Picking olives on Naxos in November

Today we were treated to nice weather again, and that meant it was time to pick olives again. We drove to the farm after breakfast where we met our olive picking friends. There is a private church on the farm. Not everyone knows that there are private churches in Greece, but that's how it is.

Read about the myth of 365 churches on Greek islands here »

There is a myth that there are 365 churches on some islands - like on Ios and Sifnos - but it is not true that there would be a church for every day of the year. It is a myth. New churches are being built, some of which are private. So the figure cannot possibly be correct.

So we picked olives again today. It is both fun and hard work. Since Camilla and I are Swedes, we are more careful than the Greeks. Something that is noticeable when you pick olives together with the Greeks. We didn't let a single olive remain on the trees, they all had to be picked. While the Greeks picked a little everywhere, and when they were done with a tree, there were many olives left. On the other hand, the Greeks managed to harvest more trees than we did, so they picked more olives than we did in the same time. So the Greeks won. Actually, you don't pick that many olives, most of them are combed down.

Here are some pictures from today's olive picking

Picking olives is a tiring but fun job.

Camilla and I were more careful than the Greeks, but they were more efficient.

We used combs like these and also picked with our fingers.

Cleaning the freshly picked olives is as patient as cleaning chanterelles.

Perhaps the best thing about picking olives is the lunch breaks. :-)

This day we didn't have to eat pig stomach. We ate delicious bread, olives, cheese and wine from Naxos.

After lunch, the tiring work of cleaning the olives continued.

On the way home to Naxos Town, we stopped in our favourite village of Koronos

We also stopped at the marble quarries in Kinidaros.

Today's beautiful weather turned into really bad weather later in the afternoon. Travelling in Greece during the off-season is truly capricious. If you depend on sun and heat, that is. We like it when it's all weather at the same time.

On the way to Metaxi Mas for tonight's dinner. It is freezing cold!

When we went out for our usual evening walk, it was bitterly cold outside. Guess what we were freezing. Yet it was only seven in the evening. But we knew that we would soon have a warming ouzo on the harbour esplanade, and then a good dinner in the warmth of a packed Restaurant Metaxi Mas, so we were happy and content anyway. There is really only one downside to being in Greece during the off-season: that you have to eat indoors. Unfortunately, Greece has not yet introduced a smoking ban in restaurants. The clothes stink after a visit at a taverna.

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