This weekend we went to Aegina, which is one of the islands of the Saronic Gulf. (It's the biggest island on the map below- specifically, the one labeled "Aegina.")
Aegina is a short-ish ferry ride away from Athens, and in terms of history is actually a rather interesting place. An ancient rival of Athens, Aegina was originally a colony of Epidaurus, according to Herodotus, and during the Peloponnesian Wars they were allied with Sparta. In the Persian wars, 50-ish years earlier, they were one of the Greek poleis to give earth and water to Persia.
We were going partly for the history, but also for the beaches, which are very nice, and the sights, which are amazing. During the summer, Aegina is a very popular tourist destination- many wealthy Athenians own second homes there. But this weekend, after the season ended, it was very quiet.
It's a really beautiful place.
This is Aegina Town, which is the port that the ferry gets in at. It's the largest town on Aegina- about 7,000 people live there. It's also rather touristy, and filled with people selling pistachios, which the island grows and sells in great numbers. We spent a bit of our first afternoon in Aegina town, but before too long we caught a bus and headed across the island to Agia Marina, a town on the other side with good access to one of Aegina's most famous sites- the Temple of Aphaia.
This is the view from Agia Marina- more very pretty places.
Aegina is a short-ish ferry ride away from Athens, and in terms of history is actually a rather interesting place. An ancient rival of Athens, Aegina was originally a colony of Epidaurus, according to Herodotus, and during the Peloponnesian Wars they were allied with Sparta. In the Persian wars, 50-ish years earlier, they were one of the Greek poleis to give earth and water to Persia. 
We were going partly for the history, but also for the beaches, which are very nice, and the sights, which are amazing. During the summer, Aegina is a very popular tourist destination- many wealthy Athenians own second homes there. But this weekend, after the season ended, it was very quiet.
It's a really beautiful place.
This is Aegina Town, which is the port that the ferry gets in at. It's the largest town on Aegina- about 7,000 people live there. It's also rather touristy, and filled with people selling pistachios, which the island grows and sells in great numbers. We spent a bit of our first afternoon in Aegina town, but before too long we caught a bus and headed across the island to Agia Marina, a town on the other side with good access to one of Aegina's most famous sites- the Temple of Aphaia.
This is the view from Agia Marina- more very pretty places. 
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