In love with Naxos

I now understand why so many travellers fall in love with the Greek Islands. They are seductive, enveloping, they take you to a place so far away from the rest of the world that it's so easy to forget it even exists. I can imagine melting into an intoxicating landscape while the world rages and festers with its 'clash of civilsations' and the approaching global warming crisis, its bustling cities with bustling people who have bustling lives that keeps them going on and on and on and on....

Well, I can imagine because this has been my life for the past two days. And how slow these days have felt - but in a great way. These two days on Naxos have felt like a week's worth of a dream. This island is so romantic and quaint and magical that I am sad to leave. Naxos wasn't on my planned list of places to see, islands to 'hop', but I am so grateful to have a quick peek through my friend Amanda's Lonely Planet guide to the Greek Islands. The authors gave their favourite routes and islands, and nearly all of them mentioned Naxos. Why, I'd never heard of it before. Mykonos, Santorini, Crete, Rhodes, Lesbos (ok, the last one I knew because I love the name) - but these are islands that were once still authentic and not as touristy as Naxos. Not anymore. But Naxos has been a highlight of my year long trip so far.

This morning I had booked myself on a bus tour of the island, and had to be at the main square at 9 15 in the morning. Quite early for a Sunday morning - but that's what time the bus left, and I didn't want to keep anyone waiting. I had a short and quick breakfast in the pension I'm staying in - the woman who owns the hotel doesn't speak a word of English, so between the two of us nodding and pointing and me attempting to try my hand at some Greek (to no avail) it was a fun conversation. She laid out the works for this included breakfast (sometimes I feel I'm the only person staying at this hotel, I never see anyone else around) - cereals, orange juice, fresh bread, Greek (and probably homemade) yogurt with honey, tomatoes, olives, cheese, meats, eggs, coffee, and home baked butter cake. I'm sitting by the window, trying to finish my cereal as fast as I can (when using a teaspoon, it's not the easiest thing to manage) and I hear something sizzling in the kitchen behind me. She's probably making herself some eggs or something, I thought. But then this wonderful lady came out and brought me a toasted sandwich. Yum! Toasted cheese and ham! Just what I love in the mornings! I tried to tell her that I don't eat ham, and I felt bad because I'm not sure if she understood me and I just left and very delcious-smelling toastie sitting there getting cold. Oops.

The tour took the group (I must admit it's so strange being a tourist now. In both Philadelphia and New York I hardly felt like a tourist at all...Now it's all coming back to me - the placard signs, the opportune Kodak moments, the mass toilet stops... ahhh). So yes, the tour took the group first to Halki, a village in the centre of the island. Naxos is the biggest island in the Cyclades, and used to be (in Ancient times) one of the more important islands. In Halki, we visited a Kitron distillery - Kitron is a liquer made from the leaves of the citron tree. Is a citron an etrog? Anyone? Anyway, its unique to the island of Naxos. There was a time where they exported it to the rest of Greece and even other countries of the Mediterranean, but now it only stays in Naxos.

Damn. I grew my nails so beautifully long - so long that I don't remember the last time they've been like this. And now, out of sheer boredom - not stress, not anxiety, just something to pass the time while reading or sitting on a bus, the long nails of my right hand are no longer. And on my left, my left hand being more precious (I write with it) it's two down and three more to go. Terrible. Terrible!

Whoa, that was a bit of a tangent. Confessions of Dangerous Nail Biting, I'm sure. So after Halki we drove a church that was built in the 6th century. One of the frescos painted onto one of the walls of the church featured King Solomon, along with Mary, Jesus, St Catherine and St John - a strange inclusion with no explanation, according to the guide. She also told me of anmother fresco featured Socrates in the mix, from the 9th century. Weird, huh. From there we went to another village that was built near a marble quarry - all the houses were made of marble, the streets were paved in marble. Sitting in a cafe sipping an iced coffee overlooking a Naxian valley - I could not have been more at peace. The world is so beautiful in those situations. The streets were gorgeous with billowing flowers and cracked paint peeling from the bright blue window shutters and doors hinged open only a little to reveal the knowing eyes of the old women staring out at the street from the shadows.

Long sentence. Ew. That afternoon we also stopped at a marble statue of the Greek god Dionysus from ancient times - BCE.. but I can't remember which century. 7th i think. The tour made me so excited to see the rest of Greece, to hear people speaking of the myths that occured between these islands - the stories of Dionysus, of Arachne, of the Minotaur. This is where it(allegedly?) happened. The stories that came from one of my favourite books of my childhoon -the children's encyclopedia of Greek myths. And now I'm here. Wow.

But my time in Naxos wouldn't be complete without tonight's meal. I couldn't resist the warm and joking nature of the 80 yr old fisherman I spoke to last night who wanted me to eat at his restaurant. Even though I wasn't in the mood for more Greek food, I didn't really want to have a hand at the non-greek cafes, especially on an island like this. I wanted authentic Greek, not some Chinese-Thai-Indian place or a Tex-Mex cantina (for this is about as far away from Texas as one can hope for! Even Australia has some Texan elements - desert, hill country, hicks. Here, the locals are charming, there are NO mexicans (but are there any in Australia?) and the closest tourist I've met from Texas is an annoying family from Louisianna on the tour I took today.). So I ate at Gregory's restaurant by the port, on the main drag (the owner/fisherman is named Gregory). Now, if he wasn't married and proudly wearing his wedding band, serving in the restaurant with his wife and a man of similar age, I would say that he was flirting with me. He bought me a glass of wine, and made sure I had enough fish to last me for the rest of my stay in Greece. At the end of the meal, I was served small plums from his garden - so sweet and delicious, it was the perfect dessert.

I planned to go to the open air cinema this evening, after dinner, but they were showing a film I have already seen - the Inside Man. Brilliant movie. I love Denzel. Apparently he is so good looking because his face is symmetrical. I think that's a load of crap. But nonetheless, he still makes us girls melt when he's on screen.
I asked Gregory where exactly the cinema is, and he said it's not playing tonight. I know that wasn't true, because I had the flyer in my hand. You come meet me here at 12, he said, and we'll have coffee and I take you to see music. Greek music.
But I had the movie, I told him, and it would finish at 1.
No, you come at 12, and I'll show you Greek music, beautiful music, the best music from Naxos and we'll have coffee, yes? He said. And offered me a cigarette. I declined on the cigarettes but decided that this was an experience to remember - being treated by a Greek fisherman my grandfather's age. I wonder what he was doing during the civil war of Greece. Mmm.

Anyway, it's not 11.55 pm,and I'm going to meet this Gregory and see if this music is as great as he says. Don't worry Mum, I'll be careful, very careful, but I'll be in the company of this man and his wife, and probably their sons. It's a happening sunday night here at Naxos. And I thought I was having a quiet one.