Being the intrepid explorers that we are we kept looking for the castle and an entrance only to finally be told by a shopkeeper that we were actually already within the castle walls. Oh well, with that accomplished it was back down to the harbor in search of the perfect taverna for an afternoon 
thirst quencher. The next morning we picked up a rental car and headed off to explore the island. With Craig’s expert driving, Nita’s front seat navigation pointing out that the street we were on was now ending in a flight of stairs and Stacey and Jan handling the back seat map deciphering we had a successful day with only a few mishaps, turnarounds and backups. Naxos is the largest island in the Cyclades chain and Mt. Zeus at 1004m is the highest peak. Naxos is more fertile that the other Cyclades and is famous for its potatoes, olives, grapes and figs. The inland is dotted with several marble quarries, beautiful vistas and numerous picturesque mountain villages. We stopped at Halki, in the heart of the island and followed the delicious smells to the village square and Yianni’s Taverna where we enjoyed a lunch of Greek salad, grilled meats and pitchers of Rose Wine. After lunch we toured the Vallindras Distillery which produces the local liqueur, Kitron, the old fashioned way. 
Kitron is made from the citron which apparently is barely edible in the raw state but quite tasty as a liqueur.We were then on our way back down from the mountains via the coast with a stop to dip our toes in the Aegean, still way to cold to get any deeper.
That evening back on board Lone Star we celebrated Nita and Stacey’s 1st anniversary with cake and champagne. 
We also had a visit by Nickoli, the harbor master, who shared tales of the sea with us. Nickoli and Craig had really bonded during our 5 days on Naxos. The next day we left Naxos and headed out in the Aegean for a two hour sail to Paros. Nita and Stacey both had the chance to man the helm and before long we were anchored off a small beach christened Craig’s beach close to the town of Naousa for an evening on the hook and under the stars.
The following morning after Stacey, an avid fisherman, inventoried the on board gear, the guys were off in the dingy for some fishing while the ladies hung out on board. After the guys arrived back empty handed, after all this is the Med,
we pulled up anchor and sailed around the corner to the main town Paroikia and took the last spot in the inner harbor which was a good thing because the weather forecast was predicting the arrival of meltimi winds the next day. The meltimi winds blow predominately from the northeast with winds up to gale force levels in the central Aegean, which is where we were, but usually do not start until late June which it wasn’t. In 2009 when we waited out the meltimi on Paros and it looked like that was going to happen again. But Paros is one of our favorite islands and not a bad place to be stranded. By the next day the winds were blowing constantly at 30 knots and boats were heading into the harbor for safety and rafting up.Because of the weather and ferry schedule this was Nita and Stacey’s last island before heading back to Athens. We found plenty to occupy the time with – exploring the twisty, turning village roads, shopping, eating good food and drinking yummy Greek wine. The highlight was touring the Pangia Ekatondapyliani, a church dating from 326 AD. Stacey had been telling us the entire time on board that, regardless of the cold waters, one of his goals was to go swimming in the Aegean. And on the last day, with the meltimi finally gone, he finally made good on his promise. It was a great week with Nita and Stacey. We were able to show them how hard cruising is – sailing, anchoring under the stars, visiting beautiful islands. At least they didn’t have to experience any boat repairs. Monday morning we said our goodbyes as they left the boat for the ferry back to Athens and we pulled up anchor to head for Serifos. A great week!
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