Porto is popping off

6 May 2024

We're back in Porto and it's a glorious day and Porto is popping off! Lots of tourists, the streets and lanes were full of  holiday energy and the tuk tuk tour guides were looking happy. 

We're  in Porto a couple of days before we retrace our steps up the Portuguese Senda Litoral, Camino Coastal. We have walked this path a few years back, however the first five days were in torrential rain so we kept our heads down and missed the views. This go-round the forecast was great for the next week, time to saddle up the back packs and get walking.

First stop was the impressive Porto Cathedral to pick up a pilgrim passport used to record your progress as you make your way to Santiago de Compostela.  Pilgrims needs to get two stamps in the pilgrim passport each day as they progress from village to village on foot following the ancient pilgrim pathway.

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After picking up the Camino passport we just wandered around the city and soaked up all the atmosphere, Porto has bags of old world charm.

We were surprised to see the Disneyland style queue system to get into the most famous bookstore in Porto and as was featured in the Harry Potter films. It may be gorgeous but we skipped this, the line was too long.

So many fabulous old buildings, clock towers, cathedrals and chapels and of course the stunning blue and white tiles synonymous with Porto. 

We didn't revisit the tourist hotspots but just wandered and soaked up the atmosphere. The architecture is fantastic, twists and turns in cobbled lanes and voila - you could be in a movie set.

Not Portugal...yet 🤞

Little Naxos airport will be one we won't forget for quite a while. It's a tiny airport and not usually busy or crowded. However Greek Orthodox Easter long weekends is  probably one of the busiest air travel weekend of the year. The airport was packed when we arrived as the  flight prior to ours was delayed. The resident airport cat had better conditions than travellers with a nice little shaded verandah on the cat house  shelter and fresh  water.  Air traffic control in Athens they said. Things didn't look good. Tried to change our seats to the first delayed flight, no luck. The upshot was our 12.15pm flight to Athens left 2.5hrs late. As we boarded the flight, the hostie  offered us each an Easter candle which under normal circumstances would be lovely,  however I did have very bad thoughts about what could be done with said candle. We landed in Athens just as the gate closed for our Iberia flight to Madrid....and so therefore we also missed our Madrid to Porto connection. Ouch!  After landing in Athens we gave it a red hot crack and ran to the Iberia gate just hoping they too were running late but alas, alack all was locked and barred. So began the big rebook of flights and hotels.

After a long day we luckily found an hotel just 5 mins from Athens airport with a free shuttle - perfect! We sat on the terrace eating pizza and admired the view. Flights rebooked for next day direct Athens  to Porto and hotel rejigged. Insurance claim done (they want you to give your left leg along with all the detail needed - took a good couple of hours to complete on our phones - big fingers/small screens = moments of frustration). 

So after a good night's sleep back we went to Athens airport. We had hours to fill in and it being Orthodox Easter it was busy! We found a spot at the end of a long gate lounge and around 6pm were kept entertained by the Easter light arrival with all the pomp and ceremony. The flame landed via a Govt jet and various Orthodox and Coptic priests and VIPs were present.

The Greek Orthodox flag was flying high, the Airforce looked sharp, they even rolled out the red carpet for the flame bearer as the flame exited the aircraft. All the VIPs on the tarmac had lovely beeswax candles and little lanterns waiting for the Easter light. Later on we saw priests striding through the airport, their black robes flowing,  carrying their lanterns back to their churches - a unique little observation.

We had thought we would miss the  Easter celebrations  but every flight delay has a silver lining, we got to see a brief snippet of some  Orthodox Easter traditions. As we boarded our flight to Portugal, at the gate there was an Easter candle burning in the corner (it looked safe and no fire alarms were set off).

Look out Porto we're on our way.

Naxos

It's always good to step off the ferry onto Naxos. The ferry drops you right on the edge of the marina and the old town sits there waiting  to be explored. As the ship comes in you can see the Portara, or Great Door, that sits proudly on the headland. I guarantee  if you visit Naxos you'll do at least one evening stroll to the 

Portara/gate of Apollo. Naxos is known as the birth place of Zeus and is packed full of history, how's your Greek mythology? 

Having visited the Archeological Museum on a previous visit,  we took our time wandering the back lanes. It's early in the season  so still very quiet which we liked. There were a lot of decorations for Greek Orthodox Easter celebrations which we will just  miss but it was lovely to see the displays and feel a buzz in the air for the Easter festivities. 

We love getting around on the little local bus. There are so many rental cars, scooters and awful ATV quad bikes [that look like moon buggies]  all lined up waiting for the season to really kick in. I hate to think how the traffic will be, it's bad now while it's quiet. So we escaped to the remote mountain village of Apeiranthos. 

To get there the little bus wound its way through the villages of Sagri, Chalki and Filoti, worth a visit to see traditional village life. On every little mountain top, once you got your eye in,  you could spot a little chapel, so quintessentially Greek. 

It was such a contrast to see how green the interior was. The village square of course was the natural centre of the community - lots of village folks sitting under trees chewing the fat.

  

The last stop at  640mtrs up in the clouds, was the gorgeous marble village of Apeiranthos.  It has quite a history during the wars, too much to get into here, but sobering and a testament to the plucky villagers during such harsh times. It's surrounded by fields and mountains, has 5 museums, wonderful marble paved lanes, plenty of places to sit back and enjoy lunch under the trees and fabulous architecture.

 

It's the only village where both houses and streets have been constructed  using marble. 

The monument at the entrance to the village, honouring the men lost in the wars is a heart breaker.

Rough translation - "Oh! joy, joy to the mothers of the immortal Greek. Women who without a word or bitterness or complaint donate wholeheartedly her poor child to the homeland on fire, on the alter of war!"

Every village has a chapel or two, or three tucked away and this one was from 1836 -  simple in its decoration but so peaceful. It was tucked into the rock beside the outdoor restaurant we had lunch in. Candles lit for mum and dad.

Spring had sprung in Apeiranthos - the meadows looked as pretty as a picture 👌

One point of difference we noticed as we wandered about, was the use of wrought iron decorations on the gates. We hadn't seen this on Tilos or Astypalea.

After the mountains it was time for a beach visit. 

There's some beautiful beaches to choose from so you won't be disappointed. 

We revisited where we stayed last time at Aiga Anna and Aiga Prokopios - both gorgeous golden sand beaches & also the town beach Aiga Georgio.... there's a beach for any occasion! 

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We clocked up lots of miles exploring the old town as staying at the beach on a previous visit we'd spent less time in 'town'.

There was no shortage of cafes, bars or restaurants, the challenge was where to go with so many options.  

We found our favourite coffee spot overlooking the marina 👌

So it's goodbye to little Hotel Zeus as we fly tomorrow to Portugal. Yassas Greece, it's been great! 

The Doors

 I've loved seeing all different doorways as we've mooched our way across the islands. So many colours and so many different wrought iron treatments, a lost art in many places but alive and well on Naxos. Take a gander 😁