Greece 3. Paros - the second Greek island on this trip

 

a ferry backing up to the dockside in Paros

It was only about a 45 mins ferry ride from Naxos to Paros and we stepped off onto the quay at Parikia in the middle of the seafront parade of shops and restaurants. After a leisurely coffee we checked just where our accommodation was and discovered that it was only about 300 level yards away and 50 yards from the middle of the main shopping area. It was very refreshing not to have every other person ask if we wanted a taxi. There was a striking difference between our modern apartment on Naxos and our traditional Greek cottage here with a small kitchen/dining room, a bedroom and a bathroom. We liked both. Our cottage was one of a group forming the hotel with quite a large courtyard garden containing various citrus fruits growing in it, many with oranges hanging from them. This was where we had every breakfast while we were here, real Greek yogurt, fruit, honey, bread and coffee. I have to say that the Greek yogurt here is far superior to what we get in British supermarkets, whether it’s labelled ‘Greek-styled’ or ‘Greek’, which are two products produced in different ways.

the courtyard garden at our hotel

In my first blog this trip, I mentioned the flooding on Paros in April this year which turns out to have been mostly at the northern end of the island in Naousa about 10 miles away as the crow flies. Winter rains are heavy here and that seems to normally be pretty well the end of it, so stream beds through towns are made into roads or paths as thoroughfares for the rest of the year. The road outside our cottage hotel is just called Stream and fifty yards along it goes under a building with about a five foot clearance. Go under that and up a few steps and there’s the main shopping street. We were told, with what I took to be a little smattering of smugness, that the Naoussians (as I judge the inhabitants to be called) were warned about the heavy rain and potential floods and ignored the warning.

the road called 'Stream'

Parikia is not as large or as hilly as Chora where we stayed when we were on Naxos but it is also very attractive. Mostly closed to traffic by practicalities, too narrow, too many steps, too many cafe tables and chairs, it makes strolling around much more pleasant. What we found on both islands was that the paving through pedestrianised Chora and Parikia was all slabs of stone outlined in white which we thought might be coloured cement pointing to begin with. It isn’t, it’s all painted with what we were told is the same paint as that used to paint white lines on the road. It’s certainly oil-based and they’re almost fanatical about it. It seemed to me to be like the old British working class habit of ‘whitening the step’ of a house but taken to include all the pavement as well.

one of the main streets in Parikia

after a good meal out
- the trunk behind us is a grape vine

 

the traditional style windmill on the quay at Parikia

I hadn’t realised that Paros was famous for the quality of it’s marble and that the famous 2^nd century BC Venus de Milo was made from Parian marble. Apparently it has a translucency of up to 12cm, which now I’m a marble expert I know to be exceptional.

Once we’d explored the Parikia area we headed off to Europcar to rent a car for Paros only to find that the young man behind the counter was the cousin of the person we’d rented from on Naxos. A similar cheap price of about 100 Euros for four days (including old fogey insurance) and on this small island we only drove 100 kms in the four days.

up in the hills for a very early walk at 06.45

Pyramid Orchid - flower spike about 2 inches in length

your Greek Island correspondent feeling the warmth and it's not yet 09.00

 

Paros overall is less rugged than Naxos but it still has some steep ups and downs to be tackled so we try to get started early and miss what is quite warm weather by midday even in April. At the north of Paros is the Detis Peninsula which has excluded goats and sheep, planted local species and is now considered a bit of a nature reserve. Naturally, that’s where we headed. One reason we came to the Greek Islands and at this time of year was to catch the late spring and early summer flowers. We saw a pretty good selection of them and although we were a bit early for the main orchid display but did see a few varieties. The rock on the Detis Peninsula is softish as rock goes in that it feels solid to us but is very much wind sculpted. Fantastically shaped boulders have holes blasted through, edges are razor sharp and the paths are very uneven. Vegetation, while good was colourful but not wildly varied here and there are no trees but there are spectacular views to other Greek Islands on what turned out to be a glorious day’s weather. Ferries move back and forth across the Aegean, many coming here to Paros and I have to say I feel another trip coming on. It’ll be on these or similar ferries to other Greek islands.

looking towards Naxos from the Detis Peninsula

Heather and the Detis Peninsula

some of that wind-sculpted rock

On one side of the peninsula was moored what’s termed a superyacht although I find them nauseatingly pretentious. Some crew were setting up a beach picnic with tables, chairs and probably not Bigmacs and chips. First however, they collected up all the seaweed around the picnic site. I make no comment, you can think of your own.

Driving back to Parikia was only about a twenty minute trip and what is very noticeable here and on Naxos are the number of small brilliant white churches with bright blue domed roofs. The churches are often perched in isolated positions on hilltops which must reduce the congregations.

a decorated bus shelter in Lefkes on a different walk

Lefkes not long into our walk 

on our way back with views across to Parikia

It was Good Friday now and we’d decided to see one of the parades which leave several churches and walk to the beach carrying an epitaph (basically a box) containing an ikon of Jesus. I asked the man on our hotel reception about it and he was very dismissive. “I’m not interested, it’s all politics” he said. We arrived at the church at about 11.00pm and what sounded like a sermon or reading was already taking place. It wasn’t a service as most of us would understand in that a lot of amplified talking, presumably by a priest went on but nobody stayed for long. I didn’t notice any singing either.  People queued to get into the church where they paid their respects to the ikon and a few minutes later wandered off again.  Some just stood around chatting in the area outside the building but in the church area. Lots of young people came and went, either as groups or couples holding hands. Overall I’d judge the number of people who we saw to be in the low hundreds, so quite sizable. The procession eventually came out of the church at nearly midnight and we left.

the Good Friday procession leaving the church

By now our thoughts were on Rome and Tuscany. We had a ferry back to Piraeus, a train to take us to near the airport and an overnight stay in the most unusual airport hotel we’d ever seen. Very small for a hotel, it was a former large farmhouse in the middle of the countryside. We could have been in the middle of nowhere but there we were within a couple of miles of Athens airport, ready for our late morning flight to Rome.

15 – 22 April 2025