Naxos
For those of you that have been to Santorini, you will agree there are few places that take your breath away the way the views from Oia do..
BUT-I preferred Naxos.
From the moment we got off the ferry, we all fell in love. Our apartment was about a 10 minute walk from the ferry (we were staying right in Naxos town). As we were walking we noticed, same cobble stone narrow streets, same bougainvillea climbing the walls, same delicious Gyros. Naxos was a little more laid back, less polished, the views were not quite as spectacular...but definitely still beautiful on its own. We spent the next few days living like locals even eating at a restaurant once or twice (the prices were way cheaper in Naxos then Santorini).
 |
| we could not get enough of the bougainvillea |
 |
| These columns were in a little antique shop that a women owned. She gave us a history of her place...those colums were from the ancient ruins dating back over 3000 years |
 |
| looking up at the fortress |
 |
| In the fortress every ones home had beautiful flowers and doors |
 |
Not a bad sunset vew from our terrace
|
Greek Temples (ode to Apollo's gate), museums, churches and beaches (although the water was a little too cold even for us Canadians), and wandering through more nooks and crannies (the kids were so bored at this point). We also met a lovely couple from New Zealand and went out for dinner with them one night, (hi to to Dave and Lynda!).
We loved our time in Naxos and hope to come back one day.
 |
| Drying octopus on the street, not so appealing looking |
 |
| Apollos gate |
 |
| Beautiful view of Naxos town behind Apollo's gate |
 |
| the water looked so inviting but it was quite frigid, a tad early to swim |
 |
| Our new Kiwi friends:) |
Mykonos
Mykonos was another island that totally blew me away, I can imagine how rocking this place gets in the summer, as everyone always talks about the party scene here. Coming in May put us just ahead of the tourist rush, it was great for us, as the weather was perfect and there were much less crowds, however I imagine there is a different vibe in the peak of the season that you just can't replicate. Mykonos was the perfect blend of Santorini and Naxos, but much more expensive. (it was hard finding our cheap Gyros here!). Our hotel was awesome- high up on the cliffs for a perfect view, but only a 10 minute walk into the centre of town, (was pretty tiring walking home though!).
 |
| the view from our place |
 |
| one of the many pretty beaches |
 |
| an area in town they called little Venice as all the building were on the waters edge |
 |
| the most beautiful flowering tree in the centre of a restaurant |
 |
| this little church was right by our hotel and was built right into the side of the cliff |
We rented a car and over the next couple of days just explored the island and all that Mykonos had to offer. We were happy we stayed in Mykonos town as there was tons to see walking around. At this point the kids were over seeing "more narrow streets", claiming they all looked the same...I guess in a way they were right, but I loved it and could have walked for hours. With that in mind we tried to find some fun stuff for the kids to do...Go- karting it was!
Watching another beautiful sunset from our terrace on our last day in Greece. We were leaving the next day, heading to Dubrovnik in the morning. What an amazing introduction into Europe, I loved everything about our time here and definitely want to visit more of this magical place.
