As soon as
the boat sailed away, it was time for aperitif! As a Frenchman, I had squeezed a bottle of Pastis 51 into my luggage back home- for a special occasions such as this ;). We didn't expect the boat ride to pass by so quickly as it did, and we really had all the ingredients needed for a good time: the gorgeous sea, a little breeze
cooling us down, the simple excitement to be there, the drinks and most of all the good friends! Somewhere along the way, we got to admire a
gorgeous sunset over the Aegean Sea. We arrived in Naxos
around 11pm and
after a short taxi ride we found our flat: a two story apartment with a kitchen and a terrace. Nighty night!
The next day, I got up earlier than everybody else, grabbed the camera and went on
exploring the surroundings. To my surprise the beach was just a
stone's throw away, at the end of our alley (it was too dark to notice upon arrival). After a short walk along the beach, I reached the harbor in its all peacefulness (it was around 7 am). Naxos was exactly like I always pictured it to be: narrow and twisting roads, white houses with a tint of blue and everywhere you look you could see
voluptuous pink flowers framing the white walls. After a visit to the Apollo
temple, I came back to our place where everybody was starting to wake up. We
had breakfast just on the beach side- such a great kick off for our day!
Our plan
for the day was to conquer the summit of the Cyclades, the so-called Mount Zeus at 1003m. The mountain had important
historical significance in ancient times; the locals believed that the
cave on the northwest flanks of the mountain was the birthplace of the god
Zeus. Thus, we were going to hike on the path of Gods! The road to the starting
point was great: small white villages everywhere and white chapels decorating the hill tops.
The hike itself was very pleasant and we started off just above a small village of Filoti. The beginning of the path was pretty rocky with greenery as far as the eyes could see. The higher we got, the
better views were opening up across the smaller islands around Naxos. On the summit, we
could see all the way to Paros
(20 km away). A thing worth mentioning is that Rachael hiked all the way up in
strap sandals and a dress; we did have our doubts at some point….
When we got back to our place, we dropped Rachael and
Christian off for some well-deserved rest. We wanted to take a coastal spin
with a car to further explore the magnificent shoreline. At times the road got
very close to the beach and we decided to pull over to stroll on the beach: the
water was crystal clear and better yet, we were pretty much alone on this long
sand beach!
When we got back to our apartment, Smitty, Rachael and Christian had prepared
everything for a small aperitif on the beach rocks. We had some music, suitable
dancing and chilling till the sun was setting in the horizon. Once it started
to get darker, it was time for dinner: Greek
meal in the harbour- Souvlaki, kebab, Gyros and wine! We finished the night with cocktails in a cool bar nearby; after all, at the midnight it was officially Christian’s
birthday!
We started the next morning as the previous one- with a great breakfast on the
beach. We then needed to get our bags and say goodbye to our Naxos home. After a small tour in the old
town, and filling the bags with party necessities, it was once again time to board on the
good old Blue Star Ferry and cruise ~birthday style~ till Santorini!
