Ch 2, Naxos and Mykonos

Naxos

Naxos is the next island east of Paros.  It is larger, more mountainous, has more beaches and seems to have less year round residents. It has great beaches and long coast with very few buildings.

I have learned this time of year you make a reasonable offer for your car or apartment and usually they will accept it. We got a car in the port at a “cash” offered price  and set off to find a home. We kicked a few beds and ended up at the Stella apartments on a dirt road across from the beach at reduced cash or credit card price.

My ship has come

Some Thank You's!!!

Ok, we have to thank those who have helped us get here.  The cat is normally housed with my Mom while we travel. But at 94 she is having some health issues, got to visit the hospital and rehab, and though she loves the cat, we felt it would be to much of a imposition to leave the cat with her and her care taker. I need to thank my brothers, especially Scott and his wife Peggy and my other brothers for stepping in to help Mom.   So, to the rescue comes Jane.  Jane is retired, a great artist which talent she puts to work as a volunteer at the Christmas Toy Shop, and stepped in to house and cat set why we roam the world.  Thank you Family and Jane.

The Ruins

On Paros and Naxos there are some old ruins. But on Paros and Naxos are a lot more modern ruins.  They bought off on the cheap mortgage deals pushed by Wall Street through their banks like everyone else.  Unfortunately, they took a harder hit than most.

 The old..

The new ruins everywhere you look.....





Technical stuff. 

 Writing a blog from foreign lands can be technologically challenging.  Some times everything is the language of the country your are in. People have WiFi they say and they do, they just do not have a internet connection.  The latest is Google which runs the blogspot that I use to blog.  The last couple of days it would not function correctly.  Today I switched to using Windows to get to the Google blogspot and despite repeated pop-up warnings that “the browser you are using is not compatible” it worked excellently where Google Chrome would not.  Thank you MicroSoft.

No Squid, Fish

So it is time for lunch and we find a nice place on the water. The waitress comes across the road from the restaurant to the table with a menu but explains they do not have everything, just a few fresh items each day.  Vicki orders souvlaki. The waitress yells to a guy working on the roof something but we understand “souvlaki” .  The other table has some squid and I order squid. She turns and yells to the roof again.  We hear “no squid, fish”. “Ok” I say “I will have fish.  The man climbs down and heads into the kitchen. It was a wonderful meal.



"No squid, fish"

The goat path

Sometimes I am accused of taking the goat path.  I guess it is true.

ooops

even on the goat path some times there is a bus that comes by and you need a place to wait

goat path?





We passed this guy setting in a 4 house settlement going down a goat path. We waved and he waved.  When we gave up on the goat path after someone looked at the map and found out "green" did not mean "scenic" but "very unimproved road" and passed him on the return he jumped up and indicated in sign language he needed a lift.  We took him about 17 km and never saw another vehicle. When we came to intersection and we turned left he got out and turned right.

We went to dinner last night at a open air restuarant on the beach. Half liter of cheap wine, some average food, a great host was making for a average dinner until this broke out.......


 




Mykonos

Here I set on my balcony having coffee, the half moon shining brightly over my head as the sun is starting to make it fade and bring light to the town of Mykonos below me and light up the Aegean Sea. Roosters crowing on the left. (Why are they always on the left?) Litza had told us three days was enough on Naxos and she was right, so we added a night to Mykonos which would give us a full day here before we fly out. The boat ride this time was on the SeaJet 2 boat. Not that much faster but twice as expensive to save about ten minutes. But when it is the only boat, time or money is not really a factor. For your extra money you do get a assigned seat and once a young Chinese traveler explained that to us (they still respect and guard their elders) we sat down and had a nice ride.

Mykonos is everything I expected. Two large cruise ships were anchored in the little harbor and the small dock that we came into was loaded with hawkers selling rooms, cars, scooters, etc. and a long line of passengers waiting to take our place on the SeaJet 2. In fact, as I type this in the dawns early, early light I see one of the lighted monsters making it’s way across the sea in this direction to disgorge it’s 5,000 passengers. (By the end of the day there were 4 cruise ships in the harbor from mega to small.)

There are good things and bad things about coming to a fully functioning tourist island. The good thing is things are still open and there are lots of tourist that make people watching and meeting more fun. Where else would you meet a couple from New Zealand in the award winning bull semen business. (They were not cruise ship people.) The bad thing is, there are all those tourists and they all look just like us.  Ain’t a good looking honey below 50 in the crowd.

Just like the good and bad of people being here there are good and bad about staying at the La Veranda high above Mykonos.  The good thing is there is just a fantastic view of the town and sea. The bad part is if you want to eat, and when have I never, you have to walk down the hill, easy enough, but then you have walk back up the hill.

So, today we are off to Italy.

Something is not right today with the internet so the pictures are not as I like them but are the way they will be for now.
AA