Naxos can lay claim to being one of the most popular Greek Islands. According to Laura's guide book (note: for the Greek Islands she ventured away from her trusty Lonely Planet) the numbers visiting are higher and the average length of stay is also greater than that for other popular islands. That isn't surprising given that Naxos offers a mix of gorgeous beaches, attractive port town as well as ancient ruins.
Just as Jay and I went to Punta del Este back in Feb solely to take photos with God's hand, I think the main reason Laura wanted to come to Naxos was to visit the "picture frame" officially know as Apollo’s Temple. Only a stones throw away from the port, Apollo’s Temple is a massive picture-frame-esque structure atop a hill overlooking the water. It is all that remains of what was once a temple honoring Apollo. We were quite sad to discover that it was roped off (probably to protect the rocks from further decay) so we could not take a picture inside the frame as Laura's book showed. None the less it was fun to see and take photos in front of.
We spent the first day walking around Naxos town wandering along the small boardwalk filled with restaurants and shops. Laura was super excited to find a used book store that had a fantastic assortment of English books, something that was VERY hard to come by on our travels through Patagonia. All three of us bought cute bracelets to add to our ever growing collection. I forget who said this but someone in BsAs told me you aren't a true backpacker unless you have a lot of bracelets.... and here I was thinking it was the backpack and budget traveling that did it. Well...I guess we've made it now? Laura said with her 2 from Naxos she's done! I have a feeling she may give in (we do have 7 more countries to hit up).
The next day we decided to explore the coastline with its succession of excellent sand beaches. According to the guide book Naxos is host of some of the (self-proclaimed) best beaches in Greece. While that seems like quite an ambitious boast - I wouldn't be lying to say I could maybe agree. Ash says they were def her favorite. For me it is such a close call - they are all just so gorgeous! I can say that the few beaches we visited on Naxos were are all very nice, peaceful, and great for swimming as most are protected in a cove.
We decided Naxos was the town where Ash and I would face our fears head on and rent scooters! We did this even after reading the following sentence out of the guide book: "Sadly many of the island's roads are in positively lethal condition in parts (this is one destination where is is better to stick to buses rather than resort to mopeds)." A little crazy? Maybe...Needless to say I was a little concerned. Luckily Laura was right and it was a piece of cake! I am not sure what roads her book were referring to. I am glad we choose Naxos as the island to learn on though because there was much less traffic than busy Santorini. After spending a few hours at the beach we took the bikes on a joy ride throughout the island. By the end of the day Ash and I were going up to maybe 60km/hr... we wouldn't know as both of bikes had broken speedometers. But Laura said if she had to guess (based on her speed) that's pretty close. I'm happy to have gotten the first ride out of the way and hope to have other opportunities to rent scooters again!
Just as Jay and I went to Punta del Este back in Feb solely to take photos with God's hand, I think the main reason Laura wanted to come to Naxos was to visit the "picture frame" officially know as Apollo’s Temple. Only a stones throw away from the port, Apollo’s Temple is a massive picture-frame-esque structure atop a hill overlooking the water. It is all that remains of what was once a temple honoring Apollo. We were quite sad to discover that it was roped off (probably to protect the rocks from further decay) so we could not take a picture inside the frame as Laura's book showed. None the less it was fun to see and take photos in front of.
We decided Naxos was the town where Ash and I would face our fears head on and rent scooters! We did this even after reading the following sentence out of the guide book: "Sadly many of the island's roads are in positively lethal condition in parts (this is one destination where is is better to stick to buses rather than resort to mopeds)." A little crazy? Maybe...Needless to say I was a little concerned. Luckily Laura was right and it was a piece of cake! I am not sure what roads her book were referring to. I am glad we choose Naxos as the island to learn on though because there was much less traffic than busy Santorini. After spending a few hours at the beach we took the bikes on a joy ride throughout the island. By the end of the day Ash and I were going up to maybe 60km/hr... we wouldn't know as both of bikes had broken speedometers. But Laura said if she had to guess (based on her speed) that's pretty close. I'm happy to have gotten the first ride out of the way and hope to have other opportunities to rent scooters again!
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