Wow...what a day

I don't even really know where to begin... Well, we were looking for an adventure and we found one:). Well we thouht we were heading to Mykonos today, but that is not where we are now:). No worries...we are just fine, we just had a little snafew in travel plans today. We checked out of our hotel this morning, headed to the port, and got onto the ferry. The ferry was great actually...huge and very comfortable. I actually thought to myself , "wow...this is going well! This is a piece of cake!". We had been seated for about 5 minutes when they made an announcement and everyone started packing up their stuff and leaving the boat. Brandon and I were extremely confused...and no one really told us what was going on...very typically European (Heath can vouch for that:). We stood in a line for an hour and a half to hear that the ferry was not going because the winds were too strong. We could still go to Mykonos but we would have to take 3 different boats to get there. But they were going to other islands. One of the islands that they were still sailing to ( on a bigger boat so it's safer) is called Naxos. We knew about it from one of the couples we went on the sailing tour with. They loved it. So after much consideration we decided to go there instead. Hoping that at some point we could make it back to Athens for our flight on Saturday. Honestly, we considered staying in the safety and familiarity of santorini but decided we wanted to see anoher island. So we jumped...

So at 1530 we boarded a huge ship (a big cargo/cruise ship). And headed out. It was actually very organized and very nice. In 2 hours we were in Naxos. We read our guidebook ( thank God for guidebooks) and made a tentative plan. We got there and things were a bit chaotic. There were about 12 people standing there holding signs hoping we would stay at their place. It was a bit overwhelming. We decided to find a travel agent to book tickets to Athens and ended up buying a plane ticket instead. We decided flying was maybe more reliable than taking a ferry...maybe:)... ( and much quicker). We also booked a hotel in Athens right next to the airport. We were informed by a fellow American today that all laborers In Athens might strike on Saturday ( it's their labor day). Sweet... So we wanted to be close to the airport in case of issues with our flight ( the airport is 30 miles outside of Athens). We then met a very nice lady who rented us a room at her place...it's a little studio. She actually drove us there in her car..along with her aunt who had a bum knee:) Don't worry ma...we are fine. Naxos is very different...it's not nearly as touristy...mostly Greeks. It is hard to trust someone when you live in a big city...I'm used to being very tentative of strangers. But everything worked out and now I'm finally relaxed. The studio is very nice...Kristina is very helpful...and it's actually super cheap. Let's just hope our luggage is there when we get back...just kidding:). Naxos is actually lovely...very charming and the locals are very nice. It is the real deal here...real Greeks living everyday life. It's great! If everything else goes well I will be very happy:).

Right now we are sitting in a lovely cafe (with free wifi:) and having a snack. The locals don't eat til 11 you know! I am excited to explore more tomorrow. Love you all!