1). We walked to our hostel from the port in Naxos. The town is called Hora. The owners hardly speak English - but 10€ apiece got us a pretty fancy room...thirty meters from the beach! That's what I'm talkin' bout! After a swim, we had some traditional Greek cuisine and strolled around Naxos. I like it better than Santorini. Still kind of touristy, but it actually feels like people live here for real. There is no crime on these islands. At midnight, winding through the buildings, sidestreets, cute doorways draped with the boganvilla vine, we went up on the walls of the castle - pristine views of Naxos and the sea in sight. We stumbled upon the cutest Jazz & Blues pub/cafe on a backstreet filled with locals, sheltered by vines with tables spread across the courtyard and cushions on ledges to sit on. Rebekah is a kindred spirit - I can't wait to visit her in NZ! We have also decided to be pen pals! Check out the magazine she is deputy editor for: "Good". http://good.net.nz/

2). Rebekah departed for another island and I had a beach day after doing some exploring - I sat outside of a Greek Orthodox Church and listened to the Latin chanting; I also sought out the Temple of Apollo, a huge marble arch. Naxos also plays a huge part in the myth of Theseus. I ate seafood spaghetti for supper, strolled along the port and was invited for a drink by the employees of the restaurant later.

3). In the morning I jolted awake! I felt like I was supposed to be somewhere. I left the hostel wearing my PJ's to look at ferry times. Then I caught a bus to the inland town of Halki...still wearing them. I was looking for a wine distillery, which turned out not to be a distillery, but a one room type deal with no wine. I walked around the town. Many of the buildings are abandoned. It was kind of neat because there are hardly any tourists. I just love the little, old Greek men. They are characterized by their suspenders and they all wear bowler hats. The women have loud, commanding voices which carry a long way and they make no reservations in showing their displeasure! Yelling at their kids in the street, talking loudly to people across the street - they are not shy. I respect their directness.

I popped into a small shop. Everything inside was woven by the store owner - a continuing generation family business. Everything was beautiful! I bought a couple of things and made my way back to Hora for my 1:30 Scuba Dive!! I was with a group of three others. We had a classroom session where we learned hand signals, how to equalize pressure in each of our four cavities and went over various scenarios and equipment functions. The worst part was getting the wetsuit on along with weights, boots, vest (with 12 kg tank) and the mask! We started out in shallow water, learning how to breathe properly. Finally we got to dive! It was one of the coolest things I've ever done. It's a whole other world "unda da sea (breaking into Little Mermaid songs right now)". We went about 7m under for an hour, weaving around reefs and seeing all types of colorful fishes! I relaxed on the beautiful beach after and walked the 5km back to my hotel.

On this day I checked THREE things off my bucketlist! Good day in my books! ;)

Walking through the streets at night, I ran into a couple I saw earlier in Halki from Utrecht. I sat and visited with them for a couple of hours - a nice conclusion to a perfect day!

2) I spent the morning at the beach until I had to board my ferry at two for a six and a half hour journey back to Rafini port, an hour from Athens. As always, I loved the ride and basked in the sun, sprawling out across four seats!

After getting to the port and figuring out my bus and then arriving to search out the nearest metro, I was exhausted! I find people in the service industry aren't very helpful in Greece - they do the bare minimum and have awful attitudes; I don't understand - they have the sun and job competition is high, so you think they would be cheery and helpful! While I am complaining, let me just say that things seems so disorganized here! It's nearly impossible to do research ahead of time - luckily I'm a go with the flow type!

I met with Rebekah - it's funny we had pretty much the exact same travel schedule (but lack of schedule)! Now she is off to NY before she heads home to NZ. We comemmorated our parting with Greek frozen yogurt and Mythos Greek Beer! My hostel had a rooftop terrace with a beautiful view of the Acropolis. I stumbled upon a toga party up there!

Loving Greece!

Yamas! (Cheers)

Larae :)