Naoussa, little Santa Maria

Saturday 11 June - Exploring  day!

[Remember speed blogging on a phone screen so typos forgiven :) Click on the pics to enlarge]

Quick history -  Paros was once famous for its high-quality semi-transparent marble, now it's main source of income is tourism. It has approx 12,000 locals who live across the island's two main centres and dotted through the rural interior. There's more postcard perfect white washed  houses and little traditional Greek churches than you can shake a stick at.

Last time we were here, we hired scooters and explored the island. The roads were not at all busy and there were just a handful of scooter and car hire options. This time I stopped counting at 12 rental companies in Parakia alone. So we decided too many risky drivers were on the loose and sat back and enjoyed the fabulous  island bus routes.  I think these are our old scooters :)

Our first hop was to Naoussa - gorgeous fishing port with a busy working port and marina.

 Every type of boat you can imagine - traditional kaiki, charter yachts stacked up, fishing craft and the Uber super yachts moored off shore.

Lots of little lanes to get lost in and every corner a photo op!

On the way to Naoussa we went through the rural interior. There was quite a bit of green pasture land, lots of grapes, wheat and barley, olive groves and new solar farms.The cultivated land produces olives and grapes for export plus  fruits and veg for local market. We even saw the cutest herd of goats but they were too quick to capture a snap of.

Water must be a big challenge on the island.  The main sources of water are 30 wells and a desalination plant. Paros is one of the few islands in the Cyclades to still have natural drinking water.

We didn't discover the public water sources until after we'd bought numerous bottles of water, eek. Approx.4.5 million plastic bottles are used on Paros alone every year and they have started a recycling system for plastic thank goodness. The water bottle recycling points near the port area get emptied each day and they are chocka! 

After Naoussa we had another bus hop to Little Santa Maria on the top right hand side of the island.  We passed so many beaches on the way, the locals are spoiled for choice.

It was stinking hot when we got off the bus. Only one other couple, two America ladies,  got off with us at the last stop - everyone else hopped off  at Santa Maria big beach but it looked crowded and with a strip of beach bars/clubs, hence opting for the last stop and just seeing what we discovered.  The American ladies didn't want to go to the beach and they disappeared in the other direction as we headed down a dusty path with an old sign saying beach 250mtrs. 

Just as we hit the next sign that had an arrow to the beach we spotted a further hand written  sign saying family run traditional taverna. 

We decided to check the taverna out, it was almost 1pm. What a find! A sanctuary of cool, shade, gardens and the breeze blowing through the open walls. The taverna is a family business, they serve produce from their farm and we saw three generations all playing their part in the running of the taverna. The food was delicious - salted anchovies, stuffed vegetables, fish risotto, salad and mousakka. 

Happy and cooled down, we waddled off to find the beach. Many beaches here are run by a concession system and an operator buys a license to a patch of beach where you then pay to use the sun lounger and beach umbrella and there is a runner that will serve you drinks. 

 We checked the beach club out and then headed over a rise and found a perfect swimming spot. It was gorgeous!

Then the two hop buses back to Parakia (approx 1 hour  travel time & €1.80 p/p)  - small waiting time between buses, where even the geese were wise to sun protection, and  then a quiet evening planning where to next.

It isn't all beach life, there are any number of chic boutiques, designer stores and galleries for those that like to take home holiday souvenirs. Fancy a stylish bike ?  

Last photo is of our favourite little fish dish,  fish chips,  that you get here - as Annabelle Langbein would say - Yum!