Western Union Saved Our Day While Vacationing in Aegina Island, Greece!

Aegina Island - Day 3 We liked Aegina Island so much that we decided to stay another night here on this lovely Greek island extending our stay to a third day!

Not hurrying to get back to Athens, we could be more relaxed in our schedule to fully enjoy the Greek island life! We felt so relaxed here that we could have easily stay for anther week or so.

However, we still needed to deal wit our cash problem here. I checked my email hoping to receive a reply email from our Canadian bank. We requested them to send us some emergency fund last Thursday and hoped to get it from them by today. But we were hugely disappointed. Instead, I got a reply from my financial advisor informing me that I needed to call the 800 number to apply for another bank card and to follow a whole set of procedures. I was frustrated to no end!

 

We have money in the bank and the bank advisor knows me personally. She was aware of the difficult situation we were in Greece. However, she didn’t help us in any practical ways in order for us to be able to withdraw some of our money. Finally, I called my relative in Canada and requested her to send some money; she did it right away.

We received a message and the verification code from Western Union and we weret able to locate a branch on this island! We walked into the branch, presented the officer with the police report from the Athens' police station verifying that we were the people on the email message.

  Bingo! Western Union released the fund to us without further delay! So happy we could retrieve money sent by our relative from Western Union in Aegina Island. This saved our trip and allowed us to enjoy the food and finer things in Greece!

Right after we recieved the money, we enjoyed a delicious seafood lunch by the ocean on the dock of this lovely island! It was an absolutely fantastic afternoon with a blue sky above, sunny weather and gentle ocean breezes blowing on our faces and money in our pockets so that we wouldn't feel poor again!

A shout out and a big THANK YOU to Western Union, Aegina branch, Greece!

  RT, Aegina Island, Greece, 042026

Aegina Island, a Charming Little Island not too Far from Athens

Aegina Island - Day 2 Got up around 830a.m and had our breakfast served on the terrace on the main floor.

The view was lovely as our hotel was fronting the ocean.

This was our first day in Greece with clear blue sky as the other days in Athens were wet and cool.

Looking over the ocean from the terrace and enjoying our breakfast, I felt very happy. The water did have a positive effect on me. Since everything we had with us was stolen on the second day when we were in Athens, we had no ID, no credit card nor cash with us. We felt very fortunate that we could still travel in Greece as our family in Canada helped us to book the hotels and travel tickets online and paid for them, therefore, our holiday was not ruined and we could continue travelling in Greece. So grateful to God for His provision!

We took the Aegina town bus ( comes only 2x a day during the off season, at 11a.m. departing from our village bus stop and returning from the main harbour to our hotel at 2:30 pm.)

Being mindful of the bus returning time to the village where we were staying, we had about 2 ½ hours to wander around the main section of Aegina Island.

 

  Aegina is a small island with about 13,000 residents.

The main downtown area along the oceanfront is a vibrant and lovely area lined with trendy restaurants and cafes.

We enjoyed strolling around leisurely, admiring the quint and spotless alleyways.

where we peaked into modern and upscale fashion stores, Greek pastry shops where the colourful and scrumptious desserts were to die for and the numerous shops selling the local specialties – pistachio desserts and food products of all kinds.

Though no money to buy anything nor able to sit and enjoy some delicious Greek seafood by the water, we still had fun strolling around, relaxing with a popsicle outside a convenience store and enjoying the scenery and observing the slower rural Greek life.

Because there are many narrow alleyways on this island, motorcylces has become the main mode of transportation here. Many peopple ride around the town with them and couriers also use them in their deliveries.

 

We wish we could have stayed longer in this part of Aegina Island but the town bus was still on reduced schedule and we must take the bus back to our hotel. Since it was still sunny outside, we explored the village neighbourhood for a couple of hours.

  It was early spring and late in the afternoon; there were a few sunbathers enjoying the sun while some kids were playing on the sandy beach. For some reason, I have never associated Greece with any beaches at all; how wrong have I been!

 

 

 

 

  Though not the tourist season yet, there were a few shops opened for business in the village.

My favourite place was a small bakery selling mouthwatering desserts. I couldn't help but ordered a few pieces to sample for our afternoon snacks. The whole plate of yummy pastries cost 5 Euros; we couldn't believe it and they were delicious!

We enjoyed a simple dinner at Pita Tom, where they served us the biggest Gyro pita we have ever had.

The chicken and pork gyros came dressed with tomatoes, onions and French fries.

