Athens : Day 3 ( What Grace Did and Where Grace Ate)

Athens: Day 2 (What Grace Did and What Grace Ate) 

For our second day visiting the city we decided to a one-day three island cruise, which I will discuss later...... If I can bring myself to do it ( i'm currently running on coffee fumes to stay awake). The second day was the warmest out of the week of our trip ( exactly in the 70's and people still were wearing winter coats!!) so we decided to try and visit surrounding islands. The boat itself was big, the people on it were friendly, there was food, however....... being sick for the first two hours cancels out all of that ( as well as the price). The cruise or boat (however you want to call it) was rocky the entire time. It took around 3 hours to arrive at the first island, and those hours were miserable. I suggest if you get seasick to either go on the bottom level or top one. The bottome level doesn't rock as much and the top level gives you the fresh air and sun. Another thing to help get past seasickness is to wiggle or "scratch" your toes.  Eventually we got used to the rocking and swaying, and the ride was much better. In the end and after asking each family member, we would not do the trip again. It was cool seeing all the islands, however, it cost too much and you could go to Aegina ( one of the islands) for 8 euro a person. But if you are trying to go to different islands in a day, this is the way to go ( especially if you have kids). One thing that I liked about the trip was the chance to do traditional greek dancing and observe. This was great with the kids, so if you have a family with young kids this would be a great way to observe the culture and have fun.However,  one bone to pick was the food. It tasted like cruise casino food, buuutttttttt, the first night in Athens we had really good food. So it was quite bias. Another bone to pick, if you are traveling be respectful! Even if you are a teenager, being respectful of others goes a long ways. Running around and yelling ruins everyone else's vacations ( can you tell that I got angry). Now onto each island..... but first..... pictures of and on the boat.

Kept insisting to ride a donkey. 

Top deck. 

Sorry for the bad photo, but my new friends. 

My glass of fancy cheap wine. 

Hydra

The first island and the farthest that we visited was called Hydra. It was my favorite island out of the three we traveled to. When we arrived the first glimpse was of the beautiful port and of all the houses on the islands. The city was very picturesque. When we got off the ship, the tour guide on the cruise kept telling us that there was no cars or buses on the island. But the main transportation...... Wait for it...... DONKEYS. I literally have tons of pictures of donkeys, and we even saw a donkey carrying a dryer up a hill. Walking around Hydra's port you will notice that it is very touristy, and restaurants and stores are more then willing to invite you in. I personally would recommend that you would just skip the port and walk around more on the other side of the city. Hydra had many little streets and corners with cute little small cafes. I would stay at Hydra in the summer ( it was obvious that it was more of a summer area and had many beaches) and rent or stay in a guesthouse. We decided to eat at a little cafe in the middle of nowhere. And for once, I got a normal sized coffee and it was good!!!!! 

*Culture* - One thing about the islands was that there were a lot of stray animals. I have seen it all ( even a herd of cats).

An old man packing a donkey.

The donkey is more upset on his style of hair then having to carry stuff. 

Main tower, Museum was here as well. 

So, sponges are popular here.

Most of the ally ways were small.

White was the main color used in all the buildings. People were even painting their houses. 

I call this cat kibbles. 

One of the smallest ally ways in Hydra. 

This cat photo made my day. 

Where we had coffee and beer. 

The view from where we were sitting. 

My cappuccino

Fresh squeezed juice.

Mythos, or a famous Greek beer.

POROS

On this island we had the shortest amount of time to walk around. At a first glimpse when we were slowly making our way into the area you could definately see a lot of resorts. I personally wouldn't want to stay here, i'd still rather be at Hydra. In our short amount of time spent at Poros we walked up a huge flight of stair to see a clock tower. Unfortunately for me, this was when my camera decided to die on me.

Making our way downtown. 

There were so many boats.  

Look at this little cutie. 

The library was even gorgeous. 

The clock that I walked up a bunch of stairs for. 

Fishing is popular in this city 

Even the historical places had graffiti on them.

Aegina

The last island on the cruise was fun, however we were the walking dead ( it was a long day!!). If you have kids.... This will wear them out. My family decided to do a bus tour of the island that took up the entire time we had to see the island.  We found out that the island was known for their pistachio's ( more then 2,000 trees). We got to stop at the Temple of Apollo, and sure enough. Pistachio's were being sold right across the street, and they even had pistachio icecream. Words cannot even describe how good the icecream was. But to top it off, we got pistachio's from a guy riding his bike. And let me tell you how good those were.  But the best part of the day was getting Baklava. And not just any baklava. We asked a local store owner where to find the best baklava since we knew it was popular in the area. He gave us semi directions, told us that he gets the baklava for his family, and then mentions to use your nose. And sure enough in this litle bakery there was baklava. Unfortunately, we didn't have the chance to eat it right away and not that night, but the next day at 12 pm with forks stolen from our hotel. 

It was even Pistachio Baklava!!

Pros of One Day Cruise: 

Saw different islands

Got out of Athens

Tour was easy

Greek Dancing

Cons of One Day Cruise: 

Expensive

You could go to Aegina for 8 euros

Food wasn't impressive

Seasick