Today we got a late start because, well, we were just tired.
We headed out in the buggy around 11:30 for our semi-planned tour of Naxos. We stopped in a small town for some breakfast and caffeine. John obviously enjoyed his cappuccino and we both enjoyed some spinach pies and a sweet vanillas cream pastry.
The roads were winding and narrow, so a little harrowing at times. We climbed several mountains throughout our day in the buggy as we passed through lots of small towns.
After our late breakfast we headed to the temple of Demeter. It was amazing to see this marble structure that was built around 530 BC by a cult that attempted to unite the peasant farmers and ensure the fertility of the land. Later, during the early Christian period, it was converted to a church. It has now become a ruin site that shows both of these structures in various stages. It is quite fascinating.
After leaving this ancient temple site, we headed toward the town of Chalkio to check out the citron distillery. On our walk to the distillery, we came across a store selling marble products. She explained the history of marble mining here on Naxos dating back to ancient times. She also explained that the dark areas are veins in the marble which are much harder and consequently more difficult to work with but also give unique color to pieces. Naturally, marble is translucent. We purchased a small drink coaster with some black in it.
We located the distillery and were able to see the end stages of their most recent batch of citron (kitpon) which has been produced here since 1896 from the leaves of the kitpon tree. There had no bottles on stock during this first visit but we were told that it would be ready in about 2 hours for purchase. So, we went to find some lunch. We ordered sweet Naxian cheese which has a very strong flavor and not really our favorite. John also has mushroom pie and I had local sausage with tomato, onion, and green peppers over local potatoes. The sausage was a mix of beef, pork and lamb and had a very different flavor. It was pretty good.
On our way back to buy the citron, we stopped on a small store which had all homemade local products. The shop owner gave us tastes of many of the products. We purchased some olive oil and local orange honey. Then on to the distillery for 2 bottles of the yummy stuff that can only be found here.
It was on to a natural spring and the cave of Zeus. We walked a short distance and were able to fill a water bottle with the pure water. We began the claim to Zeus’ cave but decided to skip the 20 minute one way uphill trek in the heat just to see a cave. So we turned around and headed back to the drive.
As we drove to our next stop, we passed by some very large marble mines. It was amazing to see the enormity of the mine and the beautiful white color of the marble in contrast to the mostly brown landscape. We finally arrived at our final destination for the day— Apolionas Kouros. Here are the remains of 2 very large statues that were abandoned around 500 BC when they were broken in transport from the mines. They were intriguing to see and wonder who wanted these enormous statues made and why. We also speculated as to what happened to the workers who broke them in transit. Yikes!
We made it back to the Airbnb around 6:40pm and then changed and headed to the beach for a quick refresh. The water is very clear but also much colder than I would have imagined. After a quick dip and some time spent watching the sun go down, we headed back to the Airbnb again with some quick pit stops along the way. We had a simple dinner of bread and olive oil with wine. We included my left over stuffed potato from last evening.
Now we are sleepy but listening to a family enjoying their vacation next door. It’s 11:35pm and I hope to fall asleep soon.
Today’s take aways:
1. Don’t expect to have nice hair here on Naxos since it is windy. It doesn’t help that we are riding in an open air buggy.
2. John loves his coffee!
3. Ancient construction always amazes. How did they do such amazing things without all the tools and technology we have today?
4. Not every minute of your vacation has to be planned out or filled with excursions.
5. Gas is expensive everywhere right now.
6. Sometimes sleep is the best medicine and makes the rest of the trip enjoyable.
7. Seek to enjoy and connect with the culture.
8. Take chances and sometimes
travel off the beaten path.
enjoy a sunset.
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