Our next stop was Naxos. We wanted to spend a week in one destination and we didnt know if we should spend it in Naxos or Paros. After reading a lot of blogs and guides, I decided that Naxos was the right choice for us. And it was!
We left Santorini in the rain. Sailing past Ios, we could hardly see it. Actually, it was sort of like the last time we were there. You could say we spent our honeymoon there. As young backpackers, we left for a 2 year trip through Europe, Asia and Australia, straight after we got married. Our first stop (after Athens) was Ios and it wasnt very successful. We were there off season and everything was closed. It was cold and very windy and that old memory is why we didnt want to return there this time.
Arriving in Naxos you sail straight into the main town with the famous Portara on the left to greet you. I could tell we were going to like it. We were staying in an old family home, right on the port, with three big windows looking out to sea. It was noisy -- we knew it
As there was no live music, it was probably a lot quieter than usual but there was still recorded music -- mostly international pop type music -- and people were eating and talking at the restaurants until late at night. Even with all the windows open, to take full advantage of that wonderful night air -- it didnt bother us. After full days, we were tired at night. It would have been perfect except for the bed. There were six of them -- all rock hard.
This is the gamble we are prepared to take. With Airbnb and hotels, we know they might be old, the bed hard and lots of noise. But as they say, location, location, location.
Naxos is a real Greek island -- they all are obviously, but Naxos is a big island, the biggest in the Cyclades, and they grow most of their own food and have a permanent population not dependent on tourism. Most of the tourists at the port seemed to be Greek. Food is king on Naxos. The
Greek people like their food but not like in Naxos. It just seemed to be more plentiful, cheaper, bigger portions -- just a lot more of it. And the people were also considerably rounder than other places. And we probably were too by the time we left!
The port is lined with restaurants and taverns. Most days we ate a late lunch at a beach or village and by the time wed seen the sunset and walked around the town, wed find ourselves eating dinner at 10.30 or even 11.30. Sometimes we only wanted a snack but we never succeeded. We practically always got much more than anticipated.
Our biggest fail was at a Souvlaki place at about 11 at night. I just wanted something light. My husband ordered 3 different souvlakis and I ordered a plate of chicken gyros. It was a huge amount of food, it covered the table. Each of the three souvlakis were all served on their own plates together with chips and pita. I wasnt even hungry! Our eyes nearly popped out of our heads surveying the table and we got the giggles and couldnt stop laughing. Some of the other people around
us were also laughing. One man came by our table just to tell us that he had done the exact same thing the night before.
The restaurants were full all evening with Greek people eating and celebrating. There was a very popular restaurant right under where we were staying but we never saw a spare table there before midnight. We were very impressed at the amounts people could eat.
We didnt research restaurants and we didnt return anywhere because there was so much choice, so we just tried different places. Mostly we ate really well. Our best meal was at a restaurant along the Plaka called Petrino (@petrinobeach). I just had chicken souvlaki but it was a cut above anything else Id eaten and my husband had baked goat (!) on celery pur which was excellent. Afterwards we sat under the umbrellas on the beach, swimming and reading all afternoon. Perfect day.
Most evenings we spent at the Portara.
