Today we arose early to have breakfast and make a 9:30 ferry for our voyage to Naxos. When we got up the wind was fierce making the sea extremely choppy. Our guide advised us all to take Dramamine as the trip on the ferry was likely to be bumpy. We got through breakfast, piled all our luggage into the cabs and got to the pier only to learn that the ferry had departed Athens and then turned back because of rough seas. That particular boat is a small passenger boat and is not suited to rough sea conditions. So we wound up having to wait until noon to get a high speed ferry to Naxos. I wandered around the port village and sat in a little café looking out at the harbor and the boats and watching all the old Greek men gathering for their morning coffee clatch – talking animatedly away at each other while fingering the ubiquitous “worry beads” that are part of Greek culture. When we finally got on our ferry it was quite a luxurious boat. We sat in Business Class, a lovely lounge with plush chairs and had spanakopita for lunch and then most of us napped during the two hour journey to Naxos.
When we arrived in Naxos we went to the hotel to drop off our luggage and put on our hiking gear and then went inland for our hike. It was a very beautiful hike up in the hills of central Naxos. Naxos is a much bigger island than Tinos and is more fertile. We walked through miles of farms and goat grazing grounds. Naxos is famous for its marble and we started the hike at an ancient marble quarry, where they have unearthed some marble statues dating to the 7th century BCE. The trails were pretty easy to navigate being mostly marble stone paths through the hilly farm country. When we were up in the hills between Potamia and Hilkios we ran into a herd of goats sunning themselves on the rocks! They were really cute and completely unimpressed with us. Like on Tinos, the countryside is dotted with teeny tiny churches in the most unlikely of places and the little villages stand out on the landscape because of their white buildings against the mostly brown and green landscape. We stopped in Potamia for a drink from the spring and a short rest and then ascended the mountain near there and came down the other side to Hilkios. In Hilkios we visited a distillery that produces Citron, a native Greek liqueur made from the leaves of the Citron plant. Citron looks like an overgrown lemon but is tougher and not as sweet as a lemon (which is saying something given how not sweet lemons are!!). We tasted the Citron – three varieties – strong, medium and weak (in terms of alcohol content!). It was quite good. Then we had dinner in a little family owned restaurant where the dining area is outside under a grape arbor. Beautiful bunches of lush green grapes hung from the “ceiling” over us and there was a lovely breeze. Once again the food was outstanding – fresh, homemade bread, tzadziki, Greek salad, saganaki cheese, and a variety of grilled meats – pork, beef and homemade sausage. We finished of with baklava that was swimming in honey. Absolutely superb!
We got back to our hotel by 8-ish, hot, sweaty and tired! Tomorrow we do our hike in the morning, up to the mountain of Zeus, the highest point in all the Cyclades.
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