Paros is one of the 3 largest islands in Greece and is quite beautiful. We are staying at an RCI exchange (thanks to Gramma) for the week. It is a nice little condo near a beach. This is a little early for the real tourist season so it is quite nice and calm, which is exactly what we were looking for after Santorini.
Our condo apartment would fit 5 with a double bed, 2 singles, and a couch. We are sharing it between the 3 of us and our travel companions (Estela, Teresa, and Rosa) are sharing a similar unit below us. The grounds are beautiful with a restaurant attached and a swimming pool. Not too bad a dig for a week.
Our first night we settled in and had dinner at the restaurant. Adam and I shared Greek style pasta and Gramma had a baked eggplant casserole. Both were incredible! I also discovered that they have an amazing hot chocolate! On these windy/cool nights the hot chocolate hits the spot.
Our first full day we got up and had tea and headed to the beach. Adam and I went on a longer run around the little town of Dryos and 3 different beaches! It was amazing! The small town feel is unique and a great way to practice the language and get to know the native Greeks in the area! This is probably our favorite part of traveling. So we lounged at the beach and the pool all day and had a lovely dinner of cheese and crackers, wine, and sundried tomatoes.
Day 2 we woke up later and enjoyed the morning reading, writing, and eating Greek yogurt....real Greek yogurt. The Greek yogurt we get in the states is nothing like real Greek yogurt! It is SO much better here and served with local honey! Yum!!!! We then caught the bus to Paroikia, the main city, where we visited the church with 100 doors. This is a Byzantine church with elaborate fixtures and the remnants of elaborate wall paintings. It was beautiful and worth the price of getting extremely car sick riding on a local bus up and down and around every small street from point A to point B. We then had a nice lunch at a local taverna at the harbor and shared local wine, stuffed peppers and a Greek salad. That night we came back and cooked spaghetti, all 6 of us! It was a great way to top off the day!!!!
Day 3 (Tuesday) we went with the condo tour around the island to a monastery with wall painting a from the 25th century, ancient marble quarries, a lovely little Greek bakery, toured and viewed a local pottery studio, and hiked around an archeological park and up to a lighthouse on the side of a cliff.
We met 2 other couples on the tour, one from France, and the other from Canada. We finished the tour with a few hours free in the port town of Naousa. We walked along the venetian streets and had a little snack near the port. It was a lovely day, but the wind was very strong and it made for a less than comfortable tour....especially at the lighthouse.
Tours are a wonderful thing and at the end of them we are always reminded how we really don't like to be on a tour. Haha! All in all it was an enjoyable and informative experience....now for some warm and cozy hot chocolate!
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