I arose with the 8:00 call and had breakfast. It was raining moderately hard but by 9:00 it stopped and was starting to clear. I read my book about Naxian Geology.

We walked across town to the port and then out across the causeway to the ruin of the Temple of Apollo , of which only the rectangular portal, which looks like the "Stargate" from the eponymous movie. It still stands, towering over the harbor. We conducted an exercise in which everyone was turned loose for about half and hour to find as many different pottery sherd types as they could. The place is totally littered with ancient pottery sherds. I had two significant finds: 1) a small, late Bronze Age bronze coin which Bob dates between 300-200 BCE and 2) a 1 kg chunk of obsidian (from Milos) which dates prior to 2000 BCE. Eric found the base to a large amphora that was 50 cm across.

Drew and I had lunch with the students at a sidewalk cafe down at the harbor while Bob and Anne went up to the old town and the castle of the Dukes of Naxos which was built after the fourth crusade. Drew managed to keep his shirt clean throughout the meal!

We walked over to the bus station to get tickets to Apollon so that we could see the 10.5 meter kouros statue that lay abandoned in an Archaic quarry. We discovered that a round-trip fare was 8 euros but would only let us stay in town for 10 minutes without visiting the site. Upon my suggestion, we looked into renting vans and found we could see much more of the island at our own pace for the same price as the bus. We rented two 9 passenger vans. Bob drove one and I drove the other.

We first went to see the kouros at Melanes. This required a u-turn in a very tight space in the village with the help of a local old woman before finding the proper turnoff to the eponymous quarry. The kouros in the quarry was about 6 m and was of a youthful nude male. It was probably left there because it was dropped during transport and a leg broke off. None of us had ever been there before so it was enjoyed by all except Lauren who stayed at the hotel with an injured knee.

We continued up over the mountain in the center of the island stopping to view from afar the modern quarries of the elegant white Naxian marble! I explained the quarrying technique.

We descended to the north side of the island over tortuously sinuous roads to Apollon and soon found the ancient quarry we sought. The kouros at the quarry may be the largest statue ever attempted in marble. It was apparently abandoned because of excessive jointing due to hydrostatic pressure that appeared once the 10.5m statue was freed from the quarry. It could never have stood on its own as was originally intended. The statue is presumed to be Dionysus.

We returned to Naxos along the coast which, although winding, was very beautiful with excellent geology exposed the entire way. After another comical U-turn in the narrow streets near the hotel, we returned the vehicles. Anne and I stopped at an internet café and learned that Drew Van Horn has recommended that football was to be started at Brevard... big surprise...

Anne, Bob and I shared a bottle of Naxian red before heading to the beach for a disgustingly American meal of burgers and fries. At least we had a bottle of Macedonian red. We did some quick shopping at a mini-mart afterward and returned to the hotel.

I wrote, took a shower, and went to bed a little after midnight.