In the Port of Piraeus

After impressive tours in the centre of Athens, a trip to Aegina in the Saronic Gulf was on the agenda today. So, we took the Metro in Monastiraki and quickly and easily reached the final stop in the Port of Piraeus. There, we first lingered over a coffee and watched the morning commuters mixing with travellers. I like the lively and often scruffy atmosphere in ports, e.g., Genoa or Split; the processes of arrival and departure, loading and unloading, and the infrastructure are similar yet always have that special local flavour.

Piraeus always sounds adventurous to me and reminds me of my classic backpacking trips on huge, rusty, and ship-diesel-smelling car ferries through the alluring island world of the Aegean, e.g., Santorini, Milos, Amorgos. Instead, today involved only a short crossing with a modern and, above all, fast hydrofoil.

The rows and seating arrangement in the air-conditioned interior of the high-speed ferry are like on an aeroplane: fixed seat numbers, a toilet at the back in the middle, and an entertainment programme on large screens. For a journey time of 45 minutes, showing full-length feature films only makes sense to me if they are scheduled accordingly for both the outward and return journeys.

A friend who speaks Greek politely introduced himself to his Greek seatmate and struck up a conversation with her: about his origins in Switzerland and the whole background of today’s trip. The woman absolutely had to share this interesting event immediately and spoke so loudly into her mobile phone that not only the person she called but the entire cabin heard about it.

Finally, we reached the Port of Aegina and immersed ourselves in a completely different world. Although Aegina is so close to the metropolis of Athens and attracts many day-trippers and holidaymakers, it has retained a rural charm. Aegina is also famous for its agricultural products, especially the pistachio.