Seyðisfjörður is a tiny town of under 700 in the Eastern Region of Iceland. It is surrounded by mountains (Mt. Bjólfur to the west and Strandartindur to the east). A short way up the fjord is Vestdalseyri where archaeologists uncovered the remains of a woman from around 940, together with some beads.
The town of Seyðisfjörður started in 1848, when it was settled by Norwegian fishermen. They built some of the wooden buildings which still exist today. The first telegraph cable connecting Iceland to Europe landed in Seyðisfjörður back in 1906, and for a long time it remained a telecommunications hub.
The place is stunning. Nestled in the valley surrounded by towering snow capped mountains, everywhere you look is a picture postcard. The snow capped peaks melt with the resulting runoff causing a cascades and waterfalls all along the mountain side.
It remains a significant fishing port on the east coast of Iceland, but most of the income today is generated from tourism. In fact, on the day we landed, there were 2 other smaller cruise ships that were already in port. This meant that around 4-5000 people came pouring into the little town of less than 700.
The best thing about the cruise was the random whale sightings that happened almost daily. The area around Iceland is full of humpback whales. This means that every now and then they pop to the surface and blow water spouts, loll about in the water and flip and flop around.
It is quite a sight while you sit down to dinner and all of a sudden a whale surfaces next to your table and frolics about for a bit. Every now and then dolphins also make an appearance. And this happened almost every day. Being fast enough and lucky enough to aim the camera in the right direction was more of a challenge.
Ísafjörður translates to the fjord of ice or ice fjord and is the largest hamlet in the Westjfords area of Iceland.
The Westfjords are very mountainous; the coastline is heavily indented by dozens of Fjords surrounded by steep hills. Isafjordur is a tiny town of less than 3000 people and has been the long time center for trade, fishing, and tourism in the region.
The day we arrived it was 4 degrees with a projected max of 6. We stared out of our window to see a wall of black, volcanic rocks topped with a decent layer of snow. We are definitely in Iceland now.
Our trip to Ísafjörður was once again on a cold, grey, overcast day. But as the day progressed the sun did try and peak out every now and then. A tender off the ship and a wander along the rock wall, past the black sand beach and we were almost done. Being a small town it was not exactly an onerous walk to meander through the town and see all of the sights.
Given the cold weather and temperatures here we were quite surprised to see that many of the houses were quite basic and that corrugated iron was so readily used. We were here in summer and were catching maximum temperatures in single digits. So the winter temperatures would be less than pleasant and corrugated iron doesn’t leap out as an overly insulating building material.
While the town was not an onerous walk, there was a lookout at the top of the town that posed a few more challenges. While not an overly long distance, it was all uphill, over uneven, loose volcanic rocks and up an icily cold metal staircase. But once you had made the effort, there was some pretty spectacular panoramic views to be had.
The town of Ísafjörður is surrounded by a rim of flat-topped mountains that surround the fjord. A notable feature is a massive depression – this is Naustahvilft or more commonly known as ‘the troll seat’.
The story goes that a troll was hurrying home before the morning sunlight could turn her to stone. Having run fast and got back early, she sat and rested with her aching feet in the fjord. What was left was the peninsula of Ísafjörður town between her feet, the deep harbour where her feet had been, and the “seat” where her backside had been.
Folktales
Folk tales and stories of elves are very much woven into the fabric of Iceland. They are a big part of what connects the Icelandic people to their land. It is no coincidence that these tales often center around the incredible natural phenomena of Iceland. In turn, the Icelandic people gain a profound connection to the natural world from an early age. These tales nurture a deep respect for nature. And the Icelandic people are fiercely proud of their wild places with a desire to protect and preserve them.
Elves
Stories of elves and the Hidden Folk have been around in Iceland for centuries. Their origins are thought to be from the Bible story of Eve’s dirty children. Preparing for God’s visit to the garden of Eden, Eve washed and cleaned her children. However she didn’t have time to get to them all and tried to hide the unwashed ones. God found out and cursed them to be forever invisible to man.
The Hidden Folk live in rocks and hills and Icelanders are very respectful of their homes, often going as far as curving roads around rocks that are believed to be Elf houses.
In any case, it doesn’t pay to annoy the Hidden Folk. They are known to be vindictive and there are plenty of stories of them taking revenge on humans that have wronged them.
Trolls
According to Icelandic folklore, trolls lived in the mountains and only came down from them to forage for food. Trolls can only survive in the darkness of night (guess they just stayed home for the endless daylight in summer then) and if they were caught in the sunlight they would immediately turn to stone.
A few of these unlucky trolls can be seen all over the country, the most famous of which are the Reynisdrangar rock formations on the south shore. Legend has it that two trolls were trying to drag a three-mast ship to shore when the day broke and they were turned to stone.
The legend goes that Hvítserkur is a petrified troll. that lived in the Wesfjords but wanted to tear down the bells at the local convent. Icelandic trolls don’t like the sound or sight of churches or church bells. But the troll got caught by the first rays of the sun was turned to stone by daylight.
Other Creatures
Iceland also has its fair share of monsters and mysterious creatures.
The Lagarfljótsormur in Lagarfljót in Egilsstaðir is thought by many to be the cousin to Nessie in Scotland. Stories of this giant underwater worm-creature have been around since 1345 and it has been spotted as recently as 2012.
It is said to have grown from a small ‘heath worm’ placed on top of a gold ring by a local girl in order to guard it. When the girl returned to check on her ring the worm had grown so big that she threw it and the ring in the water where it continued to grow and hoard gold.
The Nykur sea horse is also a popular myth. The Nykur is usually found in lakes and rivers and it looks almost like a regular horse, except its hooves are backwards and it’s usually gray. The Nykur will try and get you to ride it but once you do it will run straight back to its lake or river and drown you.
The name Móri is often given to Icelandic poltergeists. The Móri is a male ghost and usually haunts the same family for generations. The female ghosts are known as Skotta. Another famous ghost is Gunna, who wreaked havoc all over the Reykjanes peninsula until she was defeated by the wizard Eirikur frá Vogsosum and confined to the angry, bubbling hot spring Gunnuhver.
Reykjavik is the capital of Iceland and is known for its many colours, museums, buildings, nature and beautiful surroundings. Sadly on the day we arrived, it was icy cold, raining and all in all pretty miserable. But we were here and had limited time. So we put on our big girl pants and headed into the arctic weather.
Before we set off though, I need to comment on Videy Island. This is the first thing that you see when you enter Reykjavik from the water. The island consists of two parts that are connected by a spit of land and is a remnant of an extinct volcano.
