Paros, My Pretty

Paros is very pretty. Well at least the bits I’ve seen are very pretty. 

When we disembarked from our fast ferry, we found our way to our accommodation through the narrow alleys and back passage ways of the old town. The first of the passages was dedicated to retail. Fancy clothing shops, boutiques, shoe shops, home wares in the Greek style and the inevitable souvenir shops. As the alleys twisted and turned the boutiques made way for the houses and gardens of the residential area. White box shaped houses with shuttered doors and windows – usually a shade of blue lined our way. Cats slept lazily in the shade of a step or an olive tree, maybe opening one eye, to check us out as we passed by. I was certain we would be lost in the maze, but in no time at all we were at our accommodation, Angeliki’s Studios, just at the edge of the old part of town.

We arrived to be welcomed by a woman who spoke no English holding up a phone with someone’s face at the other end. The young man who belonged to the face, told us the owner would be another hour but we could go to our room. A short conversation then took place between the woman and the young man on the other end of the video call. With that she hung up and disappeared for a few moments. On her return she had a key, two bottles of cold water for us and a tray with three ice-creams. She showed us to our room, indicated the bottles of water were for us, took one of the ice-creams for herself and then left. 

We rested after we finished eating our ice-creams, until it got a bit cooler and then wandered down to the water-front. It was windy and the ocean was all choppy. I didn’t want to end up like a tortoise again, so we would not swim that day. We ate that night at an overpriced taverna by the water. It was the first bad meal we had on the trip. Not bad, just not very good.

While out walking we heard an English girl on the phone complaining to someone how many Australians there were on Paros. She was right. There seems to be lots of us here but I guess that isn’t surprising given the number of tourists on Paros. There are no cruise ships chugging in everyday but Paros is the major hub for the island ferries, so most island hoppers transit though and stay at least one night on Paros.

The following two days were not pleasant. Basically they were spent trudging in the hot sun, waiting in one for buses in the hot sun and bickering. The first day, we caught a bus up to the hill top town of Lefkes. It was pretty but all there was to do was to trudge down the hill in the heat, through pretty white washed houses and tourist shops to look at the church at the bottom. Then to trudge back up again in the heat, through pretty white washed alley ways  and houses with bougainvillea and over-priced tourist shops to the top again. 

The second day we caught the ferry over to the nearby island of Antiparos. Antiparos where the rich and famous have villas – Tom Hanks, Madonna, Matthew McConaughey and others. We didn’t see any of them as we trudged across the island to the beach. When we got to the beach it was windswept and rough – so no swimming again. We trudged our way back again across the island – you know the usual white washed villas, bougainvillea, narrow passage ways, overpriced tourist shops and boutiques. 

When we were back at our accommodation later that day, the older man who runs Ageliki’s knocked on our door and gave us cake. “My wife”, he said by way of explanation as he passed the cake through the door. We wondered if it was to make up for the jack-hammer that started outside our window at 9:00am that morning or if it was just part of the service. The rooms are amazingly clean and comfortable, and, we have our own large verandah where we sit with a pre-dinner glass of wine at the end of each day.

Yesterday, the day began much the same, trudging to the other side of the port. However, there was gold at the end of this rainbow. We found a protected beach. The water was calm and clear. There where trees for shade. There was plenty of room for us to find our own spot. I went in. It was beautiful. We stopped at a little gyro place on the way back that surprisingly wasn’t too expensive and had lunch. For the first time in two days, I was happy again.

Today was our last day here. We headed to the same beach. Found an excellent place for coffee on the way. Swam and floated in the warm waters and dried out in the shade of a tree. We lunched on shared calamari and cold beers in a shady taverna on the seas edge.  I declared it another perfect day.

Tomorrow we take another slow boat, to the small island of Amorgos. I won’t be sorry to leave Paros. Five days here was probably  a little too long. As I said, it is a pretty place – but it is also, pretty touristy, pretty expensive and pretty bloody windy.