After a lovely week cruising the Greek Islands in 2019, we jumped in a taxi to head from Piraeus Port across to the east coast of Greece, to Rafina Port where our ferry would depart, to continue our islands experience with a week on Paros, an island of less than 200 square kms located in the middle of the Cyclades.
Rafina is not a tourist hotspot by any means, but even on a sleepy Sunday morning there were cafes and restaurants open, and we had glorious weather to boot. So, with plenty of time to kill, we stowed our luggage, hung out at a hip beach bar, discovered the pretty Agios Nikolas Chapel overlooking the Aegean Sea, and enjoyed a delicious lunch at Cafe La Sera, before joining the throng awaiting the ferry’s arrival… and waited. And waited. Ah, gotta love Greek time.
It seemed strange to enter and exit through the bowels of the ferry via the car ramp – and leave luggage there, unattended. Thankfully it was still there when we disembarked!
The sun was setting by the time we arrived on Paros and collected our hire car for ease of exploring this island (though it seemed that pre-booking the car was unnecessary, with a dozen car renters snapping at us like hungry seagulls at Parikia port – and there are regular buses available too).
We were staying on the quieter side of the island at Anezina Village, Drios (booked through timeshare), a scenic 30 minute drive in either direction from Parikia.
Our villa was adorable, and the resort was in walking distance of cafes, a little supermarket, ATM, and beaches. What more could you want?
How about a Greek night? With a huge buffet of traditional Greek dishes, wine, (and ouzo for those who like that stuff), and with live music and dancing, it was certainly lots of fun.
We often walked to Yiasou café in the mornings for a coffee, before settling back at our villa for breakfast on one of our private terraces, overlooking the olive grove with sea views in the distance. (I must mention the Naxos yogurt we bought, which has the texture of Italian meringue! Heavenly.)
A special day out was to Lefkes – a charming quiet mountain village of winding stairs and alleyways, where we walked the Byzantine Path and visited its crowning glory: the Church of Agia Triada, built in 1835 from local marble. Such a pretty spot, we stopped there for a delightful Courgette Pie (aka Zucchini slice) served with homemade tzitziki at Cafe Marigo. Just perfect, along with my Mountain tea, ahh. Then a gift of fresh apricots from their tree! But, oh dear, their EFTPOS was down, and we only had a couple of euros between us! With no ATMs in town, the owner simply gave us a stamped envelope to post him back the 10 euros – a trusting gesture which just added to our positive experience of Lefkes.
Beach-hopping our way around the island, we found a small sandy beach at Ambelas, before making a detour via the Tower of Hellenistic Period… well, what little was left of it! Called in at the bustling fishing village of Naoussa, its harbour lined with eateries. Santa Maria is an out-of-the-way topless beach, Parasporos offered great views before descending to its “famous” beach, and the beach café at Aliki looked inviting.
At Golden Beach – by far the biggest beach – you can rent private sunbeds and umbrellas – rather idyllic really, looking directly out at that tiny island… the stuff dreams are made of.
But we still preferred our secluded little beach at Drios, where we fulfilled a bucket list wish to snorkel in the Greek Islands. The sea was very cool, but we quickly adjusted, and the water was deep, with enough rocks and fishes to be interesting. Tony even spotted an octopus, as he attempted to multitask with a little underwater detecting.
There’s nothing like an island holiday for get-away-from-it-all fun in the sun. And we didn’t want it to end.
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