Santorini and Naxos

Before leaving to Naxos, we decided to do a bit of hiking around the town that we had lodged. To our delight, there was a well maintained trail from the town center all the way to a mountain that would provide a spectacular panoramic view of the island. The steep steps and the climb to the very top were a bit challenging due to the fine pebbles covered the road and can be very slippery at times. I almost gave up climbing to the very top as we had to claw through a small hole vertically in order to get up. My legs were not long enough to get a strong footing and had to use all fours to manage to the top. On my way down, Richard had to guide my foot, literally grabbing it and land it on the rock to secure my footing so that I could climb down. The view was definitely worth the climb.

I'm quite surprised by the popularity of Santorini among the mainland Chinese. Many tour groups guided them to the island and many restaurants actually have Chinese translations on their menu to accommodate them. The hotel receptionist told us that there are only 2000 local residents living on Santorini but during the high tourist season in July and August, the population would increase to 50000 - hardly finding any space to walk!!

We took the ferry from Santorini to Naxos. The journey took two hours. Again, the majority of the ferry passengers were the tour groups of Chinese from mainland China.  As soon as we boarded, the hotel picked us up at the ferry terminal and our rental car was delivered to us at the hotel. We have stayed at many hotels but we have never seen a receptionist being so cheerful and hospitable. She greeted us at the door, took our luggage to our room and sat us down with a glass of wine and a plate of home made pie as a welcome to her hotel (it's a home run business). The hotel is right at the sea and not far from the port and the old town quarter. 

The Temple of Appolo is situated about 10 minutes from the hotel. We took some pics of the monument at sunset and then walked to the beach front to a restaurant recommended by the receptionist for a seafood dinner. By the time we came back to the hotel, she put a half liter of white wine in the fridge to thank us for staying at her hotel. I don't think we have ever been drinking this much alcohol as we also ordered wine for dinner. As one of the signs said "save water, drink wine". We simply followed the locals 😊.