Tuesday 20 September 2011

Our first day on beautiful Paros

After our scare this morning, the uneventful 4 hour ferry ride to Paros was very welcome.  The Blue Star Naxos is big enough that our ride was very smooth and we were in the air conditioned business class sections, so we were both able to lay down and have a little cap nap to relieve the stress of almost losing Den's wallet to a pickpocket.

The ferry arrived in Paros right on time at 11:55am and the driver that our hotel had arranged was waiting for us with our name on a sign.  He drove us to the little fishing town of Naoussa and to our home for the next 3 nights, Stelia Mare.  Once we checked in to our beautiful room, we quickly changed and started walking towards town, looking for lunch.  It was very hot and sunny and I had forgotten my hat, so I told Den we had to find somewhere quickly before I passed out from heat exhaustion!  Serendipity led us to a little taverna right on the beach.  As we entered from the street, I could see mama behind the counter making Greek salad and an old scale for weighing fresh fish, all signs that told me that we were in for authentic Greek cuisine.

We ordered 4 little plates once again ~ Greek salad, large beans in tomato sauce, grilled octopus and Greek meatballs with sauce and fries.  Den has the Greek beer Fix and I had a glass of chilled white wine.  The food was so fresh and delicious (I seem to be using those words a lot lately) and our waiter was a really nice guy who spoke English, French and Italian in addition to Greek.  Lunch was 38 euros!




After lunch, we walked to the harbour and enjoyed the view of the water, the fishing boats, the octopus drying in the sun and even an Italian film crew filming a movie in Naoussa.







We walked slowly back to our hotel, where I spend the afternoon by the pool, reading and napping.  Den, on the other hand, found himself a secluded little part of a beach where he enjoyed some au naturel sun bathing.  We had some iced cappucinos with Baileys by the pool and lazed away the rest of the afternoon.  Life is tough sometimes, isn't it!

We went back into town for dinner around 8pm and wandered the narrow little streets, admiring the little boutiques and looking for somewhere to eat.  We found another tiny little place where the tables were literally in an alleyway and continued our meze tradition, this time enjoying some fried tomato balls, fried zucchini balls (both of these were a revelation ~ light, airy little balls of tender goodness), more grilled octopus and more chilled Greek white wine.  Dinner was 33 euros, including some homemade Greek dessert of sweetened grapes and melon.

We wandered the streets of Naoussa and made our way back to our hotel, where I am sitting on our private balcony overlooking the beach and blogging about our wondrous day.  Athens and pickpockets seem a million miles away.

Kalispera..........








3 comments:

  1. Your pictures are wonderful!

    May I asked what room did you get at Stelia Mare? We will be staying there in late spring, and I think that balcony you had is wonderful!!

    Many thanks.

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  2. Hi Sandra,

    We had a suite for 2 people with a sea view veranda. We were on the second level, directly in front of the pool. We really liked Stelia Mare and Pandelis was such a wonderful help to us while we were there. I hope you have a wonderful trip.

    Jo

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