Greece is the land of big landscapes. Like this one of Plaka beach, Naxos, where peaks of the neighbouring island of Paros dot the horizon. And where soft clouds sail the otherwise permanent blue sky.

Both urban and natural landscapes show long distances to cover. Naxos stretches on two peaks, dotted with shiny white houses. Dotted-white is also the space in between.

Small rocks in front of several beaches, like this one at Orkos beach, invite swimming up there, or snorkeling. But the distance might be prohibitive. Here is more than 2 km forth and back, cold streams are common and unseen currents push offshores.

Long lasting sunsets to stare at in Naxos, as the west facing view is practically devoid of obstacles. Public terraces are easy to find even in the inner town. Sunset dinners are common in Chora (aka Naxos town).

Greece means also historical grandeur, for example with marble stadiums to run, like the first winner of the Modern Olympic Games. The Panathinaikos stadium in Athens was rebuilt in occasion of the opening of the modern olympics. The project strictly followed the original structure of the old stadium. Have a competition on its ring and run for the tallest podium as I did (but lost).

The tallest podium in Athens belongs to the Temple of Athena, the Parthenon, on the Acropolis. This impressive house of Gods survived fire, earthquakes, Italian commanders (the missing part on the South side caused by Doge Morosini cannon balls) and English archeologists (most of the ornamental statues are today in the British Museum, London)

The Parthenon was built in honor of Athena, Goddess of war and knowledge. Athena came out of the head of Zeus via parthenogenesis. That’s why the name of this temple. Athena won on Poseidon, God of the sea and horses,  by gifting the city with a precious olive tree, instead of a useless, salty water source.

Previous episode: 1. on the footsteps of Ariadne