Having been staying in tiny and largely empty places for the last few weeks….it was surprising to arrive at our ferry to find hugely long queues of folk waiting to board!
I cannot remember such a busy ferry! But then we realised…this is possibly one of busiest tourist ferry rides in the Greek islands! From Crete…to Santorini….to Naxos…to Paros…to Mykonos and on to Athens.
Full of passengers. Empty car deck.
Not just one of the busiest…but possibly also the most expensive! A full 97 euros for a single passenger ticket…for the three hours to Naxos!! Phew!! Clearly the Seajet ferry folk know how to charge….when it involves lots of Americans and Chinese visiting Santorini!!
And so to Earthquake central!
Apparently….very few folk are visiting Santorini just now…for fear of the “big one”…with the old volcano rumbling for some months now.
I ‘m not sure I’d want to be here when folk start visiting again (only three cruise ships here today!)
But it is an extraordinary island…..
…the capital, Thira, clinging to the clifftop
..the much photographed Oia.
This is Thirasia…..the ‘other’ island!
And then we were off again. The power of the jet engines is a sight to behold! Powering this monster ferry at over 60kmh!
And to to Naxos…where a surprising number of folk disembarked with us.
I have heard of Naxos of course…but have not really heard about it!
And we headed straight off the ferry…and into the hills! (Our accommodation would not be ready for a couple of hours!)
And……what a surprise!!
Another of those blobs on the map…and look at it!
Mount Zas (Zeus)…the highest point the cyclades…at over 1,000m
We stopped for coffee at a tiny village ..and then went our separate ways! Iain to the Temple of Demeter…and me on up the mountain to the village of Apeiranthos.
We both had the best time!
Iain’s temple was closed! Tuesday! Alas! But a bit of fence-climbing was not going to stop him! One of the very earliest of Greek temples..100 years older than the acropolis/Parthenon.
And for my part…I climbed up to the top of the island….
What a surprise really!
Just glorious!!
I had to pinch myself a few times. Really…..I so love Greece!
So many surprises!
And then…on a tiny island in the middle of nowhere…a glorious 20km descent!!
Who would have thought!?
Here I am looking down towards Mount Zas once again!
Naxos is renowned for its marble. Weird really….you would have thought that the quarry had been built! Not un-built!
The very same marble which built the Temple of Demeter 2,800 years ago!
Tomorrow…time to explore Naxos Town!
Great evening to boot!
We only talked about Trump for a bit….!!
And Wako…and Gloriavale (why the fuck does NZ allow that monster to exist?). What a weird world we live in!
Looks glorious!!