I have the wanders

Hydra

Athens sprawls on forever! Once you head up to either the Acropolis or any of the other hills in the city you get a slight idea of the sheer size of it. I think the only reason the city actually stops is because of the sea and the mountains. Ive been here since Saturday and have done all of the archeological sights, which are really interesting but packed! I went on Marathon sunday and there must have been two cruise ships worth of tours up there, and I was there early. As I was leaving bus loads were arriving. I went from the Acropolis to Ancient Agora which is much quieter, i'm not sure anyone really realizes its there. If you walk through Ancient Agora you get to one of the large market/flea market areas and some cute cafes. The flea market on Sunday is an insane adventure, but I am sure it won't compare to what Cairo will be like. The weather turned a bit rainy and put a damper on my ideas of it being warm enough to go to the beach, but I did make it to a few islands. Aegina and Hydra are two of the closest islands and are cool for day trips. I did one a day. It rained when we went to Aegina so it kills your afternoon a bit, but the ride back to Athens left me with a great opportunity to take some shots of the wild clouds they have here. Hydra was much smaller and there wasnt anything going on there, but I liked it better. They don't allow any motorized vehicles there at all, so the donkeys take groceries up into the hills for people. Its fun to watch, and donkeys have a hilarious way of walking that I never noticed before. The islands are fun to walk around, take pictures of and just relax. Its off season so there really isn't anything going on, but to be honest, I am not sure much ever goes on in Hydra. Ha.

Tomorrow I am flying back to Milan in the afternoon where I will spend the night in the airport because my flight to Cairo is so early in the morning. I have a friend who just got to Cairo and is a touch culture shocked, so it will be intersting to see what happens when I get there. I hope I can get in without any trouble and head promptly to the hotel for some sleep. I can't believe the Egypt portion of this outing is almost here, it kind of makes me want to keep going, which I guess I could except for that pesky flight back to the states that I have booked ;)

Hydra Coastline

Hydra

Aegina