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Return to Paros
  • Tim Lynette Wilkins
Sep – Oct 2021

Return to Paros

A 12-day adventure by Tim Lynette Read more
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  • Trip start
    September 22, 2021
    Tim Lynette WilkinsReturn to ParosTraveler
    Sunset from our roomMoon rise over the channel between Paros and NaxosPool at night from our room

    Arrival

    September 22, 2021 in Greece ⋅ 🌙 22 °C

    We left home at 5.00 am by taxi to Heathrow. All the paperwork done beforehand and submitted to BA to verify was worth it as we sailed through check-in and security. Flight was on time arriving in Athens and, again, the prior submission of paperwork meant we were through security and collected our bags within an hour. A leisurely lunch of Greek pies was followed by half an hour in a museum in the airport exhibiting finds dug up in the area around the airport. What a good idea! The next flight only took half an hour and we arrived in Paros at 6pm. The worst part was having to wear a mask for a solid 11 hours - our ears hurt. We picked up a car at the airport and arrived half an hour later at Stella's hotel just as the sun was setting. A beer by the pool followed by a delicious meal made it all worthwhile.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsReturn to ParosTraveler

    Relaxing first day

    September 23, 2021 in Greece ⋅ 🌬 20 °C

    Got up really late this morning and I went for a short walk down the village harbour. It had turned really windy during the night and although the sea wasn't rough it was distinctly choppy with white caps everywhere. The walk back was harder uphill and into the wind. I don't think there will be much fresh fish tonight ! This afternoon we just lazed around the pool in the sun and I went for a swim. It was nice till I got out and got hit by the wind. By this evening the wind had really got up and we had to eat inside the restaurant. Hope it's better tomorrow!Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsReturn to ParosTraveler
    Ancient Greek quarry
    Blocks of marbleLefkes townPiso Livadi harbourCelebration dinner

    50th wedding anniversary

    September 25, 2021 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    We have spent our anniversary doing what we do best. After a yummy breakfast we went for a drive, first to the archaeological site in the mountains that was the ancient Greek quarry for the Parian marble used for many Greek statues and buildings. In truth there wasn't much to see but it was still pleasant to wander around. Next we went to the pretty hilltop town of Lefkes and wandered around and visited a Greek orthodox church. We then went back to the coast and had lunch at a harbourside taverna in Piso Livadi before heading back to the hotel. The afternoon was spent in the sun beside and in the pool. Stella cooked us a wonderful dinner of dolmades, grilled sea bream and some strange chocolate/caramel/cream dessert with a candle in it that was far too rich to eat much of. A lovely day.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsReturn to ParosTraveler

    Beach

    September 25, 2021 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    This morning we walked along the coast road up to a small promontory with views along the coast. Last time we were here (6 or 7 years ago!) I used to run up this little hill every morning - can't do that any more! Afterwards we spent the rest of the morning at a little beach (with no other people) just along from our hotel and stayed there afterwards for lunch in a taverna looking out over the sea. Then Lazed around the hotel pool the rest of the day and celebrated Barnet's first win of the season.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsReturn to ParosTraveler
    Where we gave up trying to reach the acropolis

    Sunday

    September 26, 2021 in Greece ⋅ 🌙 23 °C

    This morning we drove around the area near here. There a lots of new large villas in isolated spots and several wide and empty beaches. Not sure what it would be like high season.
    Paros does not have much in the way of archaeological sites but we are trying to visit the few marked on the map. The Mycenaean acropolis from 13c BC sounded worth a try. Obviously from the name it's at the top of a hill but this one proved too difficult for us to climb - no clear path and big boulders so we gave up about two thirds of the way up. I guess we aren't going to do much climbing of Greek mountains any more!

    Sunday lunchtime is big for Greek families and the hotel restaurant was busy with long noisy groups. We ate a light meal on our terrace of cheese and shrimp pies and later, Tim's favourite Greek dessert of galactoboreko.
    Very quiet in the restaurant this evening and Stella, the owner, sat and chatted for a while about what it had been like during the pandemic. Her son, a Greek pop star, was on TV last night in a sort of Strictly for singers where a professional singer pairs with an amateur.    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsReturn to ParosTraveler
    Venitian fort
    Main naousa churchFishermans chapel

    Naousa

    September 27, 2021 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    This morning we drove up the coast to the nearest small town to us, Naousa. It looks quite prosperous with lots of fancy clothes shops and a couple of harbours full of boats. I guess it's on the Aegean sailing routes. We started with the biggest church in town, built in the 1800s , it sits on a hill and dominates the town and can be seen from the harbours. Then on to the remains of a fifteenth century Venetian fort at the harbour and a little fishermans' chapel on the harbour wall. The last time we were here Lynette remembers seen octopuses drying out on strings along the harbour so this time we sat and had lunch in one of the harbour restaurants and had grilled octopus.

    On the way home we found a bit of archaeology, a "Hellenic period tower" just along from our village. There isn't much left but it's still a wonderful construction of cut and shaped blocks.    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsReturn to ParosTraveler
    Gorgon 6th century BC
    Obsidian blades 4000 BCStatue of Nike 500 BC. Lovely delicate work on her dressAmphora 8th c BCVase 2000 BCPerfume jar roman glass

    Leaving Stella and moving to Parikia

    September 28, 2021 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Yesterday after lazing by the pool and a final lunch we said goodbye to Stella in Ambolos and drove across the island to the capital Parikia. Driving in Parikia is much more complicated than out in Ambolos , the streets are narrow and mostly one way so whenever you want to turn it seem the road is one way the wrong way. In the end though we got through to where we wanted to park, got the apartment keys and settled in. In the evening we felt very tired and just went to a nearby touristy restaurant by the port, but it was really good.

    Today we spent the morning in the archaeological museum, and a small cemetery dating from the 8th century BC up to Roman times. When we're here before we had just half a day before our ferry left to go to Santorini, so we had to rush around. This time we could spend good time in the museum, which is quite small but full of lovely pieces from the island and neighbouring couple of islands. Definitely worth the return visit.    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsReturn to ParosTraveler
    Tim on ferry to Antiparos
    Having a coffee waiting for the caiqueCaptain Sargos's caiqueInside the caveSpectacular stalactitesLeaving Antiparos

    A lovely adventure

    September 30, 2021 in Greece ⋅ 🌬 20 °C

    Today we decided to go on an adventure to the nearby island of Antiparos. The attraction - apart from going on a boat - was the possibility of being able to visit a new archaeological site not properly open to the public as it is still being excavated. The site is on an uninhabited island just off Antiparos. The ferry to Antiparos is a roll- on roll- off boat that you just drive on then pay. It only takes 10 minutes but the wind is strong today and so it was quite bracing. We drove 20 minutes to the tip of the island and asked for Captain Sargos. He is the chap who ferries the archaeologists and guard across to the site and amazingly we were in luck. We