A big welcome from Naxos town

So I had my dinner at a place I had visited on my first night at Ermoupoli and waited until my ferry was close by. It arrived early but it ended up departing late so my arrival at Naxos was well past twelve thirty. The whole disgorging and boarding process is so chaotic, humans and vehicles don’t play nicely if they come into contact and it seems a minor miracle no one gets run over! Mike loves the ferries and he is right, they are the lifeblood of these islands. People catch them in the way Americans jump on planes. All the goods the lorries bring in keep the islands alive and thriving. 

The folks who run the place I was staying at on Naxos told me because it was late, that they would meet me at the harbour. This was very kind given how late it was. After I had been dropped off at my place,  the daughter who is known as Kiki ( means Sunday) came by with a glass of Raki and a lovely little chocolate covered dessert. This I had for breakfast. Because of the lateness I had trouble getting off to sleep, but I had a lie in.

I walked to the harbour, it was a lovely blue sky day, but it was windy. The water in the harbour is a lovely colour and  was calm. Further round was the ruins of the Temple of Apollo, the doorway is a well known view on the island. Unfortunately you get to it by going over this causeway. This was being lashed by the waves, at the least I would have been soaked, at worst I would have fallen over.. I then walked along the nearby beach, here the waves were pounding it, and I could taste salt on my face very soon after walking along it. I then started the climb to yet another old town built on the top of a hill. They often have the name Castro. 

Very often the Greeks will reuse something like a door lintel or similar, which can make the building look older than it is. At the very top of the hill is a castle this is being rejuvenated and when open will be the museum once more I saw this cat house, a lot of them are just cardboard boxes with a bit of carpet inside, but this was the delux version like my rooms, here, they are very nice indeed.

After a good wander around the town, I walked back down and had another coffee and slice of spanakopita. A lot of tavernas were not open, and a few shops closed too. I then walked around the other way, I could see the beach continued for ages. I must have walked for at least an hour, along a beach I largely had to myself. I saw a couple of brave swimmers. A Blue Star ferry came in and a Sea Jet catamaran ship. There was some fresh water meeting the  sea after crossing the beach,  I saw some little birds probing the sands for something to eat. As I got closer they flew off.

Eventually I reached the end of the beach, here the beach had pumice in the sand and a sandy island that had the ruin of an old building on it. As I walked back the wind whipped up the sand and I could see it floating above the beach in wavy lines. One thing I did notice today is there are lots of these effigies on lampposts. They were of different designs and there was a maypole in the centre with more of them by it.

Tomorrow I will hire a car and explore the island, it is quite big, I have two more full days. Hopefully the wind will ease so I can get across the causeway to see the Temple of Apollo.