Small Island, Shoulder Season

Paros could not be prettier. We stayed a short walk from the port and Parikia Town, just off of Livadia Beach. It is delightfully peaceful here and the tiny town is a maze of cobblestone paths splashed with vibrant flowers and endless white washed homes. As breathtaking as the views were in Santorini, this place holds its own. I could spend a long time walking through every inch of this place. It didn’t take Andre long before he lost interest in roaming at my snail’s pace. I told him that he could leave me and I would meet up with him later but he stuck around. Well, I thought he stuck around, until I turned back after taking a picture (or ten) and he was gone.

There were 4 pathways from the spot I was standing. I decided to wait a minute to see if he’d return… I’m sure it was a full minute. I whistled and made my ka kaa bird sound but nothing. Normally if we lose one another I will put my arm straight up in the air and make my hand into a sock puppet shape. I call this the emu because it looks like a long neck and beak. The idea is when the other person sees this they do the same and then you walk towards each other. But alas, we were not in a crowd so this strategy was useless. He wouldn’t have left me without saying anything so I decided I should try to find him when I knew I should just stay put. But since I have no patience I chose to go a short way down a couple of the paths looking for him and crowing. After a good minute, minute and a half, of solid searching I decided it was futile and that I should just consider him lost and carry on with my life.

As I walked through the pathways I came to an open area and stopped to check my phone. I forgot to mention that we didn’t have a phone plan anymore. Our Orange plans had expired and since we only had 13 days left in Greece we figured we could go without. When I got into the square I was able to get on an open network and sent him a message that basically said he was dead to me. Kidding. I told him I was in this open area and would stay there for a few minutes if he saw the message, otherwise I’d see him later. As I looked up from my phone I saw him walking toward me. I was amazed that we happened to randomly find each other. Then he left me. I spent a few wonderful hours touring around and then headed home.

Adventuring

The following day we went for a little hike around the island to chill on a beach Andre had found the day before (after he had ditched me). It was a gorgeous walk. I took a short video of it on the way back.

 

On the way there, before we hit the trail, we had to walk along the beach closest to us. Just as we got onto the sand we encountered a very friendly little duck. He seemed to have made friends with two girls and was just hanging out. Although he appeared to be right at home he looked completely out of place. As we stood there watching him we ended up in a long conversation with the girls, Shelby and Juliana. Well, actually it was mostly just Andre and Shelby talking while I listened and Juliana relaxed on a sun bed. We exchanged info so we could meet up later as they were also there for a few days.

Dinner With Friends

We got a chance to meet up with the ladies for dinner one evening at a restaurant called Taverna Mira. Yiannis, the owner, was such a lovely man. He chatted with us, sharing his stories and photos. They sold their own olive oil at the restaurant and he showed us a photo of one of his trees that was literally thousands of years old.

He told us that after he closed for the evening he was going down the street to dance and proceeded to offer us a dance lesson. Shelby generously volunteered to give it a go and she did pretty well considering Yiannis had a lot of counts that didn’t seem to align with the steps and it made no sense to any of us. He was great though and his high kicks were impressive!

Of course the evening wouldn’t be complete without some shots. Luckily he gave us some delicious sweet shots of Mastika. Mastika is a liqueur seasoned with mastic, a resin with a slightly pine or cedar-like flavor gathered from the mastic tree, a small evergreen tree native to the Mediterranean region. Much better than Raki! However, Shelby had not tried Raki yet and Yiannis insisted on bring her some. She had a decent poker face, but I think she preferred the Mastika.

We also ended up meeting another couple from Edmonton. Sherry and Cory were actually in Santorini at the same time we were but we didn’t cross paths. As it happens I met Sherry a few years ago through our friend Laurise (who we had just seen in Santorini with her mother) at a ladies only annual Yahtzee tournament. Sherry had sent me a message when they arrived in Paros and we randomly ran into her and Cory one night when we were having dinner at the same place, The Little Green Rocket. This place was fabulous! They made an outstanding curry that tasted like it came straight out of Thailand. They served a great variety of dishes that were unique compared with the menus of most other restaurants there. And the staff were extremely friendly. We ended up being the last table there that night and I’m sure we could have stayed for hours and they wouldn’t have kicked us out.

Sherry and Cory were able to provide us with some tips for our next stop, Naxos, like don’t hike up the mountain to Zeus’s Cave… or do but make sure you’re wearing proper hiking boots. Cory told us they got dropped off and had no idea how to get to the cave as there were no established trails. I really enjoyed his description of them trying to use Google Maps. Sherry said they hiked through piercing needles to sheets of loose sliding shale, which culminated into sheer panic when they realized they had no bloody idea where they were. Luckily they ran into some Germans who had a map and rescued them. On the up side there were goats in the story, so that peaked my attention, and almost made me willing to give it a try.

They also mentioned they had done a few side trips in Paros. One to Naousa, and one to Lefkes. They told us that if we were only going to one then we should choose Naousa and if we did both then to steer clear of the Doughnut House in Lefkes. They said they had a doughnut that tasted like it was left over from The Last Supper.

Oh, I almost forgot. The winery. They said there was an excellent wine tour in Naousa that we should definitely do, but the wine was horrendous. The only reason I do wine tours is for the drinking. I do not partake for educational purposes. Excellent tips.

Quirky Cats

So Andre has never been a cat person, but we have been surrounded by cats for months, through Croatia and Montenegro, and Greece is no different. I have always loved cats and it’s probably the only animal I’d consider adopting. I was shocked to hear Andre say that cats are growing on him and he thought that he might like a cat as a pet. He has enjoyed watching them do their strange cat things. One afternoon as we were we walking home he laughed and said “Look at this fat bastard”, and immediately the cat turned its head and gave a sweet cat glare. I swear he knew Andre was talking about him. We had a house kitten at our accommodation named Tarzan and he was just a young boy full of nutty behavior and very poor table manners. The first night we ate downstairs at the attached restaurant and we could not keep him off of our laps, chairs, or the table. He was relentless, but so bloody cute I couldn’t get as annoyed as Andre.

He was a clever little thing and he had a few friends in the area that gave him goodies. There was a lady that came down a few times a day to fish off the beach and when she caught tiny ones she would give them to him, so whenever she was around he was right there with her. We watched him make off with one of his gifts and pounce and bat it around for ages.

 

Naousa

We took Sherry and Cory’s advice and took the bus up to Naousa one afternoon. It was well worth it. We had a delicious brunch on the water and then ventured through the town. It had a similar feel to Parikia Town but with the addition of some steeper hills and Cat Square. As we passed by an open area just down from a church there were at least 19 cats. That we saw. We counted. They seemed so excited to see us and they all started to approach. As Andre knelt down one jumped right into his lap. I love cats but whenever anything comes at you in large numbers it’s a bit creepy. We were surrounded. They were all love though. Except one. He just stayed on his step. He looked like he’d been in many an MMA fight against his trainers advice. I wanted to love him but I was scared he’d scratch my face off. Poor little Scrappy-Doo.

108 days in…

Now we head a stone’s throw to Naxos.