We have all gone in different directions: to visit leprechauns, to munch on pain au chocolat
along The Avenue des Champs-Élysées, and to Greece so Al could stuff his mouth full of gyro and sea creatures. Our flight out of London to Athens was super easy but could have been different worlds – England – what pandemic? Greece – vaccination certificate please, and face masks everywhere. Thankfully, we followed directions and had paper copies of vaccinations. The Greeks knew we were Aussies as the Australian QR code is the only one in the world that doesn’t work.
The ferry from Athens to the beautiful Island of Naxos was long but so enjoyable. It was nice to stop with a trashy novel on a fantastic ferry. It was such a long day of travelling, but I preferred the 5.30 pm ferry out of Piraeus rather than getting up at 4 am. A lovely man picked us up in the eerily quiet, midnight Port of Naxos. The moon was streaming through the unfinished Temple of Apollo. It seems that even in 530 B.C, wars interrupted massive building projects.
I started humming Abba songs amongst the pristine whitewashed walls, tiled room, lovely balcony, and sound of the sea.
The Liana Beach Hotel is an easy 10 minutes by cab from the centre of Naxos, and it was so lovely to be here as the Island is just waking up. The streets were quiet, and I loved watching everyone scrubbing walls, painting the grout between paving, and bringing in the greenest of trees ready for the season-opening.
No filters are needed here as the sky and sea are the bluest of blue. Stunning weather, and you have had to lather on the sunscreen. Drinking beer and eating dolmades and gyros on a Tuesday at lunchtime seemed a perfectly normal thing to do. Last night we wandered the eerily quiet streets near our hotel to a dinner of the most fabulous seafood at a very traditional taverna. The first question – English? No Aussies. Oh good, if Australian, very good – free Ouzo and free cake.
An older Greek woman, in an awesome t-shirt telling us the world was amazing, bossed everyone around (including us), and it was worth having dinner just for the spectacle. The fact that it was the best calamari ever was a bonus. Alex said he could sum up the beautiful Greek Island of Naxos in a few words – ouzo that would blast your head off, meat, and millions of cats. Abba disappeared as I felt like I was caught in the middle of My Big Fat Greek Wedding – the sky is sunny, and the people are the friendliest you would ever encounter.
Sleeping under the stars 