My friends and I took a short ferry ride to a Greek island about three hours away. This magical little place was called Aegina.
This tiny island is known for is pistachios and holds a festival commemorating the harvest every summer. No matter what street you walk on their will be a pistachio stand on every corner. (Pro tip: you have to try the pistachio butter- even if you don't like pistachios). Shop owners will holler at you trying to get you to come try their products, for the simple reason that they're proud of them.
When my friends and I weren't spending our time eating these pistachios, we explored around the island. Because it wasn't tourist season, the five of us stuck out like sore thumbs. No matter where we went or what restaurant we wandered into, everyone stared at us. It felt like a movie scene in which a new group of people comes to this small town where nothing changes and all of a sudden the 'invaders' cause all sorts of trouble.
Some shops and beach houses were closed down despite vivid billboards advertising their amazing food and beach vibes. Of course, these places would be opened again in the summer but for now it looked like a ghost town.
We stayed in a little Airbnb farther away from the main port. It was a quiet quaint neighborhood with one grocery store that closes at 8pm every night and one restaurant that only serves ham and cheese sandwiches. (Let's just say I've had enough ham and cheese sandwiches for a while).
The weekend we visited Aegina also happened to be the last weekend of Carnival. Carnival in Greece is one of the largest celebrations in Europe that mark the beginning of Lent. With Carnival starting January 17th, it continues until Clean Monday with kite flying as a symbol of purity.
Saturday is the biggest celebration with a giant parade and lots of food. For this, we ventured to the main port and watched the parade as children came and threw confetti on all of us. Everyone was dressed up in essentially Halloween costumes, from princesses to scary ghosts. It was one of the best experiences of my time abroad and can't wait to visit Aegina again someday soon.
