Last dinner in Naoussa

Our last night in Naoussa already ~ where does the time go when you plan a vacation for almost a year and then it slips away before you know it!

Pandelis, the very kind guy at our hotel, who has been our guardian angel since we got here, made a reservation for us at his favourite restaurant in Naoussa tonight.  The card I have from the restaurant is in the Greek alphabet, so I can't even tell you what it's called in English, but I can say that it's one of the best meals that we've had in Greece so far.

But before we get to dinner, let me tell you about the little bar we went to, called, appropriately enough, The Bar. After walking around Naoussa for one last time, we ended up at this very cool bar which just opened a few months ago, for a pre dinner drink.  We couldn't resist the blues playing from inside and the cool blue lights and cushioned seating which beckoned us from outside.  Den has a caprihana and I had a red wine and we spend almost an hour just chilling to the cool music and talking to our bartender/owner who is Polish but has been living in Paros for almost 7 years.  They just opened The Bar and we wish them much success with this relaxing, inviting spot.

Dinner was just around the corner and our table was waiting for us when we got there just before 9pm.  It's another tiny space which you would need to look for ~ we loved the white decor and the soft jazz playing in the background, but the food took it way over the top.  The waiter/owner told us to just order one appetizer with the 2 daily specials and we had a peppery red wine blend of Cabernet/Merlot from Macedonia which complimented our meal very nicely.  Our starter was fava beans baked in the oven, which was really a fava bean puree with an eggplant base and this doesn't even begin to describe how good this dish was.  Den has a veal schnitzel stuffed with ham with a blue cheese sauce and I had a pork shank with mushroom sauce.  My pork was fall of the bone tender and Den devoured his plate completely, so I guess he liked it as well.  We were given complimentary desserts which were like a tiramisu but with raspberry jam in the middle ~ it was the perfect accompaniment to the rest of our wine.

Dinner was an unbelievable 40 euros!  We ambled back to our hotel and I'm now blogging with the patio doors open and the sound of the surf as our background.  Tomorrow we take the ferry to Naxos where another adventure beckons us.  Life doesn't get much better than this.

Kalispera!

A day in the tiny mountain village of Lefkes

Actually, I'll start with the wonderful dinner we had last night at the little taverna on the beach of Agio Dimitrios in Naoussa.  This is the same place we had lunch at on Tuesday and it was so good, we decided to come back for dinner.  We had a great table right on the beach again, where we sat and enjoyed the sunset while Den had a glass of ouzo and I had a glass of Paros wine.

We then followed our waiter into the tiny kitchen and chose our fresh fish for our dinner ~ Den chose red snapper and I had the sea bass.  The waiter weighed the 2 whole fishes since the price is per kilo.  We then returned to our little table and watched the sky turn dark while the cook grilled our fish.  The dishes were simply presented with a side of salad and our very kind waiter deboned the fish for us, making sure to scoop out the sweet meat from the cheeks.  The flesh of both fish was simply mouth watering and we devoured both our plates, scooping up the last of the olive oil with some bread.  After lingering over the last of our bottle of wine, we went for a walk along the harbour and the little streets of Naoussa once again, this time looking for a Greek dessert that I had read about ~ little fried balls of dough which are then covered in either honey, chocolate sauce or sugar.  We walked everywhere and just couldn't find them ~ oh well, we will try again tomorrow night.

We made our way back to our hotel around 11pm where we had another great night's sleep.

Up around 8am this morning and we enjoyed another very nice breakfast around the hotel pool while we chatted with some newlyweds from California.  Our rental car arrived around 10am and after filling out the paperwork and checking the car for scratches, bumps and dents, off we went.  We didn't get far before Den went the wrong way down a one way street and I had to guide him as he drove out backwards while 3 cars patiently followed him.  Not a great start to our day, eh?

Once we got on the road to Lefkes, we started to relax and enjoy the beautiful views.  The road was very  twisty and narrow and continually brought us up the mountains of Paros.

Once we found Lefkes and found parking, we began our descent into the little village, going through many little narrow streets full of unique doors, windows, flowers, churches, and shops.

We found a tiny little place for lunch with a rooftop terrace that looked over the mountains of Lefkes.  It is run by a mother and daughter who make everything from scratch that day with local ingredients, some from their own garden.  Den has an eggplant pie with crispy layers of phyllo pastry and I had pillowy soft gnoccis made that day, in a sauce of local goat cheese, tomatoes and herbs.  Dessert was an orange pie that we had to wait for because they were still baking it when we started lunch and it had to cool first.  We sat and ate and drank and admired the views and spoke with a young couple (he was from Liverpool and she was from Amsterdam, they met skiing in Austria!) and just relaxed and drank it all in for over 2 hours.

We started our trek back to the car a little before 3pm, getting turned around in the maze of narrow streets and then also getting lost while trying to find our way back to the highway.  We didn't have a proper map and we couldn't read the signs and the roads were treacherously high with sheer drops and no guardrails, so there may have been a little swearing, a little praying and a little yelling, but we managed to make it back in one piece!  Maybe we will take buses on Naxos, lol.

We were back at the hotel a little after 4pm and Den had a well deserved nap after our harrowing drive back.  We are just taking it easy and will soon take our showers and get ready for our last night in Naoussa.

Kalimera!

Kolymbithres Beach, Paros

After a wonderful night's sleep and a very nice breakfast (included with our hotel stay), we were off to the harbour to get one of the little fishing boats to bring us to Kolymbithres Beach.  15 minutes later, the boat let us off at a little dock and we walked to a gorgeous beach, surrounded by very unique rock formations which have been formed by centuries of wind and water exposure.  We rented some beach chairs and umbrella and whiled away the morning swimming, napping, reading and enjoying!

Unfortunately, today was not one of Den's "au naturel" beach days, although he did ask the guy who rented us the beach chairs if there was somewhere he could bare it all ~ there was, but it was already reserved for the day.  Ah well, there's always tomorrow.  The beach was fairly empty but the guy told us that in July and August it is wall to wall people.  He said it was just a crazy time to be there and that we had chosen well by coming in September.

We sent up a little hill to the nearest taverna and had another Greek food heaven experience.  The owner told us that because it had looked like rain today, they were not serving a full menu because they didn't want to waste food and only served what they made the same day fresh.  She made suggestions and we ended up with fried feta, skordalia (a garlic potato dip), beef stew with rice and stuffed tomato and green pepper.  Everything was simply cooked and simply delicious.  Our meal, with the ubiquitous half litre of white wine, was 28 euros! The fantastic view of the sea and the mountains was included. I may have to move to Greece when I retire!

The wind had kicked up a bit and it did look like it might start to rain, so we went back to the dock and waited for the fishing boat to bring us back to Naoussa.  After a little walk around the village and stopping into the little taverna on the beach that we ate lunch at yesterday to make a dinner reservation for tonight, we ambled back to our hotel for a dip in the pool and a refreshing shower.

Tomorrow we are renting a car and going to the villages of Lefkes and Marathi (and maybe to find a secluded little beach for my hubby, lol)

Kalimera!