My second Aegean paradise

I had interrupted sleep.  I had felt knocked out by the beer around 2100 and went to sleep early.  But obviously the sleep was short lived and woke at 0100.  While I don’t drink often and seldom have sleeping issues, I have noticed that alcohol does wake me up in the night.

I had to pop a pill which saw me sleep till 0930.  I packed up and readied myself slowly for a midday checkout.

After a lunch of tender octopus on a salad, I went to the port for my ferry trip to Naxos.  The Blue Star Naxos left a little late.  It was a big ship with business class sized seats.  The journey took us via the island of Ios, and beyond Naxos it continued to Paros, Syros and finally Piraeus.  The expanse of the Greek ferry network always amazes me.

Arriving at Naxos by ferry.

We arrived about half hour late.  I was picked up by the owner of my next pension, another George.  The town was compact with everything within walking distance.  For EUR15, I have an air-conditioned double room with a fridge, hotplate, safe, bathroom and verandah. Plus a free bottle of wine!

After a salad and pork souvlaki for dinner, I strolled on the waterfront and treated myself to a waffle cone with ice cream.  It was the same price as a Magnum, whereas in New Zealand the cone would be a lot more … actually both in New Zealand would be expensive.

I like Naxos.  It’s far less touristy than Santorini and very beautiful as well.  It may have less to do, so there’s more time to chill.

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Today, a Turkish and a Greek fighter jet collided into each other over the Aegean sea near Karpathos.  This happened over disputed airspace.  The Turkish pilot survived.  After over 70 years of independence the countries still have their tension between them.