But most importantly, it is exactly what you imagine when you think of Iceland, green grass, volcanic rocks and a stunning house miles from anything. As it turned out we saw this scene repeatedly throughout our time here, but this was truly the archetypal image that we had in our heads and it delivered on minute one.
We hopped off the boat and got the shuttle bus towards town. The drop-off point was at the Harpa, which is an 1800-seat concert hall, located on the harbour. From here we did a (rather soggy) walk along the waterfront promenade to see the Sun Voyager. This landmark looks like a Viking ship but is actually a dream ship. It is made of stainless steel and is meant to represent hope, freedom and progress.
From here we headed up to the top of the hill for the big show in town, the Hallgrimskirka. This is the big Reykjavik Church atop the hill, right in the centre of town. It is the tallest church building in Iceland (74.5m), was built between 1945 and 1986 and can be seen from all over the city. The interior of the church is very modest, but the eye-catcher is the organ with 5275 pipes.
From here we headed down the hill towards Lake Tjörnin, past town hall and on to Austurvöllur Square. The town was really quite nice and it is a shame that the weather did not lend itself to better photographs.
We went to Reykjavik’s oldest hot dog stand, Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur, which has gained cult status; according to the locals, these are the tastiest hot dogs available. As such there is a long queue for this stall, we looked at the hot dogs coming off the line (there was nothing appealing about these) so we chose to pass.
Perlan, is the home of the wonders of Iceland museum. It is a glass dome located on the Öskjuhlíð hill in Reykjavik. It has the first indoor ice cave in the world and describes the Icelandic interplay between volcanoes, earthquakes, and other geological forces.
I had heard for years that the Icelandic beers were among the best in the world as they were made on the clean and clear glacial water. Given that it was cold wet and soggy we decided to settle in and test the quality of the Icelandic beer. The first thing that you find out is that this place is incredibly expensive, brutally so. In conversation with the locals, they claim that Iceland is only beaten by Norway in terms of expense.
As an example, a small 330ml beer starts at $13 Aussie and a bar snack to go with it starts at upwards of $20. In fact, a simple local sandwich was running at $32 each. Having seen this I started checking accommodation prices and found that accommodation akin to our Australian roadside motels was running at around $450 a night. At this point, we were glad that we were seeing Iceland on a cruise ship, as any other way would have destroyed our budget.
Kaldi Blonde is the most popular bottled beer in Iceland, at 5% it is brewed in the Pilsner tradition and inspired by Czech lager. Bríó was the next that we found on tap, in 2012, it apparently won the ‘World’s Best Pilsner’ category at the World Beer Cup. This was closely followed by Egils Gulla nice crisp lager at 5%. Next came an Einstök these come in 4 varieties: the White Ale, Arctic Pale Ale, Toasted Porter, and Wee Heavy, at 6% I had the toasted porter. Polar beer was a local Reykjavik beer that came in at 4.5%. Úlfur, which translates to ‘Wolf,’ is an Indian Pale Ale (my least favourite).
For the most part, Icelandic beer was very pleasant. I don’t think that they were worth the obscene prices that were being charged for them, but they drank well and hey, when in Rome. But sadly, as with everywhere else on the planet, the craft-beer mania has set in, with new labels and microbreweries emerging all the time.
The next day the weather turned on us and we actually had a nice day. It was cold (max of around 8) but the rain had gone and the sun was threatening to poke its head out. We were booked on an early morning tour through the countryside and on to the Blue Lagoon. These are a set of beautiful geothermal baths that are about, 40 kilometres out of town.
We set off at 7am and within 10 minutes of leaving the port of Reykjavik you are already driving through black lava fields covered in slow growing moss.
On arrival, you are shuffled into a room and forced to change and shower before we could get near the lagoon.
Now sopping wet, and cold, we found ourselves in our swimming gear, as I headed out the door into the open air (in 2 degree temperatures). It is fair to say, that it was a touch bracing.
Having caught my breath I aimed for the water, hoping to find some relief from the ice shock that I had just experienced. The water was warmer, in fact it was between 37-40 degrees. So I lolled about in the water waiting for the bride to emerge. While lolling about waiting, it started to snow on me. Lazing in warm 37-40 degree lagoon water, while snow landed on our heads was a surreal experience indeed.
The bride did eventually come out, but apparently near the women’s change rooms was a gentle entry point that allowed you to enter the water from within the warm building and slowly migrate towards the outdoors. The lagoon itself has a mix of sea and freshwater and the water is drawn up through geothermal extraction wells from 2-kilometres beneath the Earth’s surface.
The entry price included the towels, shampoo (the water is terrible for your hair), a mud face mask and a beverage. So once again, I found myself lolling in 37+ degree water, in 2 degree temperatures, at 9am, drinking a cold beer, while snow landed on my head, and then I had a mud mask. Not a usual day for me.
A cheaper alternative to the Blue Lagoon is the Sky Lagoon. These pools are closer to Reykjavik and have only been open for a few years. They provide great sea views while relaxing in a geothermal bath.
Speaking of geothermal baths, it is important to mention here that Iceland supplies 99% of its overall energy requirements through green energy, (mainly hydropower (73%) and geothermal (26.8) production). The remainder is because cars and trucks still run on fossil fuels. The green energy revolution transformed the population from a poor, coal reliant society to one enjoying very high living standards. Electric vehicle ownership is growing quickly and there have been large investments in charging infrastructure for electric cars, with charging stations now available all around the ring-road.
Alkmaar is a beautiful old city of around 100,000 people, about 60km (or 30 minutes on the train) outside Amsterdam (north). The city has many canals and monuments and is known as the cheese city of the Netherlands.
And the people are called cheese heads.
Alkmaar has many medieval buildings that are still intact, most notably the windmill and the tall tower of the Grote (or Sint Laurenskerk) which has become a popular wedding venue. There is the beautiful old centre with plenty of monuments, nice shopping areas, cozy terraces, cafes and restaurants covering all price ranges.
For us though, it was the home of Michel and Sonja, a Dutch couple that we met and shared our Boodle Fight with back in the Philippines, so many months earlier.
Knowing we were coming to Amsterdam we organised to catch up with them, which we did in Amsterdam on our first day. During a wander and a chat they mentioned that on the weekend, their home town (Alkmaar) would host the Kaeskoppenstad (this will require a fairly detailed explanation – but more to follow).
