Paros

Leaving Athens Lianne and I travelled to the Greek island of Paros which isn't known as one of the more famous islands but it is a convenient point for onward travel and is very nice in it's own quiet way. We arrived on the island late in the evening as the ferry from Athens took 5 hours and we didn't leave until late afternoon. So all we did was quickly find a great room located right on the water front and then went out to get some food and a drink before calling it a night.

Our first full day on Paros we spent the morning sleeping in and wandering around the charming little town that we were staying in after breakfast. The town was quite nice as it spread out along the waterfront with a main road there but just behind that the town was full of little twisting and turning alleyways that only pedestrians could walk through. So the morning was spent walking through some of these alleys and admiring the perfectly white Greek houses and little shops that were tucked back in the heart of the town. That afternoon we caught a small water taxi to take us across the bay to one of the nicer beaches in the area and spent the remaining time lounging on the sandy beach and swimming in the gorgeous Mediterranean. After relaxing on the beach for a while we returned to town to enjoy a dinner and a couple of drinks while watching the sunset into the sea.

Our second day on the island we rented a scooter to tour the rest of the island. We started off by driving down by Antiparos (a small island just off the coast of Paros) before heading down to Alyki, a small town with a nice beach. After lying on the beach for a short amount of time we decided that the wind had picked up too much so we jumped back on the scooter to continue exploring the island. Our next path took us along the southern coast of the island driving through tiny villages and seeing small beaches until we came to Chrisi Akti (Golden Beach). Golden Beach is Paros' best beach so we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing here and again swimming in the fabulous water. In the early evening we started to make our way back to Paroikia (the main town where we were staying) by driving around the other side of the island to complete the circuit. On the way back we stopped off in Naoussa, the island's second biggest town, for a quick wander around before finally returning to Paroikia. Again the evening was spent enjoying a delicious dinner right on the edge of the sea while watching the sunset, absolutely great.

Our third day was our last day on Paros so we got up and arranged ferry tickets to Ios, our next destination, before checking out of our hotel. The ferry didn't leave until the early afternoon so we had a few hours to kill so we spent an hour or so touring around Paroikia on our scooter before returning it. Finally while waiting for our ferry we spent our last hour on the island using the internet, shopping (Lianne) and checking out the Byzantine church of St. Constantine. Then we boarded our short ferry ride to Ios where we planned to spend a few days enjoying the party life on the Greek islands, but more of that next update.










The little alleyways that are the main streets in the heart of Paroikia and contain several shops and cafes along with the beautiful Greek houses.


















Lianne standing on Krios beach, the beach where we spent the first afternoon relaxing on Paros.















Lianne enjoying the waters of the Mediterranean on Alyki beach, complete with a few local fishing boats in the background.

















The interior of the Byzantine church of St. Constantine.