  At 3.8 Euro each, the Greek gyro sandwich filled our stomachs and helped to stretch the little amount of cash we have left on us after our credit cards and all our cash was stolen from us.

 

We were grateful that we had an enjoyable day today without spending too much moeny! We still have a few Euros left for food. God is good!

  RT, Aegina Island, Greece, 042026

A Luxurious Ferry Ride to Aegina Island, Greece

Day 1 – There are many island to visit but we were not sure which one to go. Therefore desiring to find out more about the numerous Greek island trips, we went to Port Pireaus via Athens subway – Metro Blue line, the second last subway station. We paid only 1.2 Euro for the ride, very reasonable compared to some parts of the world where passengers are charged by the distance they travel on the subway. In Athens, Greece, one METRO fare is charged regardless of the distance you travel and passengers will have 90 minutes to reuse their tickets which is a bargain when you need to do a couple of errands in the city.

At the Pireaus Port, we asked the ticket personnel about where we could go for a 1 day island visit. She gave us the names of four islands and we chose Aegean Island for a 1 night stay.

The next day, we bought our tickets online and took the Saronic ferry leaving at 5p.m. from Port Pireaus. A one way ticket was 19 Euro; for a return ticket, it was 24 Euro, much cheaper. This was the first time we went to visit a Greek island via a Greek ferry.

Wow, the interior cabin of the Saronic Ferry was beyond our expectation! It was modern and comfortably furnished with leather / leather like furniture with wide seatings designed for families and groups.

In addition to the large group seatings, there were also smaller seatings for 2 to 4 people.

A cafe called the Flocafe - where hot and cold beverages as well as sandwiches, salad and pastries could be purchased. The ferry ride was about an hour and 15 minutes.

We had lovely sunny weather and the ride was over before we even realized it! The first building we saw at the dock was a tiny church! How cute was that! We couldn't get over how many worshop places we have seen on this trip so far!

We got off the ferry at late afternoon on Aegean Island. We saw many nice trendy restaurnats along the waterfront and diners were obviously enjoying this tranquil island setting.

The sun was setting and we took our time strolling around by the waterfront, enjoying the lovely view on this island. There was a bus going to our hotel located on the other side of the island.

However, the service stopped at 6 p.m. We missed the town bus going to our hotel and thought to ourselves: no problem, we could order an Uber ride. When we tried to order the Uber, it came up to be Can $168.00! Even more expensive than our hotel for a night on this island.

Not willing to pay for that expensive Uber ride, we used our cell phone and asked AI what other alternative was there. AI told us not to use Uber, but go to where the taxi stand was near the port and asked them for a price for a ride to our hotel. We did just that! It costed only 20 Euros! AI saved the day for us! Thank you, Chat GPT!

By the time we got into the taxi, the sun had gone down and it was dark outside; we couldn’t see anything on our way to the hotel. The taxi ride was longer than we thought, more than 30 minutes.

We arrived at this oceanfront hotel and all the staff seemed to have gone to bed already. Finally, after waiting for sometime for the staff to arrive, we checked into our room and called it a night. Looking forward to spending a day on this island the following day.

RT, A Ferry Ride on the Saronic Ferry Athens, Greece, 042026

Monastiraki Square and the Little Hook - My Favourite Places to Visit When Surviving on 40 Euros for 4 Days in Athens

Having lost all our valuables and with another four days to go before we could receive our replacement passports, we were careful how we spent our 40 Euros. We spent 10 Euros on the first day after the theft on Metro fares and a roasted chicken and potato dinner. It was delicious and there was even enough leftover for lunch the next day.

For the next couple of days, we explored Athens on foot and looking for things to see that were free. Lucky for us, there were lots to see! Though the greater area of Athens has almost 3.2 millions inhabitants, we were able to find a quiet spot in the busy tourist area and had our lunch under a tree after we had our walk about in the charming winding streets of the Plaka district.

We saw many beautiful churches, shops and trendy restaurants. However, trying to conserve our cash, we were unable to enjoy a meal at one of these nice places.

But we still had lots of fun visiting many unique places. A few places stood out for me:

1. Monastiraki Square - a vibrant, bustling plaza located in the heart of Athens, in one of the oldest neighbourhoods. We walked past this square a few times and each time, we saw lively market with many interesteing stalls. The square seemed to be busy all the time with many people taking rest, sitting on the benches, chatting and hanging out with friends.

We enjoyed looking at the blend of historical architecture and landmarks such as the Church of the Pantanassa, the 18th century Tzistarakis Mosque ( now houses a ceramics museum) and the ancient ruins of Hadrian's Library only steps away. We saw lots of ruins. Athens is a bit like Rome, a living museum!

