I didn't sleep well but Kathy got a good one in. After a hotel breakfast, good usual stuff we headed to the Acropolis again. This time we had a guide. Better views because the air was clear. Impending rain to the west. It was Sunday and the place was crowded, unlike or Wednesday visit.
We then boarded a bus to Rafina to catch a meal and our boat to Tinos. The meal at the end of the dock restaurant lineups was a doozy. Galini Restaurant Greek salad, Tzadziki, octopus, two kinds of small fish where you eat the whole thing, whole shrimp in a feta and tomato sauce, saganaki, squid. Did I say octopus... I ate a bunch. Kathy even ate some and both kinds of fish. Easier downed with copious pours of Ouzo, this trip just gets better. I've pictured this lunch in my mind for years.
After a high speed jet boat to Tinos, and a swim in the Aegean we ate in a small taverna on the beach.
But first the swim. It was important. Matt, Sofia (our guide) and I were swiming in the sea 50 meters off Tinos. The water was clear and cool. Refreshing after a hot day. Sofia asked whey we were on this trip and the conversation got around to my Greek heritage. We takled about names, last names, Dictiopolos, Tingeridies, Tounger. Somehow I was talking about our taxi driver, Vasilis and what a nice guy he was. I liked the name. Sofia turned to me and said "You need a Greek name, Randy is not Greek. I christen you Vasilis." And so it was for the rest of the trip. Even Kathy calls me Vasilis.
Did I say this was an eating tour?
Walk, eat, repeat.
Bourou meaning smokestack. Kionia town was our dinner spot. This dinner started with an arugula salad with figs, sun dried tomatoes, cheese, walnuts and capers. Followed with some whole grain bread, Skordalia that was nice and soft. Zucchini fritters with tzadziki, cretanos a weed that grows on rocks at the sea, pickled in vinegar and brown sugar. A tortilla with eggs, french fries, sausage, and peppers, roasted pork and apples with fries and rice. Eggplant roasted with four kinds of Greek cheese, and to finish, apple cake with ice cream.
Walk, eat, repeat. I didn't say sleep but we did.
6
The hill up the Rock was a good warmup for the big one. It was a highpoint on Tinos with the possibility of biggest views. No luck. Socked in and big wind, we were sitting in the middle of a cloud on a Venetian fortress site. The guides took us to a small town and we had Greek coffee made by Sofia and I played backgammon with Tania.
Then another hike down to a small village where traditional baskets are made. Only three weavers are left, as this is a lost art. I bought a small bottle and the guy filled it with his home distiller Raki. Or jet fuel.
Then lunch in a small out door, oh ya, the are all outdoor, taverna. Salad, beans, big giant beans, eggplant with cheese, artichokes stewed with potatoes in avolemono sauce, rooster, and local figs, spiced with cinnamon, sesame, and bay.
Another couple of kilometers and the bus returned us for some R&R time before dinner. I swam in the Aegean to cool off and then we all went into town. Another good dinner followed a visit to an Orthdox Church where St Mary's Icon is the site of the August 15 pilgrimage.
The dinner was good centered around seafood pasta but was otherwise non descript.
7
The next morning was packing and a two island hop to Naxos, with a stop in Paros. Kathy and I got some Kataifi and Boureki to eat with a coffee. Both were world class. The Kataifi was maybe the best we have ever had. The bakery was only a block from the port to the right side facing the mountain. The guides bought lunch for the second part of the journey. Cheese pie, spanakopita, bougatsa and juice. All from the same bakery.
Once on Naxos we did a "small hike" of five miles with a stop for Greek coffee and orange custard phyllo. Then over a pass with yet another Venetian fort and into a small village of Chalki to taste Kitron Nasoy, a local, only on Naxos, liquor. It is distilled with the leaves of the Citron citrus tree and then infused with saffron for color. We bought three bottles. The distillery has been making it since 1870 and licensed since 1896. Just a small family place making about 15000 liters a year.
Kathy and I walked through the town and she found a weaver that hand loomed table runners so she bought one with a olive pattern. We also found a store that had some foodstuffs and we bought napkins there. Also an olive pattern. The lady selling us stuff gave us some goat cheese that her father made. He brought it in while we were there. It was fresh made moments before we got a sample. Unsalted, she gave us some bread sticks covered in sesame seeds to use as spoons. Evangelia Salteri, To Ariston. We brought it to the hiking group and everyone that tried it loved it. It was mild, goaty, smooth. Just a lovely cheese. We had a similar cheese on our salad, called xinokefthalotiri or xinomyzithera. Ok, on to dinner.
