Woke up this morning in our little villa rooms with sunshine streaming in the windows. We sat in the cute little patio outside of the building underneath a ceiling of vines and flowers. I had some thick and creamy Greek yogurt drizzled with honey that we had bought the night before in the little market nearby. After getting ready for the day, Erin, Haley, Amanda and I walked about 20 minutes into town and rented 2 seater dune buggies! Picture a rugged golf cart with seats low to the ground. They were such a great way to get around the island. Plus it was fun to drive and we didn’t have to worry about parking. I asked the rental lady for a lock or something so that we could secure them when we were walking around. She just looked at me and said that we didn’t have to worry about it on the island. That’s one nice thing about being so isolated…there’s just not a lot of theft. Also, we asked her for directions to get to the next town and she laughed a little because there are no street names here…there is only one big road that goes all the way around the island! Wow…no need for directions! I think I could probably live here simply because of that! I would never get lost again!
It was really a great day…it was super hot, but we were driving most of the time so the wind kept us cool. We got to see so much of the island because it was about a 20 minute drive from Parikia to Naoussa, which is another little town on the north part of the island that is mainly a fishing village/port. I saw dozens and dozens of little octopus (octopuses? octopi?) hanging over poles near the water…I guess they have to dry them out before they can sell them and cook them? I don’t know! We walked around the beautiful white-washed village area and stopped into shops along the way. Before we left Naoussa, we grabbed a few gyros (pronounced “ear-row” in Greece, apparently) and ate them on a wall by the water. They were delicious with the creamy yogurt sauce, crunchy red onions, salty roasted meat, and fresh FRESH pita bread. They only cost 2 euro each, which is less than 3 dollars!
Next on the agenda was a visit to a little village called Lefkies, which is a very traditional Greek village about a 30 minute drive inland. The views on the way to Lefkies were amazing – the terrain is very dry but also quite mountainous. In Lefkies, we bought some jewelry and walked around taking in the quaintness of the town. We had lunch at a restaurant with a great view of the city before getting back in the buggies for another 30 minute ride to Pounda. In Pounda, we caught a water ferry (with our dune buggies on board as well!) to Antiparos – which is a smaller island off of the coast of Paros. This was seriously my favorite boat ride of the trip because it was only 5 MINUTES! No time to get seasick at all! Once we landed, we assessed the map of the island – which has only one road as well, but it doesn’t even loop around, so it is just one straight road and you have to come back the same way. We drove for a while and then went to see a cave at the top of one of the mountains. We spent a few minutes soaking in the lovely view – you have a great view of Paros from where we were on Antiparos. After that, we went to a small beach. There were maybe 10-15 people there and it was in a little bay area, so there were no waves at all and the water was SO clear! We swam and took a nap on one of the hammocks. There was a little open-air restaurant appropriately names “Still waters” where we drank some sangria (a sweet remembrance of our time in Spain) as well as some salty olives and this interesting polenta cake, which reminded me of corn cake, expect it was sweet. After that, we rode back to the main village which was beautiful – even more beautiful than Paros, if you ask me. It seemed as if there were not as many tourists there. It seemed like a beach town where Greek families come to spend their holiday time (most Greeks get a month or two off per summer!). We ferried it back to Paros after that, drove home as the sun was setting and the showered before heading out for some dinner. We found a small restaurant not too far from where we were staying where there were 2 men playing instruments and singing. It was totally relaxing and it seemed like the family who owned the place was just having a good time. The owner, who was also the host and the waiter, was dancing in the middle of the restaurant. It was fun to watch! He came over and offered to show me a dance or two as well. I think made up most of the moves, but it was fun! Yes, there will be a demonstration when I get home. Haha Just kidding.
We walked through town for about 20 minutes after dinner checking out the sites. We had drinks at a sea-side bar and met some people who were going to another bar afterward and gave us directions. We ended up finding this bar complex, called the Dubliner (strangely enough), which was a lounge area with a few rooms with different types of music playing. We beelined straight to the dance party room and then… what can I say? There was dancing long into the night!
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