So we hopped a train and headed to Alkmaar. Now Sonja was stuck at work (in the local Ice Cream shop) and worked until 6 pm. But Michel, Jill and I wandered the town and saw the sights until we found ourselves in the heart of town at an ice cream shop, by the canal, with a line 20 deep and out the door. So we waved at Sonja and sat by the canal drinking coffee and eating ice cream, having met the owner and her husband. The fun bit about this was the bell in the canal that allowed boats to have service without having to get out and join the queue.
OK so about Kaeskoppenstad – During the 1500s the Spanish controlled the area and the Dutch locals resisted. This resulted in the 80 years war between the Spanish Empire and some random groups within the Habsburg, Netherlands. The siege of Alkmaar (1573) was a critical turning point in the war as Alkmaar was the first city to withstand a siege by the Spanish army. This gave rise to the expression Bij Alkmaar begint de victorie (“Victory begins at Alkmaar”). The burghers of Alkmaar held off the Spanish, for six weeks, with boiling tar and burning branches from their city walls.
To celebrate this every year the Kaeskoppenstad takes place. The official blurb says it “takes you on an unforgettable journey into the history of the city of Alkmaar. During the weekend the people dress up and reflect on what life would have been like back in sixteenth century shortly after the liberation of Alkmaar in 1573”. During the event, hundreds of volunteers and actors dress up and show what life in the city was like 450 years ago. And we were here at the right time.
The place was buzzing, there were people everywhere and the atmosphere was fantastic. While it was a huge festival, it had not turned into a big commercial rip-off. There were a few places selling some basics, but for the most part it was about the dress up and the celebration.
Back to the ice cream. As we had our ice cream the owner’s husband (Fons) had a little boat that he was using to restock their tiny ice cream stall inside the festival. He had hand-built a well (that housed a chest freezer) and they were selling ice creams out of this. So Fons spent his day doing laps of the canals in his little boat, topping up the stall of things that they ran out of (ice cream, napkins etc).
As they were locals, they did not think that they (and we by extension) should have to pay the 4 euro admission to the festival. So we hopped on Fons’ boat and did a restock lap and then got ferried in and dropped off at the well, inside the gates.
The bridges over the canals in Alkmaar are short, some of them very short, in fact only a few feet above the waterline. So as we did our lap, Jill and Michel were forced to duck down and at times almost laying flat to get under the bridges. While at the same time, I ended up sitting on the floor of the boat.
From here we wandered and explored all of the silliness that took place. This included lepers, apothecaries, magicians, laundry, medieval toilets, a wooden submarine, health care, a casino. And what turned out to be our favourite was the human slot machine. This is 3 people side by side with a basket of fruit on their lap and at the appropriate time, they all pull out a random piece of fruit. If they match, you win a prize (a piece of cheese).
After we had done our lap we headed back to Michel and Sonja’s place for a beer and a chat, while Sonja kept slaving away with an ice cream line that never seemed to get smaller. About half an hour after the festival finished, Michael called Fons to see if he needed a hand in dismantling the well (which he did). So we wandered back and spent the next 30 mins or so pulling down and packing away the well.
Sonja finished work as we were finishing this, so back to their place for dinner and more chatting. All had gone swimmingly and a great day was had by all (even Sonja who had worked all day – I guess loving your job makes it easy). However comment was passed as to the bell by the canal. Apparently after a long day working in a busy place, the sound of the bell wore a little thin and mildly annoyed some people.
Sonja dropped us at the train station for our ride back to Amsterdam. Unfortunately, this is where the wheels fell off.
Due to a fault at Amsterdam Central, no trains could enter. So we were stopped about 16km outside of Amsterdam while we waited. When our train started, it was heading in the wrong direction (no announcements in English). So we got off at the next station, got a train back to where we had just left, and walked to a bus stop (to find 3 train loads of people all trying to get a bus to Central). No extra buses were put on, and train tickets were not valid on the bus.
After the crush of missing the first bus, we got on the next bus that we could taking us in the general direction of Amsterdam. From here we found a different train that took us nearer to our hotel and walked back from as close as we could reasonably muster. We finally got home around midnight, with a story to tell.
This is the National Museum in Prague which was originally founded in 1818. It bounced around a bit as it gained exhibits and outgrew several early buildings. The current building is located at the end of Wenceslas Square, it was completed in 1891 and is absolutely stunning. In fact, the entire museum is that way. For the most part, I am not really a museum/gallery kind of guy, but this place was amazing and I cannot recommend it enough.
The early focus of the museum was natural sciences and as such there is a bunch of natural history and evolution-type stuff all over the place, and the way they have done it is brilliant. The dinosaur section was really well done and fun.
They also have a huge collection of animals and a really cool display that shows the animals ordered in the speed at which they travel.
But beyond the natural history stuff, the whole museum was really interesting and was a highlight of our trip.
Prague Statues
These buggers are everywhere. There was a statue virtually anywhere you looked in this place. They ranged from formal to classical and some straight-out quirky ones, including hanging from power lines. .
The Jewish Quarter
Prague’s Jewish Quarter (Josefov) is hidden away at the back of old town and has been there and occupied since around 965 AD. As with most Jewish areas in Europe the neighbourhood has seen more than its fair share of horror over the centuries. But it still contains some of the oldest buildings in the Czech capital.
In here you will find synagogues, the Old Jewish Cemetery, the Jewish Town Hall and Ceremonial Hall. So we went and wandered through the area and through the cemetery. Jill took great amusement at the fact that they forced ever male to wear a yarmulke. So I wandered around with a mini beanie on my head that wouldn’t stay put.
Prague Zoo
We were hanging around and found that there was a cruise available that took us up the river and delivered us at the zoo. This was a way of killing two birds with one stone so we jumped at it. Due to the water levels of the Vltava River, there are four locks that were built between 1911-1922. The locks control the water level and allow the vessels to traverse.
The zoo was as a zoo normally is. Lots of displays, interesting animals that are particular to certain areas of the world and a petting zoo for the little kids. There were the usual big ticket items (lions, tigers, giraffes and elephants) along with some Aussie favourites that seemed pretty popular.
Whatever happens, Prague is a truly amazing city. Every street, every corner there is something amazing to look at. The architecture, the statues, the doorways, the cobblestones, this place is incredible at every turn. From my perspective, you should add it very high on any bucket list that you may be compiling.
Czech Food
Czech food, for the most part is pretty stodgy. It is priced pretty similarly (but maybe a little cheaper) than you would expect to pay in Australia. Fruit and vegetables (beyond starchy ones) were tough to find, but the food was rich, hearty and tasty.
There are plenty of soups and stews, roasted meat coated in rich sauces, typically served with a side of bread dumplings to mop it all up with. Knedliky is the name for these (steamed or boiled) dumplings they are ideal for soaking up all of the juices and sauces that Czech cuisine has in abundance.
