European Vacation 2005

Nnnnachosss!!

ITS ALL GREEK TO ME
You might remember from my last newsletter that our first stop in Athens, after breakfast of course, was the Greek travel agent. I informed the agent about our plan to spend 7 nights on two islands. I definitely wanted to see Santorini, but I thought it might be nice to see another island. He suggested Naxos - I had never been there, so why not? I tried to say it, but it came out nachos. Our agent quickly said with a smile, "Its called Naksos. Nachos is Mexican food." That comment sounded a little rehearsed.

To get to Naxos from Athens you must hop on a ferry from Piraeius. For a few extra euros the travel agent arranged for a taxi to drive us from our hotel - it took about 20 minutes - and we jumped on our ship.


SMOOTH RIDE
In addition to passengers, the ferry fleet supplies the islands with goods. So we were transported by what might look like a mini-cruise ship, complete with cabins and cargo. As we boarded, so did cargo trucks, cars, and scooters. Natasha is known to get seasick; she was a bit worried. But the weather was good, and it barely swayed.

We had assigned seats for the 5 hour cruise, but we preferred to alternate between the cafe, where we could drink beer and coffee, and the deck, where we took in some rays. And around midnight we arrived in NACHOS!! HE HE.


FIRST DAY IN PARADISE
We woke up to absolute paradise. The port town on Naxos is this charming collection of small white buildings with narrow passages seperating one from another. The marina is directly in front of a string of restaurants, where you can get anything from traditional Greek food to their interpretation of an omlett(severely overcooked). And occasionally you can see a few fresh octopus just hanging around.

We strolled from our hotel room just a few blocks to the port. The small sailboats are lined up in the sun, and the water is so calm. Natasha and I wanted to examine a few menus before choosing a place for breakfast. And breakfast was soooo good. The first thing they brought us was this huge bowl of plain yogourt drizzled with honey. Damn! Then we each had a big omlett, coffee (nescafe), juice, and toast. Now that's the way to start a day.

I REALLY NEEDED THIS
After 3 weeks of cold weather and rain, I couldn't wait to lay in the sun. After lunch we headed to the beach. A few blocks from the port we found this long stretch of black-pebble beach. A couple restaurants had lounge chairs arranged to entice us tourists. Of course it worked. Our waitress kept a steady stream of Mythos (greek beer) heading our direction. Life is good.


I HAVE A QUESTION
Most of you know that sunbathing topless in Europe is accepted and normal. And most of us guys think this is a good norm. Well, I'm here to tell you that the Europeans can keep it!! Yeah - you heard me right. Why is it that the hottest girls rarely (never?) sunbath without their top, but every grandma or obese woman feels the need to share? Ugh. Oh - and their hubbies love those wonderful speedos.

WE'RE LOST!!
So after a little sunbathing and a lot of beer, we decided to grab a late lunch. We packed our stuff up and headed back to our apartment. Since we came here directly from town, we only knew the general direction of our hotel. So within 5 minutes we knew we were lost. We ended up wandering into an Internet cafe, where this nice brit gave us very general directions back. After zig-zagging for another 20 minutes we made it.

So we dropped off our beach gear and discussed our lunch options. Then we decided to head right back to where we came. And as we walked toward the beach, we figured out our hotek is exactly 1 block away from where we started. Typical of my vacations :) Anyway, lunch was INCREDIBLE.

WHY DID WE EAT HERE AGAIN?
After a wonderful nap we ventured out again. We wandered down to the port. It was lit up and lots of tourists were about. We started down restaurant row looking for a good spot. After examining a few menus, a waiter flagged us down and asked if we wanted to see their kitchen. So we went in. And he showed us an array of delicious looking food. We were sold!

The service was amazing. We ordered some appetizers: stuffed wine leaves, greek salad, tzatziki. Mmmmm. I ordered some ouzo - I had never tried it, so why not? Then I smelled it - it was like that black candy, like medecine. I couldn't do it. Mythos please!!

Then dinner came. And it was disgusting!! I mean it. I think they reheated some stuff from last night. Neither of us couldn't eat. Good thing we stuffed ourselves with appetizers :)

FRENCH AND TOPLESS
That night the weather turned bad. The clouds came in, and the temperature dropped. So we decided that the following day we would rent a car and explore the island. And after dinner we randomly came across the French answer to VW's Cabriolet. Its a fun little car; the car rental company delivered it to our hotel at 10am. We had already eaten breakfast, so we headed for the hills.

The maps of the island are not particularly precise, so it took a bit of driving and backtracking to get to our first stop. But eventually we got the hang of the signage. Natasha and I spent the day touring the island. And no Greek island would be complete without some ruins. These date back to 400 b.c. And after a long day with the top down we were ready for a long nap. When we woke up, it was time for dinner.


DAMN SWEDES ARE EVERYWHERE
After our little nap, we showered and headed out. Natasha wanted to see if the beach restaurant served dinner, but it was empty so we decided to pass. There are a couple good looking restaurants right next to our little hotel; we were feeling lazy, so we checked out their menus. And we sat down for a quiet dinner.

Our waitress was a cool swedish girl who moved to the islands to be with her greek boyfriend years ago. Inbetween drinks and courses we exchanged stories. It was a nice evening - food and company were fantastic.

JUST A LITTLE WINDY
Just a few hundred yards from the port there is an old ruin that looks like a free-standing marble door. It is lit at night, and I thought it would look cool photographed. So Natasha and I took a little field trip up there around 11pm. But the wind was really howling. I set up my tripod and camera, but the wind was shaking the camera. At one point it lifted one leg of the tripod off the ground. Oh well...I gave up.


AND ON TO SANTORINI
Our last morning on NACHOS was beautiful. The weather turned back to perfect. We had a great breakfast and went to photo the same ruins from the night before, only during the day instead. This would be a perfect beach day, but we caught our ferry to Santorini, where we were scheduled to spend another 4 nights in paradise.

posted by Adam Stern @ 5:53 AM