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Got up early this morning for our 7:45 am cab ride to the airport to catch a flight to Naxos. Flights go out on an almost hourly basis. We got off the ground late but it was a short 30-minute flight. Checked in at the Hotel Ippocampus (“Seahorse” in Greek”) which is really cool and quintessentially Greek islands: It’s situated right on the beach.
It has a whitewashed exterior with little balconies that overlook the beach. It is so quiet it’s almost spooky, particularly after three intense days in Athens with non-stop commotion and noise. It’s also at the end of the season on the islands. One more week and a lot of the hotels, bars and restaurants will shut down for the season. Our timing then, has been perfect. There are no crowds here and the weather has been perfect ever since we arrived- clear, blue skies and highs in the 70’s during the day and perfect sleeping weather at night.
We made a snack in our room of Naxos cheese, fresh made bread, tomatoes and salami and then hit the beach. The water was quite cool but very refreshing. We’re told that St. George Beach, the beach in front of our hotel, is one of the best beaches on the island. It’s so shallow in our little bay that you can literally wade out about 200 feet before it’s deep enough to swim. I swam for quite a while and then enjoyed a nice beverage on the beach brought by our hard working bar and restaurant staff. We spent a good deal of time conversing with a young couple from Quebec who approached us when a stray cat came and befriended me. They carry cat treats for just such an occasion. Strange, but harmless. They were quite engaging. He owns a sushi restaurant in Montreal and she is a mail carrier. His father was originally from Greece and has moved back, so they visit every five years. They are island hopping, which is a very popular thing to do for visitors.
We had a mythology tour scheduled for 5 pm on the waterfront downtown so headed down that way early just to take in the sights and get ourselves oriented. The streets are incredibly narrow and paved with beautiful white stones. They snake between the houses and apartments.
The balconies are overgrown with bougainvillea. Everything seems to be extremely clean and well kept. We decided that it was a lot like a clean version of Mexico. Our tour director was an elderly woman who was doing her best to dazzle us with the mythology and history of Greece. She was very nice and well-meaning, but after our five-hour post graduate seminar at the Acropolis the day before, didn’t really break new ground. Still, the evening was lovely and we got a tour of the town, so it was helpful. We did learn a couple of interesting things about Naxos. One, that is the only island in the Cyclades group that has fresh water and thus has agriculture, growing lots of herbs, vegetables, particularly potatoes, and livestock; and two, they are famous for their marble which has been used for millennia to build statues and buildings throughout Greece. The tour was designed to end at the Temple of Apollo right where we got to witness the beautiful sunset.
When the tour ended, we went to eat at the Scirocco Restaurant at the suggestion of the concierge at our hotel. It was excellent! It is a sidewalk cafe like in most of Greece. We split a large assortment of traditional Greek appetizers and a seafood saganaki, which was one of the best things that I have ever eaten. The sampler included pickled octopus, meatballs, fried zucchini balls, spanakopita, fava beans in tomato sauce, tzatziki, hummus, fried peppers and a partridge in a pear tree. The seafood consisted of clams and mussels in a tomato sauce with the famous Naxos cheese. It was a killer. Just when you’re ready to burst from eating too much, they bring out the complimentary dessert. I thought about just going right to the hospital. Fortunately we walked back to our hotel and shook it all down a little bit.
On the way home, we stopped at a small restaurant and bar just up the street called the Oasis for a night cap. I had to have one more taste of Kitra, a liquer made only on Naxos from the leaves of the Kitra tree. It’s very intriguing with a slight citrus taste, but not fruity. It is served cold in a shot just like Ouzo. Very foxy and refreshing.
We then returned to Hotel Ippocampus and hit the sack