Aegean Adventures

Hi Everyone! I thought I'd post a quick update, because we have free internet at this hostel and that's quite a commodity.
I've found that the best hostels so far have included a free breakfast, free internet, A/C, and towels. We only have one more hostel to stay in, and that's the Barcelona Dream hostel, which looks really nice. We've been very lucky as far as hostels go. The one we were GOING to stay in in Venice was frightening, but through a lot of luck, we managed to procure a room in a different hostel in the same building for 10 euros under what we were going to pay. It was an amazing gift, bc the other one, I'm not exaggerating about, it was truly scary. That's been our biggest adventure so far. I will be glad, I know, to get to Ireland, where we are staying in a townhouse. From this trip I will have stayed in 6 different hostels (!). They're really not so bad, although I definitely prefer the 3 person bedroom ones to the mixed dorms.
Aegina has been nice. I've spent every day on the beach, which is a very small strip of blazing hot sand, but the water is amazing and SO warm. It's very calm water, so you can just sit and chill without having to worry about giant attack waves.
I wish I could post some pictures but we don't have any working usb port here so I will either have to wait for another country, or just show you guys when I get home. I'm planning to put together a big album of mine and stephanie's pictures (which are amazing...she's such a good photographer and her big nikon camera can do anything).
Sooo Aegina. We left Athens backpackers and took the metro to Piraeus Port (I love how the metro is the same in every country, no matter what it's called (subway, tube, etc). Then at Piraeus, we took a ferry to Aegina, and grabbed a bus to Agia Marina, where we have been staying at a beachfront hostel called Hotel Rachel.
The nights have been really nice. The first night, Steph, Nika, and I went down to the beach and did a little nighttime beach photo shoot, taking some really cool slow shutter pics with the moon over the water. We got some really cool stuff. Then last night, the entire town had a blackout for about an hour, so most of the group grabbed mats and ran down to the beach to look at the stars. Other than that, the days have been pretty chill. Yesterday I grabbed a book and sat out on the white rocks next to the sea and read in the sun for a good two hours.
Funny note about Aegina: they have little trashcans next to the toilet, because you can't flush any paper down the toilet, not even toilet paper. I'm in a room with Nika and Steph and we've each accidentally disobeyed the rule. :D
Also, we found this place called George's Take Away, which sells 2 euro gyros, so we've been grabbing that for dinner every night. I also had my first legit greek baclava and it was amazing. I thought of you, mom and dad, while I shared one with Nika. Sooo good!
Anyway 12 days left in the trip, two more countries to visit, one more hostel, 4 more flights, and who knows how much more unpacking and repacking and grocery shopping. Goodbye for now!