Whilst in Naxos we had planned to do a trip to Amorgos, following the recommendations of some friends from Alonissos. We haven't managed to make that particular trip this time but we have nipped over to the island of Paros for a couple of days. Being smaller than Naxos we had assumed it would be the more backward sleepy cousin of Naxos, wrong! It appears to appeal to the younger crowd (some of whom were staying at our accommodation and came in at 4am!!). The main town of Parikia is fairly sprawling and doesn't have the same feel as Naxos and it's beach doesn't even come close to that of Naxos town!
Unfortunately although we had checked the weather forecast for the following few days, once we had booked both the ferry and the accommodation, suddenly it turned from sunny with a few clouds, to rain with possible thunderstorms...hey ho! Within seconds of our arrival the heavens opened and we got a thorough soaking on our way to find our room. Not a good start. It did stop after a couple of hours so we ventured out to explore. The following day was much brighter so we headed to the town of Naoussa, said to be one of the prettiest in the Cyclades.
It was a beautiful village with picturesque harbours and wide meandering streets. Obviously we just had to stop for a spot of lunch at one of the waterfront tavernas....lovely!
Naoussa harbour
lunch!
We had a thoroughly enjoyable time in Paros, exploring little back streets and trying to spot the differences between the two islands. The streets are much wider in Paros and the churches even had green domes rather than the traditional blue.
Naoussa church
After a hard day of exploring, eating and drinking it was time to head back to Parikia for the evening before catching the ferry back to Naxos for the remainder of our time in the Cyclades.
Firstly let me explain Panda. My husband is Paul and I am Amanda, hence the shortening to Panda!
Having had a lovely couple of days in Santorini it was then off to Naxos for a few weeks. We had planned to come many years ago in the days of Exel Airlines, who went bust so we didn't make it but finally, here we are. It is a lovely island and we both agree, one we would return to. We have been able to eat out every night on our meagre budget as the prices are very reasonable (for the most part). There are expensive tavernas obviously, but plenty that you can spend less than 25 euro for a meal for two with wine!
We have done lots of walking having caught the local buses up to the hill villages. We have also tried to follow some printed walks....ha, ha. We gave up with the directions on our first walk from the village of Filoti to Halki and managed to battle our way through various overgrown paths and dry river beds to make it to our destination....eventually!! The scenery was lovely with ancient churches (10th century) and spectacular views to the neighbouring islands and the taverna at the end was a very welcome sight!
10th century church
A welcome taverna!
Our second walk was slightly more successful with regard to following directions! We headed to the village of Apeiranthos which was once known as 'the marble village' due to the huge amounts of marble to be found in the area. There are still some beautiful buildings made with the local marble and tons of it just lying around!
As I said, we did manage to follow the directions for this walk but there was still a sting in the tail. The walk stated it was an hour there and the same back, maybe if you have the stride of a giraffe or your name is Mo Farrah!!! After the first hour we still had a fair way to go so stopped for a few minutes for a tea break amongst the stunning scenery.
The hills of Apeiranthos
Having had our break we stomped onward to our goal of the church of Agia Kyriaki (9th century). Another 30 mins later we finally made it. We then made the mistake of not reading the directions to the end as we were led to a path that came to an abrupt end whereby the directions instructed, now go back the way you came! By this time we were walking in the heat of the afternoon and I was beginning to resemble the colour of the rose wine I was looking forward to at the end! So, some 3.5 hrs later, we finally made it back to the village in time for a quick look around, a glass of wine and the bus back to Naxos town!
Another summer and another Greek adventure begins! We set off on a cold and cloudy English spring day and arrived in Santorini to blue skies and scorching temperatures! We have decided to spend a few weeks in the Cyclades prior to moving onto Alonissos in the Sporades so spent a couple of days on the beautiful island of Santorini before catching the ferry to Naxos.
We were slightly concerned having read the reviews of our accommodation on Santorini but needn't have worried as the owners were very friendly and our room was lovely with gorgeous views over the Aegean.
It was in a very unusual setting practically within church. Although it was lovely, the downside was that we were woken by a cacophony of sound from the church bells at 7am, 7.30, 8 and 8.30!!!
The blue dome is the roof to our room!!
Having ensured we were thoroughly awake we took advantage of the fantastic weather and headed downhill to the beach. We passed several interesting little smallholdings, including one housing 4 ostriches!! I have absolutely no idea what they would have these birds for but hey ho!
On reaching the beach with it's signed promise of food and drink at the end there was of course nothing of the sort as the taverna hadn't opened yet....we should know by now that Greece doesn't open for business until mid May (or June in some cases....Alonissos!).
Now we are used to seeing ducks in the sea in Greece but in this particular harbour we also found a pair of swans! Whether they are resident or just passing through we will never know but they seemed quite happy in their salty home.
We had an equally stunning day the following day so spent a merry few hours exploring the main town of Thira with all it's jewellery shops, expensive bars and equally expensive restaurants. We did manage to find a couple of gems with good prices and good food both within a few meters of each other, Stanis with fabulous views over the caldera and Dionysus within it's own courtyard setting...perfect. There were a few cruise ships in port too from Celebrity, MSC, and Oceania so all the shops were doing their best to entice the day trippers! Only one thing was missing in Santorini, the famous blue domes of the churches! They all appeared to have been stripped back to plaster in Thira, hopefully to be re-painted, otherwise there will be a lot of disappointed tourists this summer!
