Exploring Naxos Villages of Halki, Filoti and Apeiranthos

This morning I had plans for our nerds that differed from their vision of playing on the beach: A ride to see the three in-land villages Naxos is best known for: Halki, Filoti and Apeiranthos. This time we took the thickest lined roads on a paper map from Hertz — no more Google maps!! — and stuck to paved and/or gravel roads. 

The kids grumbled but generally went along with it.

All three villages were slightly different, but each was like something out of a movie set. Draping bougainvillea, marble “sidewalks” worn concave from centuries of walking, whitewashed buildings, crumbling balconies, grannies in aprons, laundry hanging to dry, quaint white hilltop churches, etc. So, so charming. I mean, also catering to tourists of course — plenty of cafes and artisan shops and galleries and signs in English and European tourists (not many Americans) — but nothing like towns in Provence, which are all tour buses and t-shirt shops. No cruise ships stop at Naxos, which helps. Everything was sleepy and quiet.

We picked up a few souvenirs — I got a dress, we found a Christmas ornament (or at least something like that look like one) made of woven cotton, a small bottle of Ouzo, and some pool noodles — as well as wandered as much as Willa and James would let us in the oppressive nearly 100-degree heat. 

Three villages was a lot, and we rewarded them with Cokes at lunch: A spot called Rotonda with panoramic clifftop views near Apeiranthos. We keep ordering the same thing, so happy: Greek salad, hummus, pita, french fries and some kind of meat for the kids (in this case, moussaka). They got their Cokes, and we got grownups drinks and a Greek frappe at the end fo the meal. Yum!

James and Willa noticed that the restaurant hung pictures drawn by kid patrons and, having already done this at a restaurant in Athens, hurried to draw masterpieces that could be added to the Rotonda wall. It was very cute. James made me walk in with him to deliver his piece — a drawing of a sword — because he is terrified of being four feet from us right now for some reason. The waitstaff fawned over it and him and it went right on the wall. 

Back home we returned to our pool-beach-pool-beach cycle. There was a sandcastle, some catch, a bit of reading….

We ate our leftovers from lunch for dinner and now Teddy is reading to both in bed. 

It is absurdly hot right now. I can’t imagine what July and August bring. Nikos, our villa owner, did mention that there used to be really intense winds in the summer, but that in the last few years because of global warming (he said), all wind had stopped. It’s just dead air. Stifling!!