Naxos

Monday 10 June 2013

Caught the ferry to Naxos and then the local bus out to the beach at Agios Prokopious. Nice to stay out of the main town for a change and this was a wee beach settlement....just about 10 shops, a few restaurants and taverna and.....the beach. Gorgeous blue, blue water, golden sand and the water was crystal clear. Next bay round Agia Anna....just as lovely but smaller. Spoiled for choice! Bumped into a young kiwi couple on holiday from London and they told about the best restaurant...great food and great sunset at budget prices....kiwi's can suss out a 'good-un'.

The weather report

Every day we wake up and look across the balcony to the sea and every day its sunny with a gentle breeze. It gets hotter throughout the day and then the evening sunsets are just beautiful. While its raining and cold up in northern Europe here the weather is constantly fabulous, average temp is about 27° every day...can't complain. The sea water temperature is about 18_20°.....great for swimming as a quick cool off mechanism.

On the menu in Paros

The fish here is caught fresh daily and we have been dining on grilled sardines, BBQ octopus, Greek salads and the most delicious Greek yoghurt with honey and fresh fruits....delicious!

Our favourite sea front restaurant is Coralli.....its no more than an arms reach from the beach, you can watch the sun go down and the boats come and go, the food is delicious and super good value....huge seafood salad with salmon, prawns, octopus, shrimp etc for €8.00.....Kiwi's know good value and a great location....two nights running another kiwi couple from Te Awamutu  were sitting next to us....the world is a village.

We have arrived....Paros

4 June 2013

We have arrived.....lovely Paros. Its as we remembered and its like coming home. Pension Sofia is beautiful....Manilos met us off the boat and drove us all of two minutes to our favourite  place  in Europe .

We have a beautiful back patio for the morning sun and a front balcony for the sunsets and we can watch the boats come and go. It hot, hot, hot and we have been swimming already. How lucky are we.

 Paros is less hyper than other Greek islands....its still a working fishing port and you see the fishermen working on their nets, nets drying on the marine parade and there are not hoards of tourists - it wouldn't suite everyone....its not groovy-doovie but it has this lovely slow, laid back feel. The people are lovely, the food is fresh and great tasting......tomatoes like they used to taste.

 Tonight pic nic dinner on our deck watching the sun set ....local white wine,  tomatoes, anchovies, peppers and the most divine olives and local cheese. No rain forecast in the foreseeable future.....bliss!

Naxos.....

Monday  3 June 2013

after a lovely lunch on to Paros via Naxos....what a cute harbour Naxos has...stunning ferry trip.

Lazy lunch in Santorini.....what a place

Monday 3 June 2013

Caught the 9.30 Hellenic Flying cat from Heralkion to Santorini.
Got through the usual colorful  wharf/port action - touts for rooms, taxis and rental cars, jumped onto the local bus that winds its way up to the town Fira which is way up top.

What an incredible place.......perched high up on the  cliff tops,alongside the volcano crater.....white, white, white houses...blue roofs, blue swimming pools, luxury shops, restaurants, they were even shooting a Bollywood film up there....imagine the dancing scenes...'tally-ho!' You can take a steep walk down (588 steps) to a wee beach .....or you could take a donkey or cable car. We opted for a lazy lunch as we had the next ferry at 3.30.

Incredible spot...breath taking views.

Look what was in the food market today