While Goulash is originally a Hungarian dish it has made its way heavily into the Czech food staples. It is a rich, meat-based stew, consisting of chunks of stewed beef in a thick meat sauce seasoned with paprika. I was a little surprized at the spice levels in this, it was spicier than I had expected and was seriously tasty.
Vepřo knedlo zelo is one of the Czech Republic’s national dishes. This is a combination of roast pork, cabbage or sauerkraut, and dumplings, served with an onion and caraway gravy. Kulajda is a rich mushroom and potato cream soup. The addition of sour cream helps add both meatiness and tanginess to the dish. Zelňačka is tangy sauerkraut soup.
Tatarák is a dish of raw minced beef mixed with diced onion, garlic, egg yolk, paprika, pepper, salt, mustard, diced cucumber, and tomato sauce. Jill is now, and always has been, a fan of this and when given the choice of mixed or unmixed, she obviously chose to do it herself.
Smažený vepřový rízek is essentially the Czech version of a pork schnitzel. Česnečka is a garlic-base soup, topped with a raw egg, which cooks atop the soup because of the heat. Moravský vrabec means ‘Moravian sparrow’ but it is basically stewed then baked pork, sauerkraut, and dumplings. Vepřové koleno is roasted pork knee. An early foray saw us sampling the nakladany hermelin (or pickled cheese). This is a local version of Camembert that has been marinated in spiced, paprika-tinged oil, padded with raw onion and crowned with hot pickled chillies.
But as with everywhere, there is a winner and in Prague it was Trdelník. Trdelnik actually comes from Slovakia, but has become popular in the Czech Republic and Hungary. It is a doughnut-style thing that is roasted over coals, but some bright spark had the idea of filling it with cream, ice cream and other goodies.
This is excellent but obscenely overpriced. It will cost you the equivalent of around $15 for a small cone. But it is good.
Czech Beer
Czech beer (Česképivo) is the overall winner, it was high on my list before we came and has now been elevated to even loftier levels. Apart from some of the the weird microbrewery offerings, there is not one Czech beer that I tried that was not incredibly good. A big thanks to Tasteatlas.com for some of the content.
České pivois a term that refers to a variety of local beers with a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) mark. The mark is used by fourteen breweries making more than 80 brands, which is about 65% of the total domestic market.
Pilsner is a beer style that originated in Pilsen (Plzeň), in western Bohemia. It was first brewed in 1842 because the citizens of Pilsen grew unhappy with the quality of the beer so decided to build Bürger Brauerei (Citizens’ Brewery), which would later become Pilsner Urquell.
As with most nations, the beer is produced regionally and some of the major offerings here in Czech Republic Include Chodské pivo (produced in the Chodsko region), Březnický ležák (produced in the Březnice area), Brněnské pivo, also known as Starobrněnské pivo, is produced in the Brno district.
The most important thing about Czech beer, beyond the excellent taste and flavour, is the price. In many of the bars and pubs around Prague, you can get a 500ml glass of your choice of beers for 49 Czech crowns ($3.30). If things get really extravagant and touristy overpriced you will still get change from $5.
Prague is the capital city of the Czech Republic (now Chechia and formerly Czechoslovakia). I made it here on an (almost) all-expenses paid work trip back in the day and loved every bit of it. It was stunningly beautiful and it was as cheap as chips. And from my perspective, Pilsner Urquell has been one of my favourite drops for a very long time. So I have been telling Jill for over a decade now that she would love it.
So after a quick 3 hr flight to get here from Crete, we were picked up and delivered to our hotel. It is amazing to see the way some people behave on a 3 hr flight. I guess from a European context, 3 hrs is a long flight whereas for us it is a puddle jump. The guy in front of us (about 50) was honestly worse than a kid with ADD. He fidgeted, farted and moved every few seconds for the entire flight. He sat in 4 different seats (not a full plane) throughout the flight and sat in 3 of them changing on average every 5 mins.
In addition to this, both he and the woman he was with had to urinate 3 times (each) in a short flight. The last bit was pretty common as I was passed by about 4 different people heading to the loo who also made at least 3 trips. At one point there was a line of 8 people queued up the aisle.
If you could ignore the carry-on and just stare out the window, it was lovely. The river meandered through a beautiful green countryside, and every now and then you would see some snow-capped mountains.
In doing my research for this post I found that the Czech Republic has the highest beer consumption per capita in the world and has topped the per capita beer drinking table for 24 consecutive years.
Maybe this influenced why I loved this place.
Anyway, Prague has been a populated area for several thousands of years with decent records showing consistent habitation since around 500 BC. In the 5th and 6th centuries, Slavic tribes moved in and began building fortifications. By the 9th and 10th centuries, this fortification had extended to the building of Prague Castle. By the 1300’s Prague had developed into an imperial capital and significant planned expansions took place. By the 1700s many rich merchants and nobles moved in and built a host of palaces, churches and gardens. The big point is that Prague’s cultural attractions mostly survived the violence and destruction of 20th-century Europe (WWI and WWII).
According to the blurb, today Prague has over 2,000 officially recognised architectural and artistic monuments, ranging in period from the Romanesque through the Gothic to the Baroque, Rococo, Classical, and Neoclassical. And this I can truly believe, you cannot walk 5 meters without seeing amazing buildings, architecture and statues.
So the question has become, how to attack this in a way that seems semi-logical. This is pretty tough when there is so much to see in such close proximity. I tried my usual chronology but there was just so much that is amazing so I have had to split it into two parts and have had to group items as things get really confusing, really quickly.
As we were staying on the western side of the river, this was where we explored first. I must say upfront, we were gifted on the days that we had. The temperature was in the low 20s, and the skies were a beautiful blue, with the odd wispy cloud to give the photos a touch of character. The buildings of Prague are stunning. Everywhere you look there is character, whether old or new the place is a blast.
Old Town
Old Town is on the eastern bank of the River it started as a marketplace back in the 10th century. Old town Square (or Staromestske Namesti) is the main square where you will find major tourist attractions including the:
old town hall – originally built in 1364 and fixed multiple times due to varying conflicts etc over the years,
astronomical clock – first installed in 1410
Rococo Kinský Palace – former palace that is now part of the National Gallery Prague.
Gothic House at the Stone Bell
in the pavement of the square are memorial stones marking the execution of 27 Czech lords in 1621, and
the Prague meridian – a narrow brass strip in Prague’s Old Town Square that was used to tell time from 1652 to 1918.
