Paros / Anti-Paros

The crossing to Paros was rough. We were aboard a high speed Seajet ferry, that reduced its speed considerably to plough through the swell and white horses. Within 10 mintutes sick bags were being reached for all around us, but Sue was steadfast with eyes shut and sturgereon pulsing through her veins. It took about 30 minutes longer than scheduled to reach Paros, but our car hire representative was still there to greet us. As both our ferry and a large car transporting ferry arrived at the same time, he greeted us and about three thousand other arrivals. It was chaos, not helped by the blowing of police whistles and much gesticulating in every direction. We headed off fairly quickly towards the car rental office to collect the car, passing a couple of miles of cars trying to get to the port. So, first impressions of Paros, the busiest place we have been to, for vehicles, at least.

We drove straight to Naousa, fortunately in the opposite direction to the port. Most parking in Greece has been free, but in Naousa they have valet parking for 5 Euros. Having just arrived we watched a young man take our newly rented car keys and belt off with all our worldly precessions. We looked at each other and decided a drink would definitely help reduce rising stress levels, so headed off towards the port. Naousa is another Greek town with a maze of small streets with up market fashion shops, jewellers, cafes, Gelato bars as well as more traditional drinking and cocktail bars. There are many restaurants, especially around the port that seated 100-200 people. During the day these are shut, making you wonder if they ever get that many people in the evenings.

We wandered for a while, then Sue spotted a turquoise sheen, at the end of an alley, that we headed towards. We came across a beach with several bars along its length with tables down to the water front. Waves were breaking to provide the subtle background soundtrack to the chatter from the customers. It was breathtakingly beautiful and we stopped to have a drink.

The vibe here in Nauusa, and the hustle and bustle, is very “South of France”. Not at all unpleasant, but uncharacteristic of Island hopping Greece.

At three we could enter our accommodation, so collected the car and our luggage, big relief, and headed back towards the port. We turned off the port road and a few minutes later shot past the property entrance. We stopped at a AB supermarket just beyond, stocked up on supplies and then headed back. Sue counted it down, 100m, 50m, 30m, 10m. At this point I could see 10m ahead a narrow driveway so just aimed at it and pulled in. We had a Nissan Micro rental car, luckily, as I’m not sure anything bigger would have fitted in. We descended rapidly down a steep drive to a beautiful property and meet Giannis, our host. The tour of the property was great. At the bottom of the garden there are properties that Giannis’s parents live in. Their back yard is an olive grove and beyond the this there is a gate in the back wall leading to a terrace about 12 feet above the sea. There is an umbrella, seats and cushions and bean bags, all for us to enjoy.

The terrace has a further doorway that leads onto the beach, and a stroll across the small beach leads to Magaya, a renowned Seafood Taverna. We were both completely sold by now and relaxed straight into our third holiday home to date.

The next day leaving the property in the car, proved to be just as exciting as arriving. At the top of the steep drive is the exit, straight out onto the main road with walls on either side. Luckily, there is a mirror that at least helps you see traffic coming from the left. If the left is clear, you can put your nose out and see if anything is coming from the right. Let’s just say you hope not, so praying helps!

When we were in Naousa we saw water taxis heading for Monastiri Beach and Kolybithres Beach, so we drove to Kolybithres Beach, the other side of the bay from Naousa and sheltered from the northerly winds. We pitched our sun tent on the beach, close to the sea and with a beautiful view. Two minutes later a couple started pitching their towels and umbrella about 3 feet in front of us. I was curious if laying in a sun tent had made us invisible. Half way through their pitching exercise, they seemed to become aware of us watching the activity with interest. I’m not sure if it was the expressions on our faces, but they suddenly decided there was a far better place to be on the beach and moved out of our line of sight. This beach was beautiful, lovely clear water, sand coves between volcanic rock outcrops and sunshine everywhere. After a few hours of bliss we suddenly noticed water approaching our tent, with the incoming of the Mediterranean tide. No worries, I thought, the tidal range in the Mediterranean is minimal. The very next wave we were into full flood mode, having to grab the tent to avoid being in our own rock pool.

We packed up and decided to explore the Island, so headed to Piso Lavidi a small town and port on the east coast. We wandered around the port and had some homemade ice cream. OMG we hadn’t realised ice cream could taste so good! From here we drove home clockwise around the Island, following for a long time a Morgan sports car. There were two grey haired guys in the car chatting to each other and enjoying the scenery with the top down. I just thought it was so quintessentially British, so I sincerely hope it wasn’t another nationality in our sports car! I followed them trying to transcendently transport myself out of my Nissan Micro into the car ahead, but it didn’t work!

I consoled myself with the approaching excitement of another attempt at finding and getting into the drive to the apartment. That evening we went to the beach taverna Magaya for a meal. We started with a crab dip and then shared a grilled red snapper. It was really good. How fantastic to leave a meal and a couple of cocktails behind and take a two minute stroll along the beach and through a private gate to your accommodation.

On Monday we drove around the Island anticlockwise to Golden Beach, our host’s favourite beach, which he’d recommended. We pitched our tent well away from the waterline and had another glorious beach day. That evening we headed to Naousa again to try a restaurant for an evening meal. We chose Yemeni, again a recommendation from our hosts for good Greek food. It was fully booked and the staff were just starting to put reserved signs on every table. The head waiter decided at 6pm, we were eating well before any Greek would even think about it, so he let us in. Sue surprised herself and had meat balls, I had the seafood linguine. We ate outside in the whitewashed alley, watching the promenaders passing and guests arrive for their meals. It was very buzzy and the waiting staff were very attentive. After our meal we strolled around to the marina

and found the answer to the question of whether you can fill so many waterside restaurants. It was packed!

We got up on Tuesday to go to Anti-Paros. The car ferry operated from Pounta, about a 10 minute drive from our apartment. It’s an amazing service which operates back and forth every half an hour, from 6:30 in the morning until about 1:00am, the next day. A car and two passengers was 10 Euros and you pay on board. Seven minutes later you are driving off onto Anti-Paros. We both immediately saw a change to small Island Greece, just like Kimolos. Sue loved the street of shops, not just tourist shops here but a small supermarket and hardware store, because this is the town and its meeting everyones needs. We had a coffee and fresh lemon juice in a small cafe with a busy little shop opposite. It had rails of dresses, hats and bags outside in the alley. The cafe also had tables in the alley, so it was quite interesting when a small truck appeared heading to the port along the alley. It had to toot, so that a man having his breakfast could pull in his chair to allow it to pass. It literally bushed along underneath the shops sun shade, all the rails of clothing and the backs of the cafes chairs with zero margin for error. What impressed me the most was the lady driving the truck was on her mobile phone chatting away as she eased her way through.

We then headed to the other end of Anti-Paros to a lovely beach Sue had found at Agios Georgios, which overlooked Despotiko Island in the south. This was a beautiful spot, a dry pitch for the tent, a lovely breeze and crystal clear water to swim in. We strolled to Captain Pipinos’s for lunch, a typical Greek Taverna with its fish products displayed outside the restaurant.

Maybe just a Greek salad, some bread and olives for lunch today then.