Yialos

Five years ago today, we had an amazing day in Naxos, Greece on our honeymoon. After starting the day off with a giant breakfast at the hotel, which had such a fantastic spread every morning, we went over to Agios Prokopios Beach, spending our time basking in the sun and wading in the crystal clear water. It was incredibly relaxing. We continued our beach day after returning to the hotel since our hotel was next to another beach, Agios Georgios (Saint George). That one was pretty different because you could walk out for yards and the water would still only be knee deep. It was fantastic.

Since we ate such gigantic breakfasts every morning at our hotel, we rarely ate a full lunch on our days in Naxos (which is the opposite of how we usually travel, when we eat a granola bar for a breakfast and then focus on having a bigger lunch), instead choosing to get a couple of light snacks before dinner. Our local beach had a bunch of small beachside tavernas, and it seemed like the perfect extension of our beach day to get some food from one of them for our daily snack. The one we stopped at was called Yialos, and we got a table with a full view of the beach. It was glorious.

We decided to order two dishes - stuffed vine leaves and a dip (which we think is skordalia, but aren't 100% sure this many years later), which we ate with some bread - and a couple of Mythos beers. We don't really remember a ton of specifics about how the food tasted there, other than that we liked it, but we absolutely remember the experience. It was perfect, exactly what we wanted on our last afternoon in Naxos. There was good food, cold drinks, a great view, and just a super relaxed atmosphere. While we sat there, just people watching, relaxing, resting in the sun, we didn't have a care in the world. It's a feeling I think we both wish we could replicate on every vacation, but we're not always successful.

The entire experience only cost us €11 (no idea what it would be now, but that's what it was 5 years ago), and it was totally worth it for a relaxing afternoon on the beach with tasty snacks. Once we left, it was time to head into town to buy our tickets for our next destination, take in a last sunset over the Portara (an absolutely magical experience in our opinion), and try to enjoy every last minute of our final night in Naxos. That was truly our favorite island, and the relaxing vibe and good food we had at Yialos was pretty representative of why we loved it so much.