Church of Our Lady before Týn is a 14th-century landmark with 80m towers, ornately carved exteriors & a baroque altarpiece.
The story goes that Walt Disney was inspired by this church when he was designing the very famous Disney Castle.
I can see it…
Convent of St Agnes of Bohemia is one of the oldest (1230’s) and most important Gothic buildings in Prague. It functioned as a religious building for around 550 years before falling to ruin. It was restored and now houses the National Gallery.
The Baroque Church of St Nicholas took 51 years (1704-1755) to build and is in Lesser town (the area below the palace but before you cross the Charles Bridge into Old Town).
It was built on the same site where there used to be a Gothic church.
Žofín Palace messed up my plans to go east and west of the river as it was built on an island in the middle of the river. Dating back to the 1830’s this new Renaissance building was built as a cultural centre / concert hall. In 1884, the entire island was purchased by the City of Prague, which decided to thoroughly re-build and extend the original building.
Marking the exit from Old Town is the Powder Tower. Built in 1475, the dark Gothic structure is one of the 13 original city gates and was used for gunpowder storage in the 17th century.
Charles Bridge connects the Old Town with the Prague Castle area of the city. It was started in 1357 and took a half-century to finish. It was the only means of crossing the river Vltava until 1841.
The bridge is lined with a series of 30 statues on both sides, many of which are over 300 years old.
Prague Castle (Vyšehrad ) Complex is the main show in town. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Prague Castle is the largest coherent castle complex in the world, with an area of almost 70,000 m². It consists of the Old Royal Palace, St Virus Cathedral, St George’s Basilica, Golden Lane and the Great South Tower. The castle itself is about 570 metres long and around 130 metres wide, with a history that dates back to the 9th century.
St.Vitus Cathedral is the largest and the most important temple in Prague. It is a Gothic cathedral where construction began in 1344 and it is situated in the middle of the Prague Castle Complex. Apart from religious services, coronations of Czech kings and queens also took place here.
St George’s Basilica, Golden Lane and the Great South Tower (the old prison area) are all also located in the complex that is Prague Castle.
Hradčanské náměstí (Hradcany Square) is the square directly in front of Prague Castle that is the home to virtually everything that you can imagine in a historic sense. The list of what is around the square includes Salmovsky Palace ( National Gallery ), Schwarzenberg Palace (National Gallery, built in 1567), Monastery of the Discalced Carmelites, St. Benedict’s Church, Tuscan Palace, Martinique Palace, Saxe-Lauenburg Palace, Losenovsky Palace (U Labutí house), Sternberg Palace (National Gallery), Archbishop’s Palace and Canon houses. Along with any number of statues and columns.
The Loreta is a baroque place of pilgrimage founded in 1626. It was designed as a replica of the Santa Casa (Sacred House; the home of the Virgin Mary) in the Holy Land. These replicas were once found across Catholic Europe (50 in the Czech lands alone), but the Prague Loreta is claimed to be extra special.
Legend says the original Santa Casa was carried by angels to the Italian town of Loreto as the Turks were advancing on Nazareth.
Along with all of the Palaces and historic buildings, Prague is the capital of Museums. Everywhere you look there is another museum. Some of the museums that we came across included the: Alchemy, Apple products, Army, Beer, Chocolate, Communism, Decorative Arts, Fantastic Illusions, Franz Kafka, Historical toilets and chamber ports, Illusion art, Jewish, KGB, Lego, Lobkowicz, Marionette, Military history, Miniatures, Modern art, Mucha, Music, National, Pop-up, Porcelain, Senses, Sex machines, Slivovitz Museum, Technical and many more…
We chose to go to the Old Masters exhibit in the Schwarzenberg Palace. At this point, I realised that I liked statues and sculptures, but could not get excited about paintings. From here we headed up the hill to the Museum of Miniatures. Here you use a microscope or magnifying glass to view micro-miniature sculptures and paintings. Some of these include the Eiffel Tower in a cherry stone, a golden bicycle on a needle, the lord’s prayer on a hair and a camel train within the eye of a needle. Needless to say, the zoom on my phone was not up to this so I grabbed these photos from their website.
And of course we hit the National Museum, but that comes in part 2.
As this is our last port of call in Greece (for this trip) I thought that I should cover off on the food options that we have been served up during our month in Greece. The food here has surprised us greatly. We have had a pretty fair exposure to Greek food while living in Australia and it has been fantastic with a wide range and variety. While the food we have been given has been excellent, for the most part, the variety has been sorely lacking. It has been a world of meat and carbs and not a vegetable in sight.
Don’t get me wrong here, most of my life has been spent consuming meat and carbs, but this was even a bit much for me. Almost every meal is meat and chips. You can buy a gyros (a Greek kebab with chips inside) for about 3 euro and it will be delicious. But if you want to buy a salad it will cost you 250-400% more and you will get some lettuce leaves with balsamic vinegar on them.
The traditional Greek salad (Horiatiki) that we are used to back home, almost has not been seen (maybe it is a seasonal thing), and when it is seen the Feta is usually intact in a huge block. The chef’s salad is virtually identical everywhere, lettuce, boiled eggs, 2 or 3 cherry tomatoes, hard cheese and mayonnaise.
The meat plates are awesome, about 3-5 different meats charred and served. Add to this the Souvlaki Something very special happens when meat is introduced to flame. the Greeks have discovered and exploited this perfectly. But it will be served on a bed of chips (maybe with some pita bread too) and very little else. Jill has been craving vegetables and fruit as they have virtually been missing this whole month.
The seafood has been lacking greatly (my sense is that the Mediterranean is all but fished out) and the fish and octopus were either hard to find or brutally expensive. We did get to have the usual suspects (octopus, calamari, anchovies, prawns and sardines) during our time but not with anywhere near the ease or frequency that either of us imagined.
Eggplant– I have had some great eggplant over the years and I rate the Italian versions very highly, but the Greeks have taken eggplant to a whole other level. Whether the grilled eggplant or made into the Moussaka, these guys know how to cook an eggplant.
Moussaka we have had so many times, but having it here is so much better than back at home. The layers of potato and eggplant at the bottom, cooked minced meat (beef or lamb) in the middle, and béchamel cream on top. How can you go wrong.
The Gemistá is the stuffed capsicum that were also really good.
Greek Pies – come in a range of versions, both sweet and savoury and based on the ones we tried they are all pretty good. I did find that the Spanakópita (filo with feta and spinach) came in sizes that were too big. By the time you had finished one, you were totally over the taste. The Tirópita was the local cheese mix version. The Bougatsa very quickly became my favourite, it is a sweet pie, stuffed with buttery custard cream and sprinkled with cinnamon and icing sugar. Best eaten straight from the bakery, warm out of the oven. There is a very similar galaktoboureko but this filo is also soaked in honey.
