Paros and Naxos Islands, Greece
What could be a better way to wake up than after a peaceful night’s sleep, a lazy morning and then a beautiful beach day? We are on Paros Island this morning and truly enjoyed a very relaxing time that fit the calm nature of the Greek culture. Some of our more adventurous guests set off on a morning hike out to a gorgeous lighthouse. Many of our younger guests came to the beach a little later and spent the morning playing camp games in the nice cool water.
After a perfect morning of play and relaxation we all headed back to the ship for lunch and to set sail again, making our way to Naxos. Naxos is the largest and most fertile of all the Cycladic islands. Here was our first opportunity for the younger guests to go out on an adventure of their own. We boarded our coaches and traveled to the small town of Damalas where we met Manolis in his pottery studio. Manolis is a third generation potter and one of the only who continues to use this particular traditional style of pottery. The young guests each enjoyed a quick lesson and chance to throw a pot with Manolis on the pottery wheel.
The “grown-up” bus met up with us after they enjoyed a quiet and beautiful walk through the Venetian Kastro, so that they could see the art work and then the young explorers headed home while the parents stayed to shop. It is safe to say that it was a very successful shopping day considering all the bags of pottery that were brought back on board.
Everyone got cleaned up so that we were ready for our Greek party. We celebrated together with some grilled octopus and ouzo, delighted in a traditional Greek dinner and were later honored with the company and entertainment of a local professional Greek dancing group. After some wonderful singing and dancing many guests chose to take their festive moods into town for the evening to enjoy the nightlife that Naxos had to offer.
Overall it was a very successful day with the perfect blend of relaxation and celebration.