2. Little Hook Cafe - Located in the Psiri neighborhood, this whimsical cafe capatured my attention during our stroll around the tourist area. It was enchanting with its colourful and themed decorations. I felt we had walked into a fairly tale wonderland! This unconventional cafe offered sweet and savory crepes and other treats. I liked this cafe a lot and lingered there for a long time taking many pictures of their many fairytale style decorations.

3. Walking up to the Acropolis - There were a lot to see walking up to the Acropolis! Though the first time we did it, we had our wallet containing our valuables stolen from my backpack, therefore, we didn't complete the walk. Re walking up towards the hill, we totally enjoyed our walk up there! However, we didn't have enough cash nor a credit card to pay for our admission to see the ruins and would have to wait until we got the replacements of our stolen doucments.

  We had another great day without spending too mnuch money in Athens!

  RT, Athens, 042026 PS At the Little Hook, I discovered that I am still a littel kid at heart!

A Guided Tour of the Catacombs in Athens

After our Easter Sunday service and church lunch, we left the church and explored the other interesting places in the area. We came across another church not too far from the St. Paul Anglican church. Passing by the Athens Holy Trinity Church, we saw a sign informing the public about a Catacombs tour during the weekdays. But seeing that the church door was still open, we tried our luck hoping that there would be a tour available on Sunday.

We were blessed! Because the staff in the church informed us that the church guides were here and available to give us a guided tour! The Holy Trinity Church also known as the Russian Orthodox Church - a magnificent old building decorated with huge chandeliers and numerous wall paintings and portraits. The building of the church was financed by a German King for the Russians in Athens; he even managed to have himself painted among the many portraits of the saints. We were asked to pick him out from among these saints.

  Then to the catacombs - Only when we looked carefully, we discovered the small opening on the floor just enough for one person to squeeze through and down to the secret tunnels and rooms below. We learned a lot about the catacombs, hidden in the basement of the church. This was initially a Roman Bath, about 2000 years old but then became a place of worship for the early Christians, and later a hiding place for the nuns and other Christians being persecuted at the time.

Remains from the ancient Greek period, dating back about 2500 years were also discovered. The underground spaces at times were used as burial areas.

We learned something from our tour guide about the Roman baths. During the Roman time, the bathers, mainly men ( in some Roman bath places, there might be a separate area for men and another one for women.) would be all naked while lying around enjoying the hot bath. Being naked and seeing all these naked bodies around, some people got excited and might do things to one another and sometimes things happened.

  However, when Christianity arrived to the city, Christians believed that the Roman bath was an immoral place where sexual acts were practised therefore, decided to close these places down.

 

  We had an interesting history lesson about the Roman baths and the catacombs in Athens!

  RT, Holy Trinity Church, Athens, Greece 042026

Attending an Easter Sunday Service at St. Paul's Anglican Church, Athens

It was the Easter Sunday in Athens! We always attend a Sunday service no matter what part of the world we happen to be visiting. We were able to find from the internet that there would be an English Service at the St. Paul's Anglican Church serving the English speaking residents in Athens. We looked forward to attending the Easter Sunday service at the church which was pretty packed when we got there about 15 minutes before service started.

  At around 10 a.m. there was standing room only, we were happy that we got there early enough to find a seat for the duration of the service. With the declining attendance of church services in many parts of Europe, I was very happy to see the church full of congregants of all ages!

The people at the church were warm welcoming and the lady sitting beside me and I even had a small chat before the start of the service. With humour and thoughtful language, the minister shared a heart warming message with the congregation. Being reminded of Jesus' sacrifice and God's love for me once again, I was moved to tears.

  This is why I enjoy going to our weekly church service so much for the past many decades. Many of us living in the west are leading such busy lives that we hardly have any quiet moments to reflect and be thankful to God for His blessings. I am thankful that many ministers' messages often challenge me to think what are the priorities in my life and therefore help me to refocus and reset my goals.

  A light lunch was served after the service and everyone was invited to take part in this lunch. I was surprised how the church could manage to feed everyone on one of the busiest holy days. Well, it did! With just 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish, Jesus performed a miracle and was able to feed the 5000 people in the New Testament time! I should not be surprised that this church was able to feed everyone who wished to partake in the Easter Day lunch.

  It was wonderful meeting other Christians from Athens and celebrating Easter together while we were in Greece!

  RT, Easter Sunday Service Athens, Greece