Exploring lovely Naxos Town

How good it was to have a leisurely, relaxed start to our first full day on Naxos. We slept late, hubby cooked breakfast in our teeny weeny kitchen (his version of “egg in a hole” is becoming legendary on this holiday), and we finally walked out the door and into the sunshine-y morning around 10am. Bliss!!

Naxos certainly turned it on for us weather-wise, and before long it was official - Naxos is BEAUTIFUL!!! How to describe the blue, blue sky and the blue, blue sea?? Words don’t do it justice, and honestly, what the eye can see and take in, the camera barely scratches the surface. I think it may well have been the bluest day I’ve ever seen. Here’s a few snaps from our morning promenade along the harbour, from where we could clearly see the neighbouring island of Paros.

We wandered on towards the Palatia, marvelling at the clear water and the schools of fish swimming back and forth. We climbed to the top of the little islet and walked around the remains of the Sanctuary of Delian Apollo. All that remains is the huge marble arch, otherwise known as the “Portara” (see first photo). Construction of this temple began around 530BC, by Lygdamis, tyrant of Naxos, but was never completed. The portal exactly faces Delos, the so-called “sacred island”, and this is seen as a reference to Apollo, hence the name “Temple of Delion Apollo”. As we’ve come to expect, it’s another temple with a mixed and fairly chequered past, but whatever the history, the views were exceptional.

The amazingly clear water on the Grotta Beach side of the town was so inviting we nearly went back for our bathers, but in spite of the lovely day and the mild temperature, the water was cold. We agreed that if the next day was equally sunny and lovely, we would come for a swim in the morning!

From there we continued meandering through the tiny pedestrian streets of the old town known as Chora (as are many of the main towns of the islands). So many pretty little alleys and old narrow stairways, the white stone houses sparkling in the sunshine. We wound our way up towards and then inside the walls of the castle, to the pretty Catholic Church where white pigeons fluttered in and around the bell tower.

Next we found, almost by accident, the archeological museum, where for 2 euros apiece we were able to wander and see the many ancient relics discovered on the island, some as old as 3000 years before Christ, which is an era we’ve been getting used to seeing in our recent travels, but it’s still mind-boggling to think of these things as being 4000 - 5000 years old!!

More wandering down through different alleys - or maybe they were the same ones - until finally we found ourselves back in familiar territory. A visit to the Naxos bakery for some crusty, chewy bread, and a chocolate dessert treat to share, then onto our local supermarket for lunch supplies. All of this made for a simple but delicious lunch on our little balcony in the sunshine.

After our new paradigm of an afternoon rest, and a bit more research on Naxos, we headed out (this time in our shorts, for the first time this holiday!!) to the local bus office to find out the times of the buses that travel to other parts of the island. The office was closed, but at the local supermarket a very helpful lady told us that it opens at 8am and closes at 2pm, so we had a plan for the following morning.

We then headed into the old town again, first to a lovely old Greek Orthodox Church, which although fairly plain on the outside, was incredibly ornate on the inside. We asked a lady who appeared to be cleaning the church whether there was a service on Sunday morning. She spoke a little English, and confirmed that the service started at 7am and finished at 10am. Okay, so maybe we’re not up to a 3 hour orthodox service completely in Greek after all.

On we wandered, and this time, having consulted the map again, we managed to find the facade of the castle that we’d seen in photos. We were able to walk around the perimeter, and then through the arched doorway and continue on along the narrow alleyways within the castle complex.

Unfortunately, like many places on Naxos at the moment, the Byzantine Museum was closed for “works”. We’re seeing “works” in many venues as we wander - restaurants closed for refurbishment, shops and hotels not yet open for the summer season. It makes for quiet and peaceful days, but limits options a little as well.

Back down at the marina, we stopped for ice cream, then chose a different route back to our little studio. On the way we passed the authentic little restaurant we’d seen in the morning, and had decided to make our dinner option. Further on we browsed in a lovely shop selling jewellery and ceramics, and while chatting to the proprietor, Yannis, he mentioned that if we wanted an authentic and good value meal, we should try Boulamatsis Taverna, just along the street. Traditional Greek food cooked by mama. Turns out it was the very restaurant we’d already settled upon. Always so good to have a local recommendation!

But first, a walk along St George Beach before dinner. The sea breeze was in by then, but we still walked in the shallows - knee deep to avoid the small winter dumps of seaweed on the shore. It was lovely to get our feet into the Aegean Sea, even if only briefly.

Mama didn’t disappoint. Dinner was amazing - the best tzatziki I’ve ever eaten, served with soft crusty bread, melt-in-the-mouth pork belly, soft delicious potatoes, and Greek salad. We’ll definitely be back to Boulamatsis Taverna for more of mama’s delicious traditional food!

And another pretty dusk light show over the town before we headed back to our apartment.