Last night in Mykonos was not much of a sleep as our ferry to Naxos left at 7am. We found comfortable leather couches in the canteen of the ferry and slept for the few hours of the seaway. Naxos welcomed us with a friendly and beautiful little port and the main road of Naxos with Greek Taverns lined up on the shore. I had been in touch with two hosts living in the capital, hora, of Naxos and we met up with Peter for breakfast. This young guy had been sailing his way to Naxos and was working in a cafe by the beach. He was New Zealand born and had the whole morning time to show us around.

The Hora of Naxos was divided to Old Markets up along the way to inland and the new part was the lower part and the port. Midday in the labyrinth like old town climbing up stairs in more than +35 Celsius degrees made us craving for a swim and a cool cappuccino freddo, the ice coffee by the windy beach. As Peter was living on a small boat in the port we decided to get hosted by Kosta who worked as a lifeguard on the city beach.

Days in Naxos were ruled by the working hours of our two hosts, beach and playing in the waves and exploring the island’s marble hills on a quad bike. In the evening we gathered outside of Kosta’s house to drink wine and play guitar on the street with other lifeguards, all living in the same house, or for a roof top party with Peter’s friends. The cafe he was working in was located in the far end of the city beach which was very popular amongst the windsurfers. The gang working in the end of the beach was very international so the roof top barbeque parties included Brits, Germans, Greek, Irish, French, Canadians, Finnish, Dutch, Kiwis and Aussies. After the dinners we climbed down and headed for the new town for drinks and dancing. One of the most popular bars in town was the Scandinavian bar where tourists from all ages were chatting and dancing their night away with locals.

In Naxos we also got probably the best food in Greece. Our guidebooks have recommendations on places to eat and sleep and of course what is worth visiting, but the best guide has always been our local host who knows the non-touristic places to go. Funny enough, the best restaurant in Naxos had made its way to our books as well and people were queuing to this family tavern. We sat in the restaurant watching the waiters trying to fit more tables outside on the street but safe enough from the traffic. We had the tenderest octopus in wine sauce, freshly cut French fries, juicy Greek salad with local tomatoes, sweet onion and Naxos feta with the main course of stuffed, grilled squid which we both ate for the first time. All this for barely 10 EURO each!

Naxos was an island we would’ve wanted to stay in for longer, but it was time to move to Siros to welcome Marion from Paris to join our experience. I will most definitely be back in Naxos.

PS. We were in a cafe with my laptop and Marie went to ask from the bar if the cafe has wireless internet. She came back with a handful of mayonnaise. Apparently the waiter had heard mayonnaise instead of wireless. We changed the restaurant.