Kotopoulo sto fourno me patates was a random stumble across that we found in Santorini, it is basically a chicken and vegetable roast/stew thing. Jill loved it.
On the random finds section we have a tendency to spray a menu and order anything that looks good, especially if we haven’t had it before. This leaves us eating a range of things that are especially local and probably may not be seen anywhere else. Some of these on this foray into Greece have included: stuffed mushrooms, goat stews, zucchini, and even pastas.
Desserts
Baklava is the obvious dessert and one thing that Greece is famous for. The filo (phyllo) pastry, butter, chopped walnuts or pistachios, and a rich sugary syrup is universally known. I find this too sweet for my tastes but Jill sampled them and did not object. Loukoumádes are a form of Greek doughnut that are typically covered in honey but the place we found in Crete served them with fresh fruit and ice cream with a chocolate sauce and it was amazing. The Bougatsa and galaktoboureko fit the pie and dessert categories.
Revani is a syrup-soaked cake made with semolina and yoghurt, known for its lemony taste. Portokalopita is pretty similar but the lemon is replaced with oranges and cinnamon and is similarly syrup-drenched. And the cop out option is Greek yoghurt and honey, which is still pretty good. The important thing to remember is that even if you don’t order dessert, chances are that you will be served one for free.
And the winner is…Greek bakeries.
I love them fully. The quality and range of items (both sweet and savoury) that can be found at Greek bakeries is virtually impossible to fathom or match.
Greek Beer
Much like the food I thought I would give a quick overview of the Greek beers. The beers on offer are predominantly local with a few imports (mostly German or Dutch) thrown into the mix as well. They for the most part are lagers or pilsners and they have all been very drinkable and well worth the effort. The best bit is that most of them come in decent sized (500ml) bottles. The usual suspects include: Alpha, Fix, Hellas, Mamos, Mythos, Nisos, and Vergina.
In addition to the usual suspects, each island tends to have their own brew and the concept of microbreweries is kicking in. I tried the individual island brews on two of the islands and they did not appeal to my tastes at all. As for microbreweries, I have never been a fan. In my view, this is the realm of bearded hipsters with man buns, who busy themselves finding new and unusual ways to ruin beer.
The other thing that you need to know is, that after a meal (every meal), the owner will deliver you a glass of either ouzo or raki (Tsikoudia). It will be free, it will be strong and it will be very rude to turn it down (even if you think it tastes like armpits).
Crete is the largest island in Greece by both area and population. It’s the size of a small country and doesn’t feel much like an island. It deserves around a week to visit to even scratch the surface and more like two weeks to circumnavigate and explore in any meaningful way, so our 3 days barely let us see anything.
We got off our ferry (another highly pleasant experience) and got delivered into the port of Heraklion. The waterfront here is absolutely lovely and is dominated by Venetian constructions, the most obvious of which was the Koules Fortress (Rocca a Mare).
Our hotel was fairly close (about 1.3km so we chose to walk, rather than fight the taxi queue. Dragging our big bags along cobblestones and on streets with little or no sidewalks was an interesting challenge. But it wasn’t that far and the trek was over soon enough. It was late enough that we just had a shower and did our favourite google search “cheap eats near me”.
The closest thing that came up was a place called Chagiati. We don’t usually name accommodation places or restaurants because they are mostly pretty interchangeable. But this one gets a special mention as it was amazing. A little place on a corner run by a guy who runs the front while his mother is in the back cooking traditional fare. It was cheap, friendly and delicious.
In fact, it was so good we came back again the next night. Having chatted to the guy at length he came up with a few suggestions for us to try, that were not even on the menu. He and his mum just made it up as they went along, and they were great too. The best thing that this restaurant did, was introduce us to Loukoumádes. These are a form of Greek doughnut that are typically covered in honey but this place served them with fresh fruit and ice cream with a chocolate sauce and it was amazing.
Heraklion is the largest city and capital of the island of Crete. It is the fourth largest city in Greece with a population of a little over 200,000. Looking at the tourist map there was a lot of stuff on the shoreline, a central old town area and a park running around the outside where the old walls and fortifications were.
So we decided to walk around the park to do the outer loop and finish down by the water, having wandered through the oldtown section. Surrounding the city there are a series of defensive walls and other fortifications. They were first built in the Middle Ages, but were rebuilt when the Venetians ran the place. Heraklion is one of the best fortified cities in the Mediterranean and the walls remain largely intact to this day. The blurb said that the fortifications managed to withstand the second longest siege in history (21 years), before the city finally fell to the Ottomans in 1669.
Keeping our walking tour going we saw the oldtown area. Now the main street in Oldtown (running down to the port) is a bit like any big city mall where the traffic is excluded and shops, cafes and restaurants line the street. For no reason that I could reasonably find (beyond some 1897 murder of a Christian), the street was called the 25th of August Street.
The walk continued and took in the Morosini Fountain, Eleftherias Square, Saint George and Sabionara Gates, the Archeological Museum, and the Heraklion Town Hall.
By now we had found ourselves down on the waterfront again (but this time without our big bags) and with time to explore. So the obvious starting place was the Koules Fortress (Rocca a Mare). They believe that the site was first fortified by the Arabs in the 9th or 10th centuries. In 1462, the Venetian Senate approved for the Castello a Mare to be built. Wiki tells me that old ships were filled with stone, and were sunk to form a breakwater and increase the area of the platform on which the fortress was built.
The fortress has walls that are up to 8.7m thick at some places and is in remarkable shape (and is well worth the 4 euro admission fee).
From the fort the rock wall continues for another 1.5 km into the sea. Jill found that half way out was a mermaid statue that looked like it was worth seeing.
The thing that we did not realise while starting the trek, was that the rock wall was also the home of some incredible artwork. So as we wandered, we photographed, and generally just had a good time in discovering things that we had not expected.
The Bronze Age Minoan Palace of Knossos, also known as the Palace of Minos, is outside the city but accessible by a local bus that will deliver you to the doorstep. It is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete. The blurb suggests that the palace was first built about 2000 BC, which would explain the high proportion of rocks to be found.
Crete is the home to many sites with evidence of Neolithic (10,000-4500BC) civilizations and there is evidence at Knossos of this too. The current site was discovered in 1878 with excavations starting in 1900. Many of the things that are there today have brought criticism from many archaeologists as acts of fantasy, while others defend it as a reasonable attempt.
