Greece Athens to Naxos

(John) And now for something completely different. Greece, Athens to Naxos

Getting to our hostel in Athens from our hostel in Cairo was executed almost flawlessly. First a taxi to the Cairo Airport. Then we went through all the pre-boarding ritual. As usual the process was different than any other time we have ever boarded a plane but that was no surprise. It was hard to find anywhere that did not smell of cigarette smoke, which was probably a good thing as we avoided painful withdrawal symptoms. Did I ever mention that way back when we left India and went through Kuwait Airport, there was a smoking area that was called the 'Self Medication Room' I thought that was pretty funny. Anyway, our only mistake or hitch as we travelled to Athens was that we failed to validate our ticket before boarding the Airport Metro, meaning we had to get off the train before it left and return all the way back to the entrance. We missed the train and had to wait 20 minutes for another one.

The hostel in Athens was great. Basic, but really clean. Something bit Lesley in the night though and her eye swelled up pretty badly. She seems to have survived, the swelling has receded and I can now tell her she looks beautiful without lying.

We quickly got back to Europe mode in Athens. Which means, no restaurants, street food, loitering in supermarkets and lots of walking. We stayed for three nights, saw the usual things – Acropolis, Lyvatikos Hill, other ancient temples and guards changing. We tried to buy tickets on the 7.30am ferry to the Greek Island of Naxos but we had picked the only fully booked ferry this side of July so had to be satisfied with getting on the later sailing. This meant that though we could get up late the day we left, our first ferry trip in the Greek islands would be cold and dark. This was very disappointing although I somehow doubt we are going to get much sympathy.

The five hour ferry journey was quite pleasant. It was full of Greeks. No surprise there. This is the start of Easter week so everyone is going home or to their summer place for the holiday. The mood was festive and there were lots of children. We had a bunch sit very close to us. They were loud and boistrous and one made a huge mess by dumping water into an empty cardboard fast food container. It flooded the table and spilled onto the floor by our bags. Lesley went into full on teacher mode and ordered all these little Greek kids around until they had cleaned it all up. Their parents were oblivious being out on deck – smoking probably. To their credit, the kids took orders in English really well and our bags stayed dry.

Once in Naxos we were met by Nikos (naturally) who took us to our rented apartment. We are now in our small studio, overlooking the bay. It is all very lovely, too bad it's raining. We have two rooms and a very basic kitchenette. All for 210 Euros a week. Lesley and I wandered into town this morning and got supplies from the only grocery store open on a Sunday. We spent 25 Euros. This proves that a family of four can live on a Greek Island for less than 60 Euros a day. Maybe.

Photos: Guards Changing; At the Acropolis; Sam could not remember the name of this one

Our ferry to Naxos; Sunny (Not) Naxos; A Naxos Street.