Today we fly across to the island of Naxos, which is in the South Cyclades group around two hundred kilometres south east of Athens.
We climb aboard our smallish propellor plane for the thirty five minute flight. But wait, whats that in the seat pocket? It cant be surely. Yes it is, its an magazine. At last count this is the nineteenth flight weve taken on this trip, and all weve found in any seat pockets until now have been plastic coated safety cards, white paper bags and advertisements for credit cards. We thought that the magazine had gone the way of the dodo, thanks, we assumed, to the possibility of the dreaded virus lurking within its pages. Presumably advertisements for credit cards are immune, and I guess it could get a bit messy if they did away with the white paper bags. I dont think the staff from the airline, Sky Express, have gone through the magazines in every pocket and disinfected each of the hundred pages sheet by sheet, so were really none the wiser about this apparent anomaly in the seat pocket protocols of the worlds airlines. Its a good read too, sprouting the virtues
Our hotel is right on Saint George Beach which is a few hundred metres south of Naxos Town, and we seem to have hit the jackpot yet again - a large room with a balcony and views out over the sandy shoreline.
Its been a good day so far, the unexpected surprise of the magazine, and a great hotel room, but theres trouble lurking just beneath the surface. Wheres my iPad says Issy? We search the room from top to bottom, but its nowhere to be found. Hmmm. She wonders whether maybe she left it on the plane or in the taxi, but phone calls to the airline and the dont bring any joy. The only other option seems to be the departure gate at Athens airport. I Google Athens airport lost and found, and first hit is a website that offers to retrieve items lost there for a small fee. I fill in a form detailing the brand, serial number, colour of the cover, and a description of the photo on the screen saver. Im also asked to attach a photo of the lost item.
Sure Ill just snap one now, oh hang on, where is it again? Im just about to submit payment when I hesitate. Yep, its a scam. You pay the fee and never hear from them again. Hit number two is the same - another scam. My faith in humanity is starting to wane. We find the real Athens Airport website. It seems that the lost and found department is run by the Greek police, and were advised to ring the Athens Airport police station. Too easy. Well so we thought, but thirty five phone calls later, all of which go unanswered, and things are not looking promising. I make a mental note to remember not to try to call these guys for help the next time one of our flights gets hijacked. Minutes pass, and the hotel phone rings. It seems the iPad was in the back of the taxi after all. We run to reception hoping to thank the driver personally, but hes already left. Our faith in humanity is restored, well slightly at least.
We go for an evening stroll around the Naxos Town foreshore. Its extremely attractive; the old town sits on a hill overlooking a
large harbour. The backstreets are a maze of cute narrow alleyways, and very reminiscent of our memories of Mykonos. And the colours - we suspect its probably been several centuries since any of the local hardware stores stocked any paint shades other than blue and white.
Issy heads back to the hotel for a rest while I join a throng of fellow tourists at the Temple of Apollo, which occupies position on a hill overlooking one end of the harbour. I read that its construction was started by a gent by name of Lygdamis in 530 BC. Gent mightnt be quite the right term, it seems he was otherwise known as the tyrant of Naxos. Unfortunately it seems he never got around to finishing it; his rule came to an end in 524 BC when he was overthrown by a Spartan army.
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