Crete has it all and getting to see it all was more than our limited schedule would allow. There were beaches, seaside fishing villages and historical sites. The best we could manage was Heraklion and Knossos, but it was enough to know that we would happily come back.
After the tourist hell that was Mykonos, I have sort of been dreading coming to Santorini. From all I had seen in advance, it was the prettiest of all of the Greek Islands, the striking white villages perched high up on the cliffs, overlooking the sea. Yes it would be stunning, but these views have attracted steady streams of tourists for many many years. And this is the bit that was troubling me.
Santorini is the most visited of all of the Greek Islands and is one of the top tourist destinations in the world. It lies 200 km southeast of Athens. Pre-Covid Santorini was getting around 2 million tourists each year.
Santorini is shaped like a half-moon as it was originally formed in around 1650 BC after a huge volcano erupted and the island is the remains of the caldera. The five villages of Fira (the one we are in), Oia (the famous sunset one), Imerovigli, Firostefani, and Akrotiri all sit atop the caldera and offer spectacular views into the crater.
Having hopped the midday ferry from Naxos, we did the 2 hour journey to Santorini which was relatively calm until…It was time to get off. And almost everyone got off. Thousands of people, on one of the big ferries, all trying to get their bags and get off the ferry, it was bedlam. Add to this all the vehicles and trucks on the ferry that had to wait for the hordes to exit before they could move.
From here you spill out onto the docks to find almost the same amount of people trying to cram themselves onto the ferry to leave. Add to this the tour group operators (that Jill has come to despise) the busses, taxis and motor transports all trying to find their passengers. To say this was a debacle would be underselling it.
Once in your transport, you then get to watch the traffic and graffiti for the next 40 minutes or so. The road out is a series of ever-diminishing switchbacks (8 in all) to climb the incredibly steep cliffside. This climb is done by everyone, busses, trucks, cars, transports and motorbikes. The road is narrow and only just allows these vehicles to pass on the straights. So at every switchback, the bus or truck invariably spilled over into the other lane jamming up traffic. Did I mention the thousands of people? A full coach only holds around 50 people. So we are talking 60-70 buses, along with minivans, trucks, lorries and fuel tankers all inching their way up this cliff.
Fira (with a population of about 2000) is the capital of Santorini, it is the cultural and economic centre of the island. On the west side of the island, it sits at the centre of the caldera. Fira apparently got its name through the mispronunciation of the word “Thera” in the late 18th Century when piracy stopped existing in the Aegean.
There are more than 1,000 beds per square km, more than any other isle after Kos and Rhodes, and in a destination of only 76 sq km, more than 700 restaurants, cafes, bars and bakeries – the vast majority concentrated in Fira, the main town.
There are two ports in Santorini, the old and the new. We got off at the new port. The old port is reserved for cruise ship tenders that drop their passengers at the bottom of the cliff (unless you have booked a day trip, then you get dropped at the new port to a waiting bus). Local laws were passed in 2015, limiting the number of cruise ship passengers allowed on the island each day to 8,000. But this was quickly thrown away and now up to 7 cruise ships (3000-5000 per boat) could be parked in the bay during peak times. Once you get off your cruise ship and have been dropped at the bottom of the hill you have 3 options:
Ride the cable car to the top (for 6 euro each way)
Walk the 587 steps and climb up to the town
Or hire a donkey to walk the stairs for you for 10 euro each way (25-35 mins)
Whichever way you get there, once up the cliff you are surrounded by the island’s iconic white-washed buildings and blue-domed churches. And there are tons of churches. We found this out at the crack of dawn the next morning when the bells went off, for about 20 mins, repeatedly.
The main show for the Catholics is the Cathedral of St John the Baptist which was was built in 1823 but restored in 1970 after an earthquake (1956).
The main show for the Greek Orthodox is the Candlemas Holy Orthodox Cathedral which was built in 1827 and was also renovated after the earthquake.
But it is the Three Bells of Fira that is the money shot that you see on all of the postcards and Instagram shots. Officially it is the Aghioi Theodoroi Church (Saint Theodoros Thira Holy Orthodox Church) in the village of Firostefani (which is really just part of Fira).
The biggest challenge that you get here is to find an angle where you can avoid the Instagrammers while also cutting out the the cruise ships from the photo. If you are patient enough this can happen.
Ignoring all of the hustle and bustle, the township is quite pretty and you can certainly see why it is such a popular tourist destination. The one thing missing was Greek people. The shops and bars were mainly staffed by foreigners and there were very few locals that we could find. Doing our research we found that unless you worked in the tourism sector, you could not afford to live here. This rang true on Jill’s booking experience, the first place she booked was closer to town. By changing our location to a bit further out we managed to save $500 on accommodation (we only stayed 2 nights).
Santorini has started its own beer brand and sells it everywhere it can. We figured that we should give it a try. They are predominantly IPAs which means they are too malty for my tastes. I tried the lager but it was too fruity. Talking to a barman (at another place) he said that there were no preservatives and therefore they must be kept cool or they go off. This may have been the case, as my lager was very ordinary.
Also in town were the Museum of Prehistoric Thera and the Archaeological Museum. We did not go in, but for those interested, they are options.
When googling what to see and do in Santorini the top things that come up are sailing cruises around the bays and a range of wineries. The number one thing that comes up is the hike from Fira to Oia. When you look a bit deeper, you find that this is a 10+ km journey along a pathway up and down, along the edge of the caldera. I looked at the images and the various photos were spectacular, but I’m not doing that, as long as my ass points towards the ground, I’m not doing that.
Oia
So instead of doing a ludicrous walk, we paid about 2 euros each and caught the local bus to Oia. Every evening the local buses, along with private coachloads of tourists, descend on Oia. The crowds push their way along the village’s packed central alleyway, they head past the shops selling luxury gear and trinkets. All with one goal to find their vantage point of choice (the eateries and bars that line the clifftop rim), so that they can settle in for sunset while they pay top dollar for cocktails and panoramic views.
Now this town is stunning. It is the sunset point that everybody craves and with good reason. It is set up perfectly for it too. The front strip is brand new (rebuilt after a major earthquake) and is full of cafes and restaurants, all facing west. And of course, the prices are obscene and every Instagrammer is dolled up and ready for their vanity shots.
Every now and then you pop up on a place that has not had a makeover, but for the most part, this place has been fully revamped. As terribly expensive as this place is, the good side is that the top thing to do is free. And that is to walk and just simply enjoy and admire the view, which is truly amazing.
