The roads are windy and through mountains, so the 17 km bus ride took 45 minutes. For some reason I had decided to go to Filoti, and when I got there I wondered why. It was cute but tiny and nothing apparent to do except eat. And it was too early for lunch by Greek standards. So I got a coffee and nursed it for a while, deciding how to get to Halki, where the distillery is. I decided to walk the 3 km as it was downhill.
The walk was really beautiful. It was sunny and warm, but there was a nice breeze that kept it cool. Nobody driving by thought it was crazy to see someone walking on the road, in fact I saw some other walkers.
It was fine until I came across and was distracted by a walking trail that also led to Halki. I started down it and was fine at first, but missed a turn and started thinking hmm, this is not right. After a few minutes of thinking that I went back to the road. I found the trail again in Halki; it would have been a nice walk if I'd known better where I was going.
Halki was a very cute little village. The distillery tou
r was brief but informative, and at the end I tasted the 3 variations of Citron - all yummy. So I broke my vow and bought more alcohol to bring home! I saw a cute grillhouse in a square, but the only empty tables were smack in the sun, so I shopped a bit while stalking the shady tables.
Finally one opened up and I plopped down at it. I got tzatziki and pork souvlaki
which is a LOT of food for one person. I did my best but couldn't finish. When I called for the bill, the guy asked me if I didn't like the food; I told him it was delicious but too much for me! He waved the souvlaki skewer and said women shouldn't look like that - I had to laugh. He sat down and we talked about Naxos, Crete and world politics for a while - it was an interesting conversation. The people here are so friendly.
I then went to wait for the bus, and the lone woman on the bench asked if I was American. She was, too, and we started chatting. She had been in Greece for a couple weeks, doing basically the reverse of my trip, and is turning 62 on Sunday. Soon a woman from one of the shops came along and sat with us. She lives in Naxos Chora but is from the UK. We all had a fun chat until the bus came, including a restaurant recommendation I don't have time to follow through on. Boo!
After the bus ride, I puttered around a bit, had a coffee on the waterfront, then walked around before going to the Venetian Museum for the concert (as I walked by last night's restaurant, my friend from last night waved hello - how fun!). The concert was great - fantastic bouzeki music. The one letdown was that there were only 4 dances; I'd thought there'd be more. But it was a great space, a great view, and an overall wonderful evening.
Now to bed... trying to hit the beach before leaving tomorrow.
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