Final Day in Naxos Spent Exploring Naxos Town and Appreciating the Aegean

Last full day in Naxos! I took the car after breakfast into Naxos town and parked in a lot so I could walk around in the car-free old town. It was nice. The alleys and streets closer to the sea level are more touristy, with souvenir shops and cafes, but farther uphill it was more real life — through lace-curtained windows I could hear old couples shouting back and forth to each other over the sounds of TV news blasting while they prepared lunch (lots of cooking smells and clinking of dishes).

But otherwise not much to see. I regret that I didn’t have more time yesterday in chic Paros to shop — there was a way better/more tasteful set of options there — but probably for the best, pocketbook-wise.

While I was away, Willa and James built a sand car with Teddy and swam.

I came back and picked them up at 1 pm for a lunch out on the beach in Plaka, this time at a place called Tohu. Good food, colorful vibes, fun people watching.

We spent our final afternoon/evening at home, soaking up the last hours of this place. We took a family dip in the Aegean. As we waded in Teddy said, “This’ll be my last time in the Aegean for a while.” I replied, “How do you know you’ll ever get to do it again? This could be it! You could die next week!” He agreed that was true and promised to appreciate it even more as a result!!

Meanwhile, James, staring off into space, asked me: “Do you think that someone in the world is farting right now?”

Me: “Definitely.”

James: [Long thoughtful pause] “What about a hundred people? Are a hundred people in the world farting right now?”

Me: “Yes.”

James: “Wow.”

Across the water we could see smoke on Paros, and Twitter confirmed there were brush fires there. We saw multiple back and forth trips by an emergency helicopter dumping a giant bag of powder on the mess. Not sure how efffective that was.

A dog who lives nearby stopped by to say hi. Strangley, she was one of probably ten dogs total we’ve seen the whole trip. No one in Athens had pet dogs that we could tell, and there were no strays. Tons of stray cats in Athens and Naxos, but no dogs.

It was the perfect vacation but I am ready to go home, I have to say. 

When we were on our big trip, people would often write to us and say, “I just got back from a 10 day trip with our kids and I’m exhausted — I don’t know how you do it.” Now that I’m on such a 10 day trip — and also feeling tired and ready to wrap it up — I see what they mean. 

It’s very different to do what we did and to take a 10-day vacation. Mostly it was about mindset. There was no going home, there was no “end” anytime soon, no finish line in sight. Perpetual travel was just our existence, and we clearly got in that frame of mind from the beginning because, well, what choice did we have?

Not having a home to return to must have helped too. On this trip I have found myself longing/eager to “get back” to our new-as-of-2020 apartment, which I adore. My king bed just the way I like it, my shampoo, my breakfast routine, my trainer, etc. When we didn’t have all that (we gave up our old apartment when we took off) — when the suitcases and each others’ company were everything — there was nothing to compare it to, and nothing waiting for us. Now I have something to get back to.

Also I think the heat just totally sapped all our energy. We have wilted!!

We packed up, and got in bed early, ready to tackle the 17-hour door-to-door journey home tomorrow.