Action-Man, 23 June, Egina Island, Greece

Sam and I are sunburnt. Not scorched, but ruddied up a bit. We spent much of the day by the Aegean shore. It was into this sea that (in myth) King Aegeus threw himself when ships returned to him with the sign that his son was killed by the minotaur.

Sam reminds me of Fritz in The Swiss Family Robinson. He plunges into the turqoise water with blonde hair and pants rolled to his knees. All he needs is a large belt buckle and a machete. We wrestle in the ocean.

We've escaped the summer crowds here on the island of Egina, south of Athens. A hydrofoil bore us here after a morning on the Acropolis. There, tour groups swarmed as we ate bread and cheese saved from the hostel breakfast.

It's been inspiring to walk in the steps of the great men of Greece. The marvelous light and food clear the mind. I see how it spawned such pure and rational thinkers; I wish I could emulate them. Plato was much more moral than many Christians. He had an unswerving concept of truth. Why can't the followers of Christ have such resolve more often? I know such Christians exist, but much of the world sees only hypocrites within the church. We need to be modern day martyrs for the truth.

Drew