Giorno Ventinove // Day 29

Today has been one of my favorite days abroad so far. Hannah met up with Rachel and I at our hotel. One of the workers very kindly offered to drive us to the Piraeus port (saving us an expensive taxi ride). We took a ferry to the island of Aegina, which is known for their pistachios. My legs got fried on the ferry. We went to the other side of the island, where we walked up to the Temple of Aphaia. We took a steep dirt road down to the Agia Marina beach. The sandbar was so shallow and the water was so warm. We sat cross-legged in the water for hours. We ate an early dinner at this seafood restaurant where we tried anchovies, calamari, and lots of other fresh seafood. The same taxi driver picked us up from the restaurant and dropped us off at his favorite pistachio stand. I'm not sure if the guy was a really good salesman or just really passionate about pistachios, but the three of us tried everything pertaining to pistachios: ice cream, butter, truffles, liqueur, caramel, and much more. I had never appreciated pistachios more than in that moment. Before catching the last ferry back to Athens, we ventured around many of the local shops. One jewelry store had these intricate handmade bracelets with the original coin of Aegina, which featured a turtle on it. The store owner was so sweet and knowledgable on the history of Aegina. She even gave us some free Greek candy. It was a hot, exhausting day, so we stayed in that night. Ended the night watching a Greek music video that Rachel and many others from the Greek program were featured in while in Santorini (see 3:45 on...Giorgos Tsalikis- Santorini Omonoia).