Cruising the Mediterranean

Coming to Greece, we knew that we wanted to visit some of the Greek Islands. The islands off the coast near Athens are part of the Saronic Gulf islands and many can be done as day trips. We found Matt Barrett's Greece travel guide to be very helpful. Our third day in Greece we took an organized boat cruise that visited three of the nearby islands in one day, Hydra, Poros and Aegina.

Now, organized cruise things aren't usually my style and this one wasn't an exception. However, neither Marika nor I were quite sure how to go about island hopping on our own so this seemed like a good idea. And overall, it was. While not the unbelievable experience we had later on, on our own, the cruise gave us an idea of what the islands were like and where we'd like to visit again.

The first stop was Hydra, famous for its lack of motorized vehicles. Like many islands, the land is quite hilly, so donkeys are used for most of the shlepping, of baggage and of tourists.

Hydra from the water:
The famous donkeys:
The harbour at Hydra:

Our next stop was Poros, which I found to be more beautiful, if a little less charming. We climbed up to the clock tower which afforded an amazing view over the port and the sea.

I also made friends with a very fat stray dog. He was standing in the middle of the path and I gave him a pat while I was letting some people go by so he came and sat next to me and leaned against my leg. Then when I kept walking, he followed me down the stairs.

Our last stop was Aegina, the biggest of the Saronic gulf islands and the closest to Athens. We were pretty tired by this point so we found a bit of beach just outside of town and waded in the Mediterranean, rather than exploring.

Sunset on Aegina:
Then back on the boat for the trip home. I was completely exhausted by this time and a little sunsick but there was one last magical moment. As we were sailing back to Athens, Marika and I looked out the window and saw a pod of dolphins playing in the wake of the ship! They were jumping and leaping and splashing beside us as dusk fell over the Mediterranean.