After breakfast and a morning on the beach, we decided to have lunch in Lefkes where Dad hoped to meet Diamantis at his village bar. It was a lovely hot day, and we changed after the beach and drove the short distance to the village. Again, the views were wonderful, and after parking the cars we walked up to a beautiful taverna with a spectacular outlook over to Naxos. We had been here before back in 1986 and had fond memories of our visit.
We ordered a local speciality - a sausage with fried potatoes and Sophie ordered just chips. Michael had fallen asleep in the car so we had a blissful, quiet lunch! The drinks arrived and then we waited rather a long time for our food, but we didn't mind, as the views were so wonderful. As soon as lunch arrived, so did the wasps and they hovered around constantly with their eyes on our sausages, which were very pungent but delicious. Dad's wine - from a pot resembling a urinal - was extremely pungent with aromas of sherry on the nose but manure on the palate... It certainly took some getting down and even Sophie refused a second sip.
After this leisurely lunch, we walked down the steep cobbled streets into the village and Mum and Dad went off in search of Diamantis.
We carried on and walked to the huge, beautiful church that we had visited in 1986, where Mum put her little figure of a man on the altar to help keep Grandad healthy. Sadly, this time the church was locked so we explored the gardens and the graveyard at the back where I took lots of photographs.
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| My favourite photo of all time. |
We walked back to the car (or rather chivvied the reluctant children) as by now it was very hot. Getting back into the car and turning on the air-conditioning was heaven! Mum and Dad had stayed behind so we drove off to explore the island and headed for Ambelas, which looked interesting. I love to explore little coastal villages and I had never been there before. It turned out to be lovely, with views over to Naxos and a tiny harbour and beach. There was another perfect taverna where we ordered fizzy water and ice creams for the children. Michael fell off his chair but all he was interested in was getting his hands on his ice cream, which brought forth loud laughs from the group of locals sitting near us! We spent a pleasant hour sitting in the taverna looking at the gorgeous view of the harbour, the fishing boats and Naxos. Keith wanted to return in the evening but we had decided to go to Parikia to eat at Apollon.
After showering and relaxing in our rooms we set out for the main town of the island, Parikia. It was a lovely evening and we managed to park by the seafront. We had a drink at a bar near the main square and I phoned Polly to make sure everything was OK with the business. Michael wandered up and down pushing his pushchair and eating all the crisps that the waiter had brought out to us. I saw lots of shops that I wanted to visit so Keith and I decided to come back in the morning to do some shopping.
The meal we had at Apollon was wonderful and we were warmly greeted by Theo. The restaurant was set in a walled courtyard with lots of plants and flowers everywhere and another gravel floor! The menu was extensive and I chose the chef's salad to start followed by roast beef and potatoes. Delicious! The salad was huge and almost filled me up before the main course! Theo made sure we were very happy and constantly re-filled our glasses. The children were well-behaved and although we ordered them veal fillets in breadcrumbs, they wouldn't eat them. Michael did, however, eat all of his tiramisu whilst Sophie had a huge chocolate ice cream. We were very relaxed and I wished we had another week to go rather than just one day. At the end of the meal, Mum and I enjoyed a delicious peach liqueur while the men sampled a brandy. A great end to a delicious feast!
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