a lovely day on an aegean island...

bright and early today, melda and i packed up our lunch and hopped on the bus down by the naxos waterfront, and roared off into the mountains of the interior. the highest one is 3,000 feet, but they are very craggy and rough looking. not sure if they are limestone or what. we got off the bus in the tiny xoriOH"(pronounce the x like the ch in challah) of xalkis (same x sound. wandered about the sleepy place a bit and contemplated coffee, but soon found ourselves on a charming little pathway winding among the olive groves, between ancient stone walls. sunny, springtime, lots of yellow sorrel in bloom. just meandering thru the countryside, following signs in the direction of several tiny byzantine and greek churches. tiny, and locked, but set among the olive trees, and down wandery little paths. after a while our path was following a little creek up the valley, opposite a tall rocky mountain. we spotted a herd of goats trotting along a path across from us, about 1/10 of a mile away. a little vale in between us. we followed our paths, and found the biggest acorn cups i have ever seen. naxian oaks, probably worth eating, at that size!!

soon we plopped down among the lupines, large ones at that. megalo (big) naxian bluebonnets, for you texans out there with your bluebonnets on the brazos!! these are the ones that are texas size! but naxos (well sort of like brazos)

we spotted the fellow and his goats all spread out over the opposite hillside.
the goat bells tinkled and rang for hours it seemed. the young man with them was all over the hillside chiding and yelling at his goats to move along and go here or there where he wanted them. he was all over, and some of the goats seemed to listen and some seemed to ignore him. we watched for a long time, they were so entertaining. melda even recorded some of the sound. quite lovely.

we had our picnic in a sorrel and thistle (yes, ouch) patch in another tiny churchyard, under an olive tree. our tin of dolmadakia, tomato, cukes, cheese. wiped up the extra oil from the can with some of the lovely yellow sorrel blooms. then......we finally broke out our miniscule container of NUTELLA!!! saved for the past week, and smeared it on our biscuits.....well, needless to say, we are now total converts for nutella!!! yes, i know we can buy it in the US, so we will not fill up our suitcases with it. but i have to say, such a simple and yummy addition to an ordinary picnic it will be!!!

we caught a ride back to town on a bus full of high school kids. a very deluxe bus w/ pink curtains and stereo. i think they get it every day!!
we hit the beach when we returned, and it was warm enough to jump in, but we had other priorities at the moment.

the boys here at the naxos internet shop are all going wild on their computer games tonite. totally absorbed and having a blast talking to themselves. i think we are going off to eat some more here soon. melda and i are on a new food plan. not too much at any one time, so maybe more often. yesterday i had such a huge bowl of beans that i was incapacitated for hours. well, it was black eyed pea soup, but a lot, plus potatoes. too much. much better today....

kali--nixta!!!