Day 6: Arriving in Naxos.

After a boat trip of 2 hours we arrived in Naxos. While walking from the boat to our pick up point for our car, the islands felt already relaxing. So who knows what the island will bring more…

To get to our apartment we had to leave the main road. It looked like a farmer trail, but it’s a normally road here. Really cool and adventurous.

By evening fall we left our apartment to visit the potato festival. They try to set a new record. We think almost everyone on the island came to the festival to eat the potatoes and drink wine from a barrel. Also they played Greek music. The atmosphere was really nice!

Day 7: Exploring Naxos

So we had our first breakfast in Naxos at our beautiful balcony. Today we liked to explore the islands archeological sites. Our first thing to visit was an old castle, in the middle of nowhere…It was really adventurous to get there, because the trail was like a sand pad with some rocks on it. But we made it to the castle, hidden between olive trees and palms. It was awesome to walk through this old castle. The castle is called Kalamitsia.

Back to the village we saw some farmers with cows on our trail, so we had to wait a short time. After we drove to our next stop: the kouros of Koyros and Flerio. You can describe these archeological sites as a statue of a man.

We drove further to the oldest church in Naxos, nearby the small village Moni. There was a dress code so we changed our clothes and entered the church. It wasn’t so large, but it was nice to see. At the path to the church, old women sold their home-made carpets.

At least we visited the cute village Halki. Narrow roads with beautiful flowers on the sides and people were eating in small restaurants everywhere. We also took a place to have a lunch, under the grape branches. Halki is the village with a citron distillery. The distillery is still in use. We could taste the liquor and bought some small bottles from it.

Time for a relaxing time at our swimming pool. Lovely to lay down at a  beach towel, hearing the sound of crickets everywhere and around us nothing but old olives trees, flowers and some farmers with sheeps.

Day 8: Into the mountains.

First of all we headed back to the town Halki. This is located nearly in the center of the island. Yersterday we went from Halki back to Naxos town, today we go from Halki into the mountains.

On our trip today we wanted to visit the monastery Fotodoti. Unfortunately there was no normal road to the top where the monastery is located so we had to take a gravel path, which was unfortunately closed after 500 meters. Our google maps guide showed that there was another road leading to the monastery. When we arrived near this road it was more like a hiking trail so we decided to walk up this trail. After 20 minutes of climbing up the mountain this road was also closed (why no sign at the beginning?). After returning to the car we decided to skip the monastery because it’s unreachable.

Dispite the failure we continued going up into the mountains. On our way to the top (999 meter high) we came through the marble city of Apiranthos. After this town we saw a sign about an ancient akropolis. This ancient thing we never found. So we ended up along a small town for lunch.

After our lunch break we almost arrived at the top. While heading there some clouds began to hide other mountain peaks around us, but we made it to the top on time and enjoyed the amazing view. We could almost see the entire island.

This was litary the high light of the day, on our trip back to the apartment we came across some old villages. But most of all we enjoyed the scenery.

Day 9: Almost nothing.

We could discripe this day almost with some empty lines. This was because we woke up late this morning, and the weather wasn’t that good. It was cloudy and windy so we decided to relax at our apartment.

Just before evening fall it started to get better outside so we decided to visit the Dimitras temple. TIP: follow the signs instead of google maps. We ended up on a narrow path, which looks like it was made for cows and other animals. And yes, there was a big cow on the road… But we found the temple!

After this adventures trip we went to Naxos town for our dinner. And also in Naxos we managed to get sort of lost in the old town. But lucky enough we found a nice looking tavern in the center of this narrow streets.

Day 10: Exploring the old village.

Today we explored Naxos Chora old village. We walked through the narrow streets to the castle. Near the castle the white houses on these streets makes place for a more Medieval look. The castle isn’t so large, but it’s nice to see it. You’ll have a beautiful view over the port from here. We had the opportunity to have a look inside the castle. There are multiple items exhibited.

From the castle we walked to the Portara. It was very windy today, so to get there we had to plan our walk: get there between the waves over the path. People were running and yelling, because they had not the right timing…Alright, we made it to the other side very well, only a pair of wet shoes 🙂 From the Portara we had a nice look over the village. But because of the wind we headed back down.

This afternoon we also visited Plaka Beach. A beautiful large beach with crystal clear water. We had our lunch there too, with our feet in the sand. After, we headed back to our apartment to relax at the swimming pool, because tomorrow we’re already traveling to the next island…

Day 11: Traveling to the next island.

Time to leave Naxos and travel to the next island today. Fortunately it isn’t a long trip, just 45 minutes.  We left the island at 09:30. It was much quieter than the port in Santorini.

Time for you to read our next blog: ‘Our summer in Greece part 3‘

Now it’s time to read ‘Our summer in Greece: part 3′ blog 🙂 or go back to ‘Our summer in Greece: Part 1’.