dinking around various Greek islands

After five months of pushing hard to cover ground and make it to Turkey for winter, we’re within spitting distance and with the pressure off, we’re all enjoying the slower pace and have been just dinking around Greece’s Aegean islands.  The last week we’ve been hopping from one idyllic little harbor to another in between the howling winds that seem to hit every few days, first from the north, then the south, then the west….  It’s been a nice mix of seeing towering ancient Greek ruins at the Temple of Aphaia and the Temple of Poseidon, hiking through the fall hillsides to see long-abandoned Byzantine villages and roads, enjoying melt-in-your-mouth freshly harvested pistachios, olives, cheese and wine…  But best of all has been simply watching the kids enjoy the little things, like feeding the local harbor geese, watching ants put away seeds for winter and exploring in the dinghy.



Temple of Aphaia, built in 480 BC, on Aegina

Church in abandoned Byzantine village on Aegina

Village was active 800 - 1,800 AD

 

Watching ants on the old Byzantine Road on Paros

 

Feeding ducks in Naoussa marina on Paros

Still some blooming wild plants on the islands,

mostly cyclamens (shown here) and crocuses

Island life is much slower

without all the tourists...

 

Most marinas are deserted, so here Hugo takes the

dinghy in first so he can catch our lines when we arrive