Contrast program to the hustle and bustle of the big city

04.04.24

The only plan we had more or less made on the flight there was a day trip to one of the many islands in the Saronic Gulf. Because Ida's wish (well, we all benefit from a bit of sun, sand and the sound of the sea) for this holiday was more southern Europe and a bit warmer than our home climes had offered up to that point!

Since it was Athens, a trip to an island was almost a given!

After a relatively short period of information and selection, we chose Agistri. An island with two small villages on the east coast, two or three beaches and basically nothing else! Ideal for our purposes.

The evening before (without any prior planning, that's not our thing) we quickly booked the ferry tickets and checked in and the next morning at 7:30 a.m. we took the metro to the port of Piraeus! The speedboat was already waiting for us there and after a short game of finding a seat, as we were not assigned a direct seat but only a seating area, we headed through the actually quite quiet Saronic Gulf first to Aegina and after a short unloading stop on to Angistri!

Grateful that the trip only lasts 50 minutes - the ship rocks dangerously towards the end - we set foot on the island in strong gusts and anything but warm temperatures!

At first we find it striking that not many tourists share our path to this island.

We grab three mountain bikes from the local (only) bike rental shop on the island, which also rents out scooters and e-bikes, and head off to one of the most beautiful beaches/bays on the island, according to TripAdvisor. It's only about five kilometers (“hilly”), so let's go, Peda!

Admittedly, “hilly” was a bit of an understatement. From the beginning, it goes steeply up the mountain, down again, up again and down again in serpentines to the bay!

At least the five kilometers are fine and we reach our first stop! This turns out to be really beautiful in terms of the view and the clarity of the water, but unfortunately we look in vain for a beach, places to lie down or at least shade (because on this side of the island it is calm and therefore quite warm)! But it is still enough to put our bare bottoms in the water! Mind you, only for Lena's bottom. The Mediterranean is definitely still too cold for me in April.

After 30 minutes we pack up again and get on our bikes, Jan Ullrich-like, straight up the serpentines to the next hot spot beach on the island!

Here we actually find beach-like conditions. A pebble beach paired with small cliffs line this section. Unfortunately, we are in the full force of the wind here, which leads to strong waves and unpleasant gusts.

All we can do here is take a break to read a book and throw stones into the sea. Despite the blazing sun, we quickly become uncomfortably cold!

After another short bike ride across the island, we have to surrender to a road construction site on the way to our next planned destination. Cynically, one could say that the two men in orange are improving more road surface here in one day than is done on the A45 in Germany in a week!

Before we can lure the two specialists away, they show us an alternative route to Chalikiada Beach, which we gratefully follow! However, this turns out to be a dead end (even for bicycles) and we abandon our idea of continuing on the adjacent path after 100 meters through the deepest thicket! We don't need that much adventure.

However, we notice a mini bay with a small sandy beach, which we head for instead of our actual destination.

Here at least two of us manage to get into the water, because luckily there is no wind at all! I selflessly look after our things. Apart from us, only one other couple is sunbathing, but caution is the mother of caution and so on...

So we spend the next three hours reading, splashing around, collecting pebbles and doing nothing! And the only sounds are birdsong and the gentle sound of the waves.

Happy and satisfied, we cycle the last few kilometers back to the bike rental shop, while we pass the rest of the waiting time playing Mutscheln (a dice game from Reutlingen - thanks to my great colleague Lukas) and watching cats!

On the ferry, which again does not have a structured seating arrangement but has hectic and unfriendly stewards, my companions' eyes quickly close. It must be the sea water that makes them so tired. You don't know!

Once we arrive in Piraeus, we sneak towards the metro and have something to eat in the city centre of Athens (Monastiraki) before we fall into bed, full and showered, with our books!

Tomorrow, our last full day, we'll be packed with culture, including the Acropolis, the Panathinaikos Stadium and possibly the Archaeological Museum!

We are excited and look forward to reporting to you!

In this sense:

Καληνυχτα

(Kalinykhta)