Greece! Naxos Part II: The Great Hissing Zorbas

The sunset concert in Naxos Town was amazing. It was hosted by this guy, Nico, who I think lived in the Venetian castle. He was fiftysomething, I think-- longish gray hair, a very red face, and a very friendly personality. He started out by telling us about why he hosts these concerts. When he was younger, people from neighboring villages would occasionally come into Naxos Town to announce a party. These parties were held for big events, like weddings and births and such, and they were serious parties-- several days sometimes of dancing and singing and drinking and having a generally good time. To keep this spirit, Nico offered us unlimited Naxos wine and shots of a special liqueur they make on Naxos. He also had bottles of Fanta, which is what Britt and I stuck to. He told us that when he was younger, only the men drank at these parties as it was considered coarse and unladylike. So Britt and I were just being proper young ladies-- albeit a proper young lady with a withered arm in one case.

Greece! Naxos Part I

Sorry for the delay. My attention got eaten up by the GRE for a while, but now that’s over and done with and I can get back to focusing on other things, like finally finishing these darn blog posts.

Alright, so last time I wrote, I talked about the lovely island of Ios, land of goats and happiness. Also the land of developing some kind of rash. Cliffhanger, I know. Well wait no longer, my friends! This post is all about our next stop—Naxos. And trust me, you’ll want to read this one. We’ve got sunburned octopus, dancing zorbas, goat pipes, and lemon bossa vibing.

a sign we walked past about a hundred times in Naxos. i still have no idea what any of it means.

Greece! The Lovely Island of Ios

I’m afraid of water. Even more than I’m afraid of water, I’m afraid of boats. Titanic taught me that boats are untrustworthy things. They take you out into the middle of nowhere and then hit an iceberg and sink and leave you floating on a door or something while Leonardo DiCaprio freezes to your hand. Also, there are Krakens in the ocean. I know, not exactly an ideal mindset for hopping around Greek islands—particularly since the Greeks were the inventors of the Kraken—but somehow I managed. Getting on our first boat—the ferry to Ios—was a bit of a harrowing experience. I only cried a little though, and I managed not to make too much of a scene. The ferry was nice, at least—a bit like a plane, except bigger and more comfortable. (Physically comfortable, mind you. Not psychologically comfortable.)

Greece! The Agora and More(a)!

After the Acropolis, we climbed down to the Ancient Agora.

And here's a view of the acropolis from the Agora.

borf revealed

oh my gosh, borf IS something! it's a graffiti campaign thing. click here for the wikipedia page.

Greece! The Acropolis and Borf

I have never in my life been as thirsty as I was on our first day in Athens. I mean this seriously. I drank an INSANE amount of water that day. We decided that I was plagued by a water vampire that kept draining me whenever I wasn’t paying attention. I imagine he looked something like this.

(Though Britt and I decided that Jared Leto would undoubtedly spell it “vampyre.”)

After we stocked up on water, we started our walk up the Acropolis. The first thing we came across was the Theater of Dionysus.

by britt

by britt

Greece! Plane Ride and Arrival in Athens

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Brenda who wanted to travel the world. For one reason or another, she never quite got around to it for quite some time. Then, one Labor Day, she went to visit her Aunt Charlene in southern Utah. One night, sitting around the round table in the kitchen she’d visited nearly every summer since she was born, she and her aunt started talking about travel. Charlene (who had been almost everywhere in the world, it seemed) asked Brenda where she wanted to go. Brenda, without quite knowing why, answered “Greece.”

Charlene told Brenda how much she loved Greece—how beautiful it was and how much she would like to go back some day. “So save your sheckles, sweetheart, and you and I will go together.”

A month later, Charlene passed away.

Nineteen months after that, Brenda’s plane landed in Athens.