Nothing but the oldies here!!

Plans changed that morning, everyone was going off to Ios but Mel had an emergency back home and had to start making her way back to Australia. Her brother and his best friend apparently got in a fight, he fell and hit his head on a rock or something, and they had to cut his skull to relieve pressure. That's all i really know. We all felt so horrible for her. It's going to take 3 days of travel to get home!! Sometimes we forget that our lives back home are going on without us and it takes a rude awakening to remember that there's life outside our backpacking world!  I was amazed at how strong Mel is, she behaved just as normal as ever, I would have been a wreck. 

Naxos 1

We didn't really have plans, just Erin and I were going to go off and find some beach but it ended up being too far, so we just went to the nearby beach and layed there for a half hour and tried not to get blown away. It's been windy almost the entire time here. But still hot, it would be worse without the breeze.  Then we grabbed a quick lunch at one of the restaurants and it was time to catch the hostel bus to the port. 

View from room

We were all on the same ferry , the 3 girls on an 8 hour ride back to Athens and me just for 2 hours to Naxos.  It was sad to say goodbye, it's nice to have new friends to travel with for a few days. I will see Alana and Mel in Australia most likely. Not sure about Erin, she will be in Italy for 6 months.  But you never know where life may bring you. 

I was going to be strong and resist all the people at the port showing you there rooms and everything, i was going to go to the tourist information. But a persistent lady got my attention and whisked me off to her establishment.  I had another room all to myself, with my own bathroom, fridge, stove, TV and cable.  I still can't figure out the cable. The only channel i found in English was a "Praise-a-Thon" woooo hooo just my kinda show.  Friends was on, but in French. The other 598 channels seemed to be all from the middle east.  So, no TV. Dang and I was hoping to find Prison Break on there somewhere!!

Room in Naxos

The room has a shared balcony, can't quite see the ocean, but you can hear it.  The good thing is that I'm very close to the port, so i don't have to walk too far with the monster on my back.  All the buildings are built in a maze on a hill, a labyrinth of tiny streets,  kind of scary at night as it's dark for some brief stretches and all the streets look the same.  I've made it back after not too long of wandering, and i have the phone number in case I got desperate.

Yesterday I went on a full day tour around the island, that's usually a good way to get a feel for a place.  Of the entire group, I was the only person under the age of.. oh about 50.  There's no hostel here, I was told it was because of problems with theft. That's BS. Get better security then!  I've stayed in hostels all over Europe, New Zealand, Australia, etc  and never had a problem with stealing or heard of anyone else having a problem.  Anyway, so I'm on my own again here and surrounded by oldies!  I know there has to be other travelers here my age but where the heck are they! 

Room in Naxos

The trip was mostly a huge bore I'm sorry to say. The first stop was a little pottery shop, basically they talked for about 5 minutes about the function and types of pottery and then you got 10 minutes to look around and buy their stuff. Hello tourist trap.  I didn't buy crap and went back to sit on the bus. Next stop same thing, a "distillery" of citron liquor, a tiny room with some old looking things and of course lots of bottles available for purchase.  The next stop a tiny village and a browse through a 1 room "archaeological museum".  We stopped at a Byzantine church from the 7th Century. It was interesting to see the paintings on the wall, being more than 1000 years old.  We also saw a marble quarry with an unfinished gigantic statue.  They think it was never finished and used because it's cracked at the neck.  But the facial features and body shape are distinct.   The only other thing i found interesting besides these last two were a couple of torpedo's from WWII on the side of the road.  Don't know anything else about them except there they are, up on a hill .  We had lunch in Appellon. I had stuffed tomatoes and fried cheese.  I will never order fried cheese and eat the whole thing again. I felt so full and tired for hours later. I could hardly keep my eyes open on the bus.  I went straight back to my room and took a nap and didn't get up and out till around 9, I'm becoming a true Greek! haha .  I just wandered around the little old streets and shops. I had loukomathes and a pita gyro for dinner and still felt tired so went back to my room and went to bed early. 

Naxos tour 1

The owner came to my room early and asked me to switch rooms for a couple that is wanting to stay in my room tonight.  I was kind of annoyed that i had to pack up all my crap but I did and moved to another room, this one doesn't have it's own bathroom or balcony but for some reason I'm paying the same price.  Ahggg it's just not worth the effort for me to argue. 

I plan to walk around the city some more today, and see the beach here.  I'm in an Internet cafe and they were just playing the song "I Got it From My Momma" and I'm sitting here cracking up to myself  lol mom it's your song, it must be a sign your thinking of me !! 

Naxos tour 2

Ok that's it for now folks, will write more soon and try to get some more pics up !  x x x Kristin

Naxos tour 3

Old man and backpackers

Naxos beach

Naxos beach 2

Unfinished statue

Store in Naxos

Naxos beach 3

Naxos 2

Sunset in Naxos

Ruins in Naxos

Naxos