A check of the accommodation sites shows you that a villa in prime position, built into the cliffside overlooking the volcanic caldera, can cost up to €15,000 ($25,000) a night. And with growing demand for the spectacular views as a backdrop for weddings, marriage proposals and vow renewals, everyone is booked solid.
Leaving Oia (before waiting for sunset) we headed back to the bus stop to return to Fira, only to find about 200 people in line waiting to do the same thing. Now, now only about 50 people fit on a bus and they only come every 30 mins. We were not waiting 2 hrs to get home. An opportunistic van driver was parked nearby offering immediate departure for €10 a head. So once his 11 seats were filled we went and he made €110 for a 20 minute drive.
Santorini Beaches. Due to the the volcanic nature of Santorini, the beaches have become their own attraction. The past volcanic eruptions not only shaped the island but also the beaches. There are distinct differences in the colours of the sand (red, white and black) as well as some covered in volcanic rocks and pebbles. The tourism blurb claims that “the dissimilar beaches will please everybody”.
Perissa and Perivolos offer the best long beaches covered with black sand and pebbles. Kamari Beach is also a black sand beach but according to the locals, the beach itself is not the best, since it has pebbles and small rocks which hurt your feet. All of these come equipped with beach umbrellas and sunbeds with beach bars and restaurants nearby.
The White Beach in Santorini or Lefki Ammos, as called by the locals, is a beach of black pebbles and grey volcanic sand under high white cliffs. The sand on the beach is not white, as its name clearly indicates.
The Red Beach of Santorini is surrounded by volcanic cliffs and rocks, leaving the black and red pebbles and red sand
Ancient Thira
The Mount of Prophet Elias is the highest point of Santorini. From up here you can see the whole island! Most notably you see the huge difference between the tourist side on the cliffs to the west and the traditional side on the flat part of Santorini to the East. Our short time did not allow us to visit here but the photos look nice.
On our last day, we had a few hours to kill as we had a 4pm ferry out and had to be out of our room at 11am. So I settled in to write this, while Jill got into a long chat with the manager/receptionist of the hotel. In this chat, a whole lot of things came up that we had no idea about.
The number one for me was that this place did not run all year round. I knew that there was a tourism window from April to November, with peak times in July and August. What I did not realise is that from the end of November, everything shuts down. Apparently, there are only 2 restaurants open and virtually all hotels shut their doors. December and January everyone leaves, and in February/March the cobwebs get dusted off in preparation of the next run.
We are used to tourism in Australia where everything runs all the time. Sure there are peaks and troughs (school holidays etc) but it never just stops dead. Well, it does here.
As much as I dreaded coming to Santorini, both Jill and I enjoyed it. Yes, it was obscenely overpriced (especially in Oia), and it was full of Instagrammers and plastic people. And yes it was a tourism mecca and the crowds were crazy, but we still enjoyed it. We chatted and tried to work out why we liked this but disliked Mykonos so much. We don’t have an answer, but we really did not enjoy Mykonos but did Santorini.
Naxos is the largest of the Cyclades island group and it spans seaside ports, mountain villages, ancient ruins and stretches of beach. While Naxos is best known for its beaches and scenery, it also has some ancient sites to explore. Arriving at the port you find (yet another) charming little town set on the side of a hill. Jill’s phone has a range of functions in it that allows her to remove unwanted people and adjust the sky colour from what was really there…any guess which of the below photos had her magic done to it.
Of course, Jill got our accommodation up the damn hill, while all the sights and restaurants were down the damn hill. On the upside, this time it was only about a 700m walk each way (if you took the shortcut across the gravel hill) and without too many stairs. The route if we took the footpath was considerably longer, but we didn’t use that. Our room was fantastic and the view was pretty good so the 700m walk could be abided.
The Temple of Apollo Portara (or the Great Door) is the first thing that you see on arrival and is the island’s emblem and main landmark. It is a massive marble doorway that was part of a temple commenced in 530 BC but that was never finished. The temple was supposed to be at least a hundred feet tall but all that remains is the great door and some foundations. The door is around 6 meters high, 3.5 meters wide and consists of separate monoliths. Each one weighing about 20 tons.
To get to the Islet you walk across a short causeway where the first thing that you come across is a statue of Aphrodite. The statue has no information about it, it just stands there overlooking the causeway to the islet. For those that love their Greek Myths – the islet of Palatia was where Ariadne, the Minoan princess, was abandoned by her lover Theseus after he killed Minotaur on the island of Crete.
Having walked the causeway there are some rough stairs to get you up to the site of the doorway. While there are many tourists who go here, it is large enough to get some pretty nice unobstructed views (and photographs). Unless of course, you want the sunset shot, then you will be one of hundreds.
Up the hill in the township is Kastro (Castle), this is the old Venetian quarter of the town, along with your usual collection of churches. It comprised the entire town of Naxos when the island was under Venetian rule but the modern town has since been built around it.
The township is yet another charming little place with an awesome seafront promenade, narrow streets, funky shops and restaurants, churches everywhere you look, and of course, lots of stairs. The fun bit here was the random paintings, signs and adages that you run across as you wander around the town.
The seafront walk was as expected, with cafes, restaurants and tourist shops aplenty. The thing that we had read about consistently but had not seen until here was the octopus drying in the sun. It has been mentioned in all of the tourist blurbs but not seen until Naxos.
Alas, our time in Naxos was the first time that our plans were impacted by rain (something we have hardly seen so far). We got a really good day hitting the main town area and all of the sights around there but the outer ones seemed like quite an effort, especially in the wet. The island itself is lovely and if time was not a factor we would happily have explored it more fully.
The Naxos Melanes Kouros Statue is located outside the village of Melanes, it is 6 meters long and dates back to the 7th century. The Kouros of Apollonas dates from the 8th century BC. And the Kouros of Flerio, dates back to 570 BC. All of these statues are little more than rocks lying on the ground that have been left where they were found. As such we chose not to hire a vehicle in the wet and drive to see them, but rather grabbed some random pics from the web to show you what we did not miss.
Near the village of Sangri (about 10 km from Naxos Town) lies the sacred temple of Demeter. The weather unfortunately caused us to miss this one which was quite the pity. It is a magnificent temple that was made of the finest quality Naxos marble and dates back to the 6th century BC.
There was also the temple of Dionysus, but our research showed that these were little more than a few nubs of columns, so we passed on that one and stole this image from the tourism website.
While it seems like not too much happened here on Naxos, we really enjoyed our time here. It was laid back with enough to see and do to keep you amused. And the food options were amazing, although lacking in fruit and vegetable options (a usual thing here in Greece).
Travelling the world in a pre and post COVID state
