And Now for One Last Teetering Column...

At long last we made it to Kolonna and the Temple of Apollo, which are actually just outside of Aegina town. The Temple of Apollo is at present one measly column, which is fragmentary and not all that exciting, but the site also has bronze age ruins and a very neat little museum that details the phases of the town and shows many finds, mostly pottery from the early periods but also some stuatuary from later periods. This is the archaeological site, and I would try to describe what all of those walls are, but it would get pretty confusing pretty quickly. A common issue is that in a place like Kolonna, there were years and years of continuous occupation. There is a cistern from the Byzantine period in this picture. There also are defensive walls from the Bronze Age, thousands of years before. There were a few signs, but they were quite confusing- different colors for different periods, written only in German, and the like. This is the one teetering column, which is all that is left of the Temple of Apollo. It is quite visible, though- coming in on the ferry, you can definitely see the column poking above the trees.
The view from the site- I can see why they decided to build a settlement/fortified area/temple here. After we were done with the site, we went swimming at the beach you can see- it was magnificent. The water of the gulf is really salty, even compared to the water of the Atlantic or Pacific, and so floating was really easy. It also was bathwater-warm.
One last picture of the site before we left to get lunch and go for a swim! It was a lot of fun, but the sun was pretty brutal and there was no shade or water. We were all pretty beat.
And this is a mosaic, which came from the floor of a Jewish synagogue from the Byzantine period. You never think of Greece as having a large Jewish population, but at one time, there were definitely Jewish communities here.

Basically, if you ever find yourself in Athens and are looking for a nice weekend getaway, I would very much suggest Aegina. We had a great time, and I would definitely go back. Just remember to bring water and good walking shoes! (And if you're reading this, remember to read the three posts before this! I'm sorry, my adventures on Aegina were just too exciting for one post.)