Maddy's Travels
Naxos, Greece
Autumn 2023
Mikri Vigla Beach
Chora, main port of Naxos
My room at friends Hilary and Dimitri’s house in Naxos, Greece is called the “Vineyard Suite”. It has that name because I literally walk out the door onto the patio, smell the jasmine and into the vineyard. The grapes have already been harvested, but I can still find a few clusters of white champagne grapes (the super sweet tiny ones ) to nibble. Then I wander to the fig trees. They are also past season, but I can find some that have fallen and dried on the ground, just like the ones we pay so much for in our grocery stores.
Then I say hi to Molly, the cat. Everywhere you go in Naxos there are cats. Lots of them. Everyone loves the cats. Hilary and Dimitri feed Molly, she comes in the house whenever she wants to. Many people, H&D included take their “adopted” cat to be spayed and be marked with a little snip on one ear to identify them as spayed. In the end of Oct, when H&D leave for the year, Molly fends for herself and greets them when they return in the spring.
Naxos is one of the Cyclades Islands. This is the grouping that includes Mykonos and Santorini which are two of the most popular tourist destinations in Greece. The Cyclades islands have beautiful weather and beaches. Unlike Massachusetts, you don’t have to worry about:
1. Sharks
2. Riptides
3. Water that will freeze your feet off
There are NO tides whatsoever in the Aegean Sea because it is surrounded by land, Greece to the east and North, Turkey to the west. The thing to worry about is the Miltemi (seasonal wind). Kite surfers from all around the world come for one of its many beaches. I was lucky to have a host who could pick the best beach for the day based on the direction of the wind. I felt sorry for some of the vacationers who, not knowing better were being pelted by sand.
We had a day or two with short thunderstorms and clouds, a great opportunity for some moody and intense photos. Dimitri is Greek. He and Hilary bought their house on Naxos 15 years ago and spend half the year there. Hilary isn’t fluent in
Greek, but she understands quite a lot and I am very impressed. It all seems Greek to me. (Ha Ha - had to say it).
There is no bad food in Greece. Everything is seasonal and fresh. This includes meat, lamb in the spring, goat in the fall. Only if you are Greek will you see that goat might be called “lamb” on the English side of the menu. Apparently Americans are squeamish about goat. And guess what? It tasted just like lamb. Also, if you were to order a burger, it will be delicious, but also know that you are eating veal. There is no beef.
I didn’t know that I could like eggplant until I got to Greece. There are so many ways to prepare it and so many types of cheese to combine with or roll up in it. I expected to be eating a lot of seafood, but Naxos isn’t a fishing island, it’s livestock and potatoes.
We swam and toured every day. There were castles, mountains, villages, temples, mountains of pure marble, a marble mine, and an olive press.“Chora” is the main port and capital of Naxos. The Portara is the first thing you see, it’s a gigantic doorway probably to a temple built in the 500s. The labyrinth was built in the 1200s, it leads up a mountain to the castle (whose original walls are still visible). If an attack was imminent, the villagers would leave their shops and house in the labyrinth alleyways and go up to the castle to take safety.
The roads are bumpy and narrow, one lane wide for two way traffic. Around the next curve, in the distance or in front of us we would always see the next blue dome or blue door or blue shutter. I recommend all travelers to Greece bring a blue shirt. It will do wonders for your Instagram feed.
