Poros.

Bus ride around Aegina

The next day after eating a wonderful Greek breakfast made by Ms. Rina, our hostess, we went around the island on the bus system. Ms. Rina made a traditional dish that had a flaky crust and on top was mixed eggs, feta and salt. This was baked in the oven.

She also gave us Greek yogurt and we could top it with three types of "spoon fruit" that she made each week. One was a marmalade, one of cherries, and one of plum. They were so fresh and made a great counter-point to the plain yogurt. The Greeks only serve plain yogurt. You have to dress it up. The full fat variety of yogurt is the best tasting but you can get 0% fat in our stores.



The Spoon Fruit recipe is really easy-

Spoon Fruit (marmalade type)

2 medium oranges
Sugar

Barely cut the ends off the oranges. Cover with water and boil one hour. Drain and then weigh the oranges. Put the oranges back in the pan. Measure the sugar to the same weight as the boiled oranges. Put back on the heat, about medium and cook about 20 minutes. Slice up the oranges in thin strips.

I found that I liked the syrup but not the rinds so much. I added some water and lemonjuice to make more syrup. Keep in a sterilized covered dish in the refrigerator. Lasts about a week.

Aegina is a small island but it is the largest that we went to. We decided to hop on the regular bus service and go places on the island. We decided to go to the famous cathedral and monastery, Agios Nektarios and the Temple of Aphaia.

The bus service only goes on once an hour. Of course, the driver is looking to set a record; it was one wild trip! huge cathedral has ceilings with lovely tile mosaics that have so much gold, they look like they are internal light up.





You have to climb the hill to the monastery. This is a Greek Orthodox cathedral and the population is devoted. As I walked up the hill with lots of old ladies, I thought "How devoted. All these old ladies hunched over their rosaries, walking up this steep hill." And then I turned around and saw behind me that all the old ladies were hunched over their cell phones, texting like mad!



When I got to the monestary, there was a sign "No half dressed women." I was wearing a tank top and short skirt! Fortunately I also had a sarong in my bag that I could use like a huge scarf, covering most of me up!

Eating in Aegina

Boy, did we feel foolish! After looking in the harbor, we got tired and went to our room for a nap. When we woke up and were hungry at 7:00 pm, we found Aegina up and all the stores open! It turns out that this is how the Greeks live on the islands: open your business, regardless of type of business at 7:00 AM, close at 1:00 or 2:00 pm (depending on island), eat a big lunch with your family, take a long nap in the heat of the day, open your business at 6:00 pm, close around 9:00 to 10:00 pm, go to a restaurant at 9:00 pm and eat a big meal with your family, and go to bed around midnight. If you are young, forgo bed and go to a bar with very loud music until about 3:00 am.

So, everything was open! We ate a traditional Greek meal of a Greek Salad and some grilled fish. If you ask for salad in Greece, you will get a Greek Salad. It is so fresh. Sorry for the half eaten picture.



Here is the recipe:

Greek Salad

2 -3 tomatoes rough chopped
1/2 of an English Cucumber (or several small persian cucumbers. Trader Joe's has them) sliced and cut in half
5 thin slices of a red onion, cut in quarters
8 Kalamata olives (pitted are nice if you can get them)
Big slice of Feta cheese (get the cheese in brine so it is moist)
a sprinkle of oregano
Olive oil to taste

Chop up the veggies and put in a big bowl or platter that is bowl like. Sprinkle on the olives. I sprinkle a bit of oregano at this point but most people don't. Put the feta on top in one chunk. Sprinkle the oregano and pour olive oil over the top of the feta.

That it! Easy Peazy! This is very filling and could be a meal or could go with another dish.

More Aegina

We didn't get much time at the museum or in the ancient town of Kolona because it closed at 3:00! We were a little puzzled at the early closing and decided to walk through the harbor to other side of town.

We walked along the harbor, looking at the boats and yachts, and the eateries on the other side of the road. At the end of the harbor we found a beach. We sat under these palm trees on a park bench and enjoyed the breeze
.






Little fishes swimming in the harbor



I found this sea urchin on the beach. You are safe to swim in Greek waters. No sharks will get you but you have to be aware of sea urchins. Their spines break off in the sand and if you step on one and get it embedded, it will get infected. We brought aqua socks so we could walk freely.



Have I told you about the cats yet? There are lots of cats on all the Greek islands! They are like pigeons or mice. They are only rarely pets. They work hard to make a living. This one just stopped, curled up and took a nap on the beach, right by the water!



When I went to check out a little building that turned out to the Union Hall for the Fishermen, I found that someone had created a little sculpture of a head in the corner. I felt like I had discovered the real Greece: when faced with repair, sculpt a goddess!