Excursion to Damalas and Filoti on Naxos

How lucky that Camilla was out riding a horse yesterday. The weather was absolutely perfect then. Today the sky was covered in heavy rain clouds when we woke up. Breakfast on the balcony was out of the question today. We ate indoors, with tea lights lit and beautiful music streaming from the iPod. Cozy too.

Today we were actually supposed to pick olives again. Unfortunately, the picking was cancelled due to rain. Instead, we thought about driving to Apiranthos and having lunch, and seeing what the beautiful marble village is like during the off-season. But on the way there we regretted it and decided to climb Naxos' highest mountain, Zas (1001 m).

But that didn't happen either, the mountain was covered in dark clouds. So we decided to visit Damalas, which is one of Naxos' smaller villages, famous for its ceramics, and an old preserved olive press. The village is worth seeing and definitely worth a visit.

The old olive press in Damalas.

Alleys in the authentic village of Damalas.

Damalas is located near Filoti, which is the second largest town of Naxos, with a population of around 1,500. We stopped there. The main street is usually bustling with life during the summer. The cafes and tavernas under the large plane trees are usually full of people. Now everything was closed. So there was no question of lunch in Filoti.

The main street in Filoti with its square with plane trees, cafes and tavernas.

Instead of having lunch, we strolled around the lovely village. I think many people miss stopping in Filoti, the road to Apiranthos goes through the village, and it is a much better-known village. Feel free to stop here next time you are on Naxos.

One of many narrow alleys in Filoti.

Stairs in Filoti. We probably haven't seen a more strange staircase anywhere else.

We wondered what the woman was hanging out to dry. It turned out to be Greek mountain tea.

We spent the rest of the day at home in our room. Reading books and playing tavli. It was raining heavily and the cold was biting. We were very grateful that we had heating in our room. Despite the cold, we went down to an ouzeria on the harbour esplanade and drank an ouzo each before having dinner at Metaxi Mas. Again!

This is what Grotta beach looked like when we walked down to the harbour esplanade. Chilly and cold.

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