This and That: The Island of Aegina (or paradise to you and me)

I'm sitting on the veranda of our bed and breakfast, sipping a frappe, and wondering why we haven't all moved to Aegina?

Really, this is heaven! Aegina is a small island in the Aegean Sea below Athens. It is the largest island we will stay on though. Its a 1.5 hour ferry ride that only costs about $9. Aegina has many excellent things: shopping, old churches, old archeological digs, museums, beaches, and food.

First, a word about our plans. We have none! We plan to stay on islands as long as it is fun and move on when the honeymoon is over or becomes too expensive. We didn't plan to stay at fancy accommodations. In fact, if all went wrong, I'm prepared to sleep rough on a beach!

Second, a word about safety. Good old Rick Steves is always going on about pickpockets, making you scared and ruining the fun of travel. However, he does say that you should roll with it in Greece. Be careful, but not too careful. I agree. We missed out on getting our tickets to Aegina quickly and wandered around a bit on the pier because we were too safe.

You see there are many sellers of ferry tickets to the various islands and they all approach you something like this on the sidewalk: "Psst, lady.... you want ferry tickets? I get them for you. Only $7 euros. Special for you. Why you clutching bag? Really, just come in to my lair, em, business. Lady, that your husband?" and then yells in Greek, back to someone I can't see, yelling "Guido, his head looks hard! Make sure you use the extra heavy sap."

No, I don't speak Greek, but I was sure that was what he was saying. Turns out I could have saved a bit of time and sweat by taking him up on his offer. You see, the prices are fixed in Greece and he could not have charged me any more and he would have made sure we got on the right ferry (which we did anyway but we were a lot more sweaty).

Once off the ferry, we walked around, trying to find accommodations. The little town of Aegina is nestled against a working harbor and is a maze of cute streets. Since we are at the end of the season, there are no tourist maps to be found. Its noon and its hot and more than a little humid. I wondered if we would find a room, when we turned a corner and found this-

I walked in the front door and asked Ms. Rina, the proprietor, if she had a room we could stay in and how much. She said "My dear! You don't want to know how much the room is! You must seeeee it first! Come with me." She showed me around this wonderful 200 year old home. There is a suite that still has the old Venetian painted ceilings.