Thursday, September 10, 2015

Beach day in Naxos

Again I was wide awake last night at midnight, but this time I think I can attribute it to the heat. I spent a ridiculous amount of time (and annoying beeps from my frivilous button pushing) trying to figure out the air conditioner, with no real success. Well, I was able to get it working but then it got too cold with the fan, so then had to turn it off. Urgh! Thankfully I was able to get back to sleep some time after 1am.

We were up at 8am and then slowly made our way to breakfast. There were only a few other guests around. I had yogurt with nutella, juice (that tasted like apple spice tea??), some canned peaches, a hardboiled egg and some fried things we couldn't identify, lol. It all hit the spot. We're pretty easy to please.

We called our friendly cab driver, Nikos, to take us to the beach. Nikos has driven us nearly a half dozen times at this point so he's become a familiar face. We told him we wanted to go to Propokios beach but he said no, Plaka is better as there are fewer people. Seeing as he is a resident of Naxos we figured we'd trust his reccomendation. He was bang on. We drove by Propokios and he was right, it was a crowded beach in size and full of people.

It took about 10 minutes or so to get to Plaka and we were glad we followed Nikos' advice. Naxos has some of the most beautiful beaches in Greece and this didn't disappoint. It is 4km long, wide and soft sand. The water was clear and warm too - as warm as the ocean gets anyway! Nikos dropped us off at Cedar Cafe, which he said was his friend, and left us to our own devices. The main road was dirt, which added to the beachside charm. Jeff and I walked a little bit down the road before opting to return to the Cedar Cafe because we liked the look of the thatch umbrellas on the beach (and Nikos said they would call him for us when we wanted to return to our hotel). We rented a couple of chairs and umbrella (already in place on the beach) for 5€ and settled in for the day. A server from the cafe took our order, bringing Jeff a large beer for the beach. Jeff's easy to please.

We spent the afternoon in the sunshine and heat, reading, swimming and lounging. At one point, Jeff and I were in the water and a fish got eerily close to us - seeing as a fish attacked us and our friends in Cuba in February, I was quick to get out of the water! Jeff said it wasn't big deal (ha!). It didn't stop me from going in again when I got too hot.

We watched the waves vary from calm stillness to roaring, at one point crashing over the sandy incline of the beach and past our chairs! It made nearly everyone jump to grab their belongings should they have been on the sand! I don't think anyone was expecting the water to go as far as it did - it only happened once but it was enough to have everyone move their stuff, lol. Thankfully I had my backpack off the ground.

We opted for lunch at the Cedar Cafe and it was delicious! I had a Greek salad (tomato, onion, feta, olives, capers, olive oil), and it was so good! The feta cheese was so creamy and the olive oil wasn't the cheapy kind we get on sale at Zehrs (lol). I tried a black olive - still don't like them, lol. Jeff had saginaki (fried cheese) and it was okay, nothing really special. We split bread and tzatziki (drizzled with olive oil) which was also super delicious. We are quickly making our way through our must-try Greek food list! Only thing that is left is moussaka!! And the drinks ouzo and kitron (although we bought some and will try soon!)

At 5pm we had the Cedar Cafe call Nikos, who picked us up and dropped us to our hotel. We'll be seeing him in the morning when he drives us back to the port for our ferry at 11:35am. The people here have been very friendly and accomodating. We're lucky as our Greek only includes the word 'hello' (yassus) at this point, lol. 

Jeff and I have showered and are now thinking about dinner. I'm writing on the ipad as I look out over the bay and at the town of Naxos and surrounding mountains (beauty). While we've enjoyed our stay and would return, we would probably stay elsewhere to avoid the need for a taxi - we could rent a car or atv but we weren't prepared to navigate that with only a day and a half here.

Update - we tried the kitron. It's made from citrus leaves and comes in three different varieties. Clear is strongest, then orange, then green (increasing in sweetness). Jeff bought a sample of orange. He said it tasted good, after it burned down your throat. I say, it burns down your throat and into your belly. I had to chase it with beer, lol. I guess that's what 40% alcohol will do to you. Blegh! lol

Side note - it's kind of gross to have to put your used toilet paper in the garbage after using it. Nothing like poop paper in the trash can for a day. Be thankful for the sewer system back home!

We've now had dinner. I had cheese and spinach pastries and a plate of eggplant and Jeff had fried cod with beets - all was very good. My mai tai however was SUPER strong, which was was unpleasant.

It's 9pm and we're ready to head inside after taking in the lights from town. The wind isn't too strong so it feels warmer tonight. I hope it doesn't stay too warm or it'll be me against the air conditioner again!

Tomorrow we're off to the island of Ios (pronounced ee-ohs) and the reviews of our hotel on tripadvisor are awsome!! We're excited.

Until tomorrow,

Amanda and Jeff xo

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