We ate under a grape arbor in the center of a very small square. We were early, about 8:30 and the whole place was ours.. The salad mentioned above, giant red beans on tomato and olive oil, grilled vegetables, kefthalotyri that was aged, sausages with caramelized peppers, and hot off the charcoal grill some pork sausages crisped to perfection. It was hot, and Mythos beer was cold. Others had house made red wine but the beer was the perfect accompaniment. Watermelon for desert and a bus ride home.
Sleep was easy.
8
The next day was our biggie. The hike up to Mt. Zeus or Zua in Naxos. The mountain is 1600 m and we started about half way up. A good trail for most of the way, it took me 1:53 hours to summit. Although I was last, I was only five minutes behind. Not bad for this old, fat, fuck. Going down was hard for my knee and I took my time. Sofia, my Greek teacher stayed with me the whole way. She didn't want to see me die like the goat we saw on the descent. It rained a little and the air was thankfully cool for the walk. I invented my own Greek myth about Zeus waiting 200 generations for this Greek to see him at the summit and when I left, he cried.
Back at the trailhead we had lunch under the chestnut tree. Dolmathes, cheese, mortadella Greek style, salami, cherries, melon, bread, spicy cheese dip, eggplant dip. Yogurt with sweet cherries, a spoon desert. Then a walk, to the village below. This took 56 minutes and was very steep, and really wearing on my ankle and knee but I survived. Made it to the taverna to sip a cold Alfa beer. Kathy had ice cream but said it wasn't great. The beer was. It chased a few Aleve to ease the pain.
The late afternoon was spent in the pool jacuzzi to loosen my calf and work my knee.
We walked to dinner along the dock. The place was named Meze Meze. The owner, Panayoties just served us. We actually didn't order. I had my first Retsina of the trip. Kathy thought it was good. Every dinner starts with a salad. Cucumber, tomato, onion, olives, xionmyzithera sprinkled with oregano and lavished with olive oil. We also had a salad of potatoes, bell peppers, onions, xinomyzithera and olive oil. Kathy like this one a lot. then Panos comes out with fritters, octopus, tomato, cheese, and zucchini with mayo and a tomato mayo. Again, delicious. A whitefish, shredded, doused with olive oil and red onions was a personal concoction of his. The shrimp saganaki. I was always under the impression that saganaki was fried cheese. Not so, saganaki refers to the pan it's fried in. Shrimp, feta, tomato, small shrimp, muscles all on a hot dish. Did I tell you how to pronounce keftedes. Lamb meatballs with a cheese inside, maybe xinomyzithera or some other soft sharp cheese stuffed in a ball spiced with parsley, and then fried. Served with a spicy, not hot, Greeks don't do hot much, tomato garlic sauce. Maybe as good as Kathy makes them at home. Panos finished us off with yogurt and honeyed carrot spoon desert and a few shots of Raki.
Bought a bottle of cinnamon raki from the Kitron Nasoy bar to take back to the boys. This plan will fail (bottle cracked and was consumed in Crete). On the way back to the hotel, Kathy spies the full moon going into full eclipse. This has not happens for 100 years and will not happen for another 65. We think it's cool and end up sitting on our patio watching thinking it's almost over but then the moon just disappears from site. I mean completely gone. For a long time. Reportedly over 200 minutes. Occasionally we see a glimpse of orange. While I'm looking for where the moon should be, devious mosquitoes are feasting on my sweet body. I don't fine out till Thera.
9
The last morning before the boat trip to Santorini (Thera), Kathy and I walk the beach to the point and back. Along the way, I find a cuttlefish fish backbone that is whole and I bring it back to share.
In line waiting for the ferry, which is about 20 minutes late, Sophia, Kim and I jump the fence to go to the wharf Ouzeria. We each order an ozuo and the lady brings us the coolest Meze. Anchovies on toast, fried cheese, and small meatballs. The meatballs are about the size of a nickel and are lamb based. All delicious. Back in line and on the boat with a slight ozuo buzz... Nice. 2.5 hours to Thera (Santorini).
posted from the road, somewhere on the journey.
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