Delos and Naxos Islands
We reached Delos early in the morning, and the view of the island was breathtaking. I enjoyed my cup of coffee on deck with the most important ancient Greek sanctuary for the islanders just a few miles away. The cool breeze and the blue sky just made everything perfect. We were the first ones on the island, which is always a treat and we started our tour of my favorite site in Greece. We traced the steps of the ancient Greek merchants up the hill to visit the residences of the theater. We entered the ancient houses where we admired the mosaics and the pillars made of white marble. It is always moving to know that somebody else thousands of years ago had a meal on the exact same spot or kissed his wife or shared a joke with his friends.
The theater offered us a great view and then we climbed down to pay our respects to Apollo, the god of light and order. We studied his four temples and the lions (turned into stone!) guarding the sacred lake and palm tree, where his mother Leto gave birth to him.
After a short tour of the museum, we started our walk back to the port. I saw wonderful mallows and thistles, sea lavender and oleander, just a last hint of color before the dry and hot summer completely transforms this little rocky island. Some of us climbed all the way to the top and I could see John’s bright blue t-shirt from a distance. Hale and Jim told me later on how much they enjoyed the view and the hike.
Back on the Panorama, we got ready for our refreshing dive into the Aegean. To tell you the truth, for a Greek it wasn’t refreshing, but freezing cold, but I still swam as much as I could, because it would be hubris not to! A chance to swim next to Delos, and miss it? No way! After a great lunch and a rest, we enjoyed Sharon’s lecture on photography. She really knows all the tricks, and just watching her incredible pictures was great fun.
Naxos was just there for us to enjoy, so we started our guided walk of the “kastro” (fortress) to reach the highest level of the Venetian fortifications. We tried the local liqueur, and then followed the labyrinthine alleys to the top, admiring every beautiful doorway, picturesque window and cute kittens taking a nap. I checked out the jewelry too!
We visited the Catholic cathedral and sat down to cool off and rest on the medieval benches. I talked a lot about the famous Venetian leader of the 13th century, Sanudo, who built this impressive fort, and then we ended our tour with a visit to the famous spice shop. I bought my Naxian olives and herbs for winter time from the mountains of the islands and returned to Panorama for dinner with a wonderful sunset as the backdrop.
