Ahhh, the sweet silence of the Mediterranean Sea. Yesterday Bron and I rode out to St Prokopios an idyllic beach on the west coast of Naxos. The sand was tiny little shells just the right size to feel comfortable under foot, but not stick to you like sand does. We worked on our tans for a while and experimented with the snorkel I bought on Santorini. It's been ages since I did that and it took me a while to get used to being underwater but breathing. When I did I loved it. The water was amazing and the sand under it was perfect. Lots of little fish (that Bron thinks bit her on the ankle) follow swimmers about and I even found a rusted old wreck a dozen meters out. I've bought a disposable underwater camera, assuming it works better than the one from Pamplona there will be some cool pictrures when I get it developed.
   In the afternoon we went inland to get to the 'gem of a village' whose name I have forgotten. We rented a 80cc scooter but it still had issues going up hills. The village is indeed a nice one, streets paved with marble, rabbit-warren like alley ways winding up the hill and a small castle on the top. On the way home I left Bron for a bit and went for a hike up to Dimitra's Temple. Made for a god of fruit and harvest and such this temple is mostly a modern reconstruction of the orginal, which was knocked over to build a church about 600AD. The walk back in the sun brought me closer to heat stoke than any other time on this trip. We sat on the beach at Mikra Vigla for a while, and I swam a bit, but it was getting colder so we went home and saw sunset from the town water front. Very nice

   Today started with an hour long ride to Apollon on the north coast. We went there especially to see the Kurous, which is an unfinished statue of a man in a marble quarry. We weren't impressed when we saw it, but when you consider it would have been as mysterious as the Easter Island heads had it been up on a hill then it is kinda cool. We came back to get food and then heading straight on to St Prokopios beach (or maybe St Anna's the map is a little vague). More snorkeling, finding more sunked treasures and doing little else while lying in the sun. Fantastic, a real greek relaxation holiday. We are leaving tomorrow, and basically I'm heading back to England, with a stop in Italy and in Paris. It's almost over and I've loved every minute of it. I can't get over how cool Greece has been, definitely a candidate for my favourite holiday destination.

St Anna beach (a.k.a. paradise) The brilliantly clear water of St Anna's beach

Me standing in the water at St Ann's beach Underwater photo of two fish