Kalimera from Naxos, Greece

Just awesome view points at every turn in the road ..... I walked along a path near these rocks to see marble mountain on next shot! It was just gorgeous ..... I would go back to Naxos, just to hike the interior once again!

Yellow building on top of hill .... my B&B ... Nicoletta's Grotto Hotel

Shop in Apiranthos, where I purchased awesome local feta, green olives and sheep bells!






Another shot of where I hung my hat for a few days on Naxos ... loved it!
Strikers assemble at town square ...
Beached ferry .... No Santorini today!

Enjoying Naxos seaside town square .... couched in at a charming cafe, sipping the ubiquitous Greek coffee, while observing an enthusiastic group of strikers assembled at the ferry terminal :) Actually, I had a bit of a detour getting here ....... managed to get off on the wrong island a few days ago ..... my typical directional dyslexia extends to sometimes not paying attention and getting off on the wrong island!! Yes, I managed a short unplanned stay on Paros .... well actually twenty-four hours, as no ferry to Naxos until the next day :) Oh well, I thought to myself, never been to Paros .... pride myself on winging it, so .... off I trotted to explore! Nice day overall, walking the streets branching out from the main town square ...... I imagine I am not the first to make this mistake ..... a very conveniently located hotel was a stone's throw from the ferry terminal! ..... ten room rooming house actually, where I lugged my bag and self! Good basic clean bed and bath (but not exactly a place where you wanted to linger long!), a fine dinner of cheese saganaki and Greek salad and an early light's out! Not long after I fell asleep, a major rain/wind storm blew in ...... a branch flew into my window at one point in the night, freaking me some .... sounded like a hurricane happening, but apparently, just a regular spring storm ..... A quick hour ferry ride in the morning, and Naxos loomed ahead, exactly as I remembered it, from a trip here with Brian, Sarah and Rob a few years ago .... have no clue how I mistook Paros for Naxos!

So, yes, a few days later, here I sit, sipping my morning double Greek! Clear blue skies prevail and resounding nationalistic music vibrates from portable speakers ..... a prelude to strike rhetoric that follows shortly ..... nothing I can decipher, but gist is clear:) Totally enjoying my morning in the local hub! This despite realizing that, given the eminent strike, I will now have to chug along on the slow boat to Santorini .... a small local service, not on strike!! :) ........... making for longer cruising time in the Cyclades! Life is tough ........ Just yesterday, the square was alive with a similar scene ........ strikers were rebelling against the anti-smoking law ...... long overdue for Greece! ..... Greeks are very very heavy smokers, women and men alike, and are just a tad ticked with not being allowed to smoke in their favourite cafes ..... Greeks love to socialize daily in these cafes and tavernas, smoking up a storm in the process ...... hence the strike :) ....... unfortunately, I was not aware that all that strike business would result in a closure of ALL cafes, restaurants and tavernas, shortly after the demonstrations! ......... I certainly did later that afternoon, while walking into town to scout out a lunch spot to find everything closed and deserted! Yes, a slight downside to being in Greece in off season, where issues such as an impending restaurant strike is not readily conveyed to the one and only English speaking tourist wandering the streets in Naxos town on that particular day!! The peace and quiet is pleasant though, and the weather mostly perfect and one certainly gets the opportunity to experience a very authentic Greek lifestyle, strikes and all ...... but ahh, yes, that slight glitch .... communication! ...... more work needed on my signing skills :) .... Kalimera, kalispera and afaristo do not take me far :) ..... Lunch and dinner that day? ..... well, consisted of what I could scrounge from the little grocery store near the Grotto ..... complaints aside, I ended up with a veritable feast! ..... an apple, banana, cucumber, rich tasty yogurt, a mini sized loaf of grain bread, a big chunk of feta, a small container of kalamata olives, all washed down with the only Amstel in the store!! ..... fell asleep that evening feeling rather holier than thou, given such a healthy meal! Rented a little Kia (the only automatic I could find!) one day to experience the stunning interior countryside of Naxos ..... will let my picture post speak for itself ......... terraced valleys, craggy mountains, small picturesque cliff-side towns perched precariously, and of course, with resultant cliff side driving in many parts!! .... roads barely three meters wide in places, usually around the hairpin curves :) ...... thankfully I encountered few other vehicles the whole day ..... walked the marble-paved streets of the ancient mountainside villages of Halki and Apiranthos (discovered where all the marble in Syros and here in Naxos came from, as I drove past the marble mountain still being mined) ..... found one little shop/taverna combo open in Apiranthos to savor my daily fix of local coffee, chatted with the owner ...... well, calling it a chat may be stretching it a bit, but communication of a kind :) ..... getting rather good at that! My vocabulary may end up stunted after this year, but boy, am I getting good with the hand signs and gesticulations of all sorts! ..... yes, a most pleasant day and stay in Naxos, Greece! Kalispera one and all ....