Paros, Greece, Day 4, September 9, 2015

I was up early today and it was cooler than yesterday.  I watched the light from the rising sun light up the white washed houses dotting the hills.  It was brilliant.

Today we went up to Naoussa, a picturesque fishing village situated at the north end of the island. Some consider it to be the prettiest in the Cyclades. 

 Needs work

Three colours of bougainvillea, pink, red, and violet  

We were too early for lunch, so we made our way down the east coast to a beautiful village called Piso Livadi. The centre of the village had a small beach and several reasonably priced restaurants. We picked one and sat at the waters edge. Jill had a Greek salad and fried eggplant and I had a tomato and cucumber salad and calamari and, of course, two Greek beers. 

Because the prices were low, 3 and 4 Euros respectively, we figured the salads would be small but it was the opposite. Jill could barely get through half her salad. From now on we will share one salad. My calamari was perfectly cooked and the generous portion left me stuffed, and Jill loved her eggplant. 25 Euros for so much food was a bargain. 

We are still not eating breakfast so we were hungry. It seems that we are averaging around 25 Euros for food and drinks, which is better than what we budgeted. It was time for a swim and a snooze on the beach.

We could see a beautiful long beach from our elevated parking spot and the water looked amazing. We jumped in the car and headed over. 

The sand was coarse with many beautiful weathered white marble stones at the shore line which we collected as we walked. The water was crystal clear and refreshing.  We could have stayed in for hours but our siesta called us.  We walked to the end of the beach where the sand turned into very tiny 1 – 2 mm weathered stones, a perfect mat for our towels. A half hour nap and we made our way back to the car. We continued down the coast and made a full trip around the island. The sights were breathtaking. 

We saw Naxos and Antiparos (an 8 minute ferry ride from Paros). Tomorrow our ferry ride to Naxos will take 45 minutes.  

We decided to go out for dinner on our last night in Paros rather than snacking at our studio apartment. I wanted to try the fish soup which was just OK and Jill had a green salad with lettuce and arugula which she had been craving. It was a large salad and excellent. We shared a traditional lamb dish baked in a clay pot with boneless lamb, potatoes, cheese, and peas. It was yum and we almost finished it  … stuffed again, twice in one day!  29 Euros with tip with a half litre of white and a glass of red, very reasonable. 

We walked around the port and took in the hustle and bustle of people lining up to get on the next ferry. You are urged to be at the ferry port 30 minutes before your scheduled departure. Tomorrow we leave beautiful Paros and join up with our dear friends, Pam and Bruce who are coming from Santorini. Let the fun begin.