Day 14 Amorgos to Naxos

September 12, 2023

We started our last day in Amorgos with coffee. I had a double Greek coffee, sweet and Jill an Americana, black. The coffee in Greece is absolutely delicious. Greek coffee is boiled with very finely ground coffee at the bottom. It is served several ways - black, semi-sweet and sweet. Boiling causes it to develop a rich crema on the top, which adds to the deliciousness. 

We walked south away from the port and took some beautiful pictures of the Katapola area of Amorgos. The rocks on the island are unusual and beautiful - I love rocks, they are a wonderment to me.

We’ve seen lots of wild goats in Amorgos along the steep cliffs and some standing on the bushes eating the green tops. The island has 25,000 goats. Not surprising to see goat on many menus. And of course, lots of cats, obviously not on the menu lol. Cats are well fed by the locals however, it doesn’t stop them from coming around when you’re eating. However, they can be picky eaters.

We checked out of our room at 11 and walked up to the church and around the many paths until lunch time. We settled on a taverna with cushions. The wicker seats on traditional Greek chairs are hard on one’s bottom and not comfortable. We were ready for some comfort since our fast ferry was due at 3. We started our lunch with two Alpha beers, 500 ml for €3.50, a bargain compared to back home. I once again had calamari, probably my favourite seafood and Jill, Saganaki cheese, her favourite. We had to get our fill before going home. We asked if we could stay longer at the restaurant and they said, “as long as you want”, so we pulled out our scrabble board, epic game and Jill won again, by a hair. 

Our Aussie built, Highspeed 4 ferry was half an hour late. It is a catamaran, so it nicely cut through the four to six foot swells, which were the biggest we have seen on this trip. We got some good news from our host in Naxos, he credited our visa with one night accommodation because the cancelled ferry yesterday was not our fault. He didn’t have to do that since our room was non refundable. 

The ferry stopped to pickup many passengers in Koufonissi that were stranded because of the cancellations yesterday and also those trying to make it back to Athens before the strike tomorrow. It was nice to look out at our favourite island one more time. 

Our host in Naxos met us at the port. Our plan was to buy a whole fish for dinner but we were too late. We found a grocery store amidst the chaos of Naxos. It has changed a lot since we were here eight years ago. We still had garlic, a small onion, a little bit of parsley and thought maybe we should make peasant pasta again. The walk through the grocery store inspired us. We bought cherry tomatoes, heavy cream, and smoked salmon to complete our spaghetti dinner. It was delicious. Tomorrow we fly to Athens for a one night stay in Rafina, a suburb of Athens, by the seaside and then home.