Paros to Athens

Monday morning we returned our rental car then went to find breakfast. We ended up at a restaurant overlooking the port and had a great breakfast.

Dukes breakfast
Our breakfast

Then we took an uneventful four and a half hour ferry ride to Athens and caught the metro to our hotel at Athens airport. Tuesday we start the long journey home. It’s been a great trip’

Paros Day 4

Almost every place we have stayed on this trip has included breakfast. The place we are staying for our second two nights on Paros does not. So this morning we drove down to a local fishing village and found a place for breakfast overlooking the harbor. It appeared to be full of locals. I had a crepe with cheeses and vegetables and Duke had pancakes with honey.

My crepe
Duke’s pancakes.

Afterwards we went for a walk along the coast.

Near where we had breakfast

Later in the day we drove out to find a beach to record a car review video. We ended up at Tripiti Beach where we stopped yesterday.

Our car positioned for Duke’s car review video.
Walking along Tripiti Beach

For dinner we went into the town of Paros and had a great dinner. We shared calamari with pesto and potatoes and sea bass baked with grapefruit, oranges and potatoes in paper.

Our dinner

The sunsets and moonsets in the Greek islands have been like nothing I have ever seen. I think it’s at least partly because there always seems to be a haze along the horizon.

Sunset tonight

It was only when we were questioning why sunset was at 5:20 instead of around 6:20 like it was last night that we realized that daylight savings time changed in Europe last night!!

The moon setting

Paros Day 3

Alexandros Apartments in Naoussa, on the north end of Paros, where we stayed the last two nights was great. What really made it special was Litsa, the owner. She gave us recommendations of things to do and recommended the fantastic Karina Restaurant. Litsa is why our stay on Paros will be so fondly remembered.

Alexandros Apartments
Litsa and us when we checked out this morning

After leaving Naoussa we drove up to the very top of Paros where there are a church and lots of antenna towers. It was very windy and the view was amazing. We could see other island to the east and west (Nexos and Antiparos).

The island of Antiparos from the top of Paros
Duke on top of Paros

From the top of the island we drove down to the east. We stopped in the village of Marmara where we had coffee and treats at a local bakery.

Choosing our treats
Baklava and Greek coffee

Our next stop was the beautiful Tserdakia Beach.

Duke at Tserdakia Beach

Our hotel overlooks the west side of Paros. We had a beautiful sunset from our balcony.

Sunset from our hotel

We went into the town of Paros for dinner. We had very good fish again and had a baked apple with yogurt for desert.

Baked apple and yogurt

We walked along the coast a bit before driving back to the hotel. As we walked the moon was setting.

Moonset

Paros Day 2

Today this area of the Aegean Sea had twenty mile an hour winds. I’m glad we weren’t taking a ferry! We decided to take a hike in Paras Park. We went out to the lighthouse. It was a great hike. At times it was sheltered from the wind and at times it was blowing a gale!

Hiking out to the lighthouse
Heading towards the lighthouse

We had such a great dinner at Karina Restaurant last night that we decided to go back again tonight. We told Karina that our fish last night was so good we wondered what she would recommend tonight. She told us what was fresh and we chose the mussels and the fried cod. They were devine!

Karina Restaurant
Mussels in an onion, spice and carrot broth.
Our fried cod with fennel mashed potatoes

And look at the bill €45 for mussels, fish, a bottle of sparkling water, a half liter of rose wine, a small lemon curd desert and an aperitif! And in Europe you don’t tip!

This kind of food, service and ambiance is why we travel. Karina told us that tomorrow night they will close for the winter.

Naxos to Paros, Greece

Our ferry this morning was scheduled to leave at 9:30. So we had to get up and get going. We returned our rental car and got to the ferry with no problem. The ferry ride to the island of Paros only took up about an hour.

Our ferry

Once we arrived in Paros and got our rent a car it was too early to check in to our hotel so we drove out to the north end of the island and found a deserted beach where we could park and read for a bit.

The coast of Paros
Reading while we wait for our room to be ready

We are staying at a lovely place with an ocean view. The owner of our hotel recommended a place nearby for dinner, Karina. it was fabulous we had excellent fresh fish. The ambience was wonderful. We sat on the veranda and enjoyed the food, the music and the cool night sir.

Our grilled dorado
More fresh fish. This time it was fried.
Eating dinner at Karina