Greece - Part 2: Naxos

Greek Islands - sun-baked metamorphosed rocks draped with white-washed blue-domed buildings. Seafood galore, clear blue skies, olive groves, beaches, wine, and sunsets over the turquoise Mediterranean Sea. My destination amongst all the Greek Islands is the Cyclades.

Part 2 of my trip to Greece sees me leave Athens and take the Fast Ferry to Naxos Island. This island in the largest and greenest in the Cyclades. I stayed over through Easter, when tourists vanish and locals travel back to their family.

Please click on the photographs to enlarge them:

The Fast Ferry. (How did I take this photo?
Well, I fell out and ... no, it's just a similar boat.)

Hora City on Naxos Island at sunset.

The Temple of Apollo on Naxos. The doorway is all that is left.

The Soula Hotel I stayed at. Empty.
A whole room to myself for 8 euros a night!

The glorious marbled Greek washroom.
(Greek showers never have curtains and you cannot put toilet paper down the toilet...yeah.)

Greek fishing boat in the harbor at Hora.

Hora town viewed from the harbor.

The crystal-clear turquoise Mediterranean Sea.

Sunset from Hora harbor on Naxos.

I like photographs of sunsets...

Artistic photograph of black vine on white wall.

Peekaboo! One of the hundreds of stray cats.

The patchwork town paths remind me of snake's skin.
Some archways are a bit short though.

This the is strangest sight on my trip:
a mummified stray cat, sticking out of a stone wall.

After taking the first photo of the cat, a local walks right past without even a glance at the strange feline mummy emerging from the wall! Unbelievable!

Artistic photograph of the sun setting over a Naxos fishing boat.

Octopus drying outside a restaurant.

The day's catch at sunset.

Octopus on my plate.
Mmmmm. Rubbery but flavorful.

Apollo's Temple at sunset. Artistic photograph.

Naxos harbour statue at sunset.

Sunset over kids playing on the beach.

The beach I spent hours a day on. 30 seconds from the hotel.

Glorious Naxos beach.

My lizard friend. Loves to sunbath on the hot pavement.

Tracks in the sand from a beetle.

Amazing rock arch in the sea.

Artistic sunset along the road to Hora town from my hotel.

Sunset over rough blocks of marble.

My last sunset on Naxos.
The colours are intense. Absolutely stunning.

The slow ferry coming to take me to Santorini.

Naxos was an incredible island. Although my 5 days there were a bit slow and lonely (as there were few other travelers), I am very glad I went in the off season. It is not hard to see how spoiled and congested the island will become in the summer... As I would see on Santorini, a much more "popular" island.

Next post: Greece - Part 3: Santorini and home again.

Greece - Part 1: Athens

Greece - a country of natural beauty and classical history. I spent two weeks and visited three (and 1/2) locations throughout Greece at Easter - starting in Athens, and then traveling through the Cyclades Islands. (The "1/2" is Crete, but I'll get into that detail later.)

My photos (of which I'll show ~70 of the 357 I took), like my trip, are divided into three posts: 1. Athens, 2. Naxos Island, and 3. Santorini Island.

Here is Part 1: Athens -

The Parthenon at the Acropolis, perched high above Athens.
Arguably one of the most famous and important ancient monument in the World.

The Greek columns at the Acropolis, with the glorious sun.

The Greek Flag - Blue and White,
representing the Mediterranean and the white-washed island houses.

Me, doing my best Spartan act before the Parthenon.

The Odeon of Herodes Atticus, on the slope of the Acropolis,
where classical and opera concerts are still held. Yani, welcome home!

The Odeon seats. Pure Greek marble. Artistic photograph.

Columns and columns at Ancient Agora, the political heart of classical Athens.
Socrates himself walked these roads spouting philosophy...

Greek statues line the Agora Museum halls.
Greek museums have multitudes of plain-clothed security guards watching your every move.

The sun rays beat down on the Temple of Hephaestus in Agora.

The view of sprawling Athens from the top of the Acropolis.

The sunset over Athens from the top of Lykavittos Hill (the highest point within Athens).

Athens at night from Lykavittos Hill.
The beautiful Acropolis lit up with the Saronic Gulf beyond.

Full moon over the Acropolis.

Artistic full moon photograph.

The following photographs were taken in the world-famous National Archaeological Museum in Athens:

The celebrated Mask of Agamemnon.
This was on the cover of my Grade 7 history textbook!

A selection of 3rd century BC Greek artifacts, including two Cycladic figurines.

Aphrodite disk in front of the famed Statue of Zeus or Poseidon.
Could be either, is he holding a lightning bolt or a trident?

Bronze Spartan helmet. Elegant yet powerful.

After 3 days of Athens (and that's more than enough time in the big city), it was time to explore the islands. I headed to Athens' port Piraeus and bought my ticket on the fast ferry.
Next stop: the Cyclades, specifically Naxos!

Boarding the fast ferry at 7am. Yawn...

Next post: Greece - Part 2: Naxos. Stay tuned!

Santorini sinking...

Well friends, I leave Naxos today (in an hour) and sailing to Santorini. Sailing meaning the "slow ferry." Though I'll take the ferry over the cruise ship any day! If anyone has been watching the news recently, you may have heard of this unfortunate news story:

GREEK CRUISE SHIP SINKS NEAR SANTORINI

Yeah. It has been all over the news here, but apparently a cruise ship of 15,000 people hit a volcanic reef on Thursday, rolling over (!) and slipping under the waves Friday morning. Luckly, all except two passangers were safely taken to the island of Santorini (A french man and his daughter are still missing). It is unknown why the ship hit the reef, as it was on all the charts, and the captain and his crew have been charged with negligence and were taken to be held here on Naxos! It was the captain's first day on the job too.

And now I am going to Santorini... Wish me luck! I'll let you know how I get on in a few days. Don't worry! I can swim! And my ferry is going extra slow!

Will post again soon!

Athens and Naxos...

Hello all, just a quick update from Naxos, the largest of the Cyclades Greek Islands. It is beautiful here, with lots of sun and stray dogs and cats. I'll be here until after Easter (try to experience some Greek culture) and then I'll be heading on to Santorini (an exploded volcanic island and one of the most beautiful islands, apparently). Athens was amazing too, the parthenon...I have photos!

Happy Easter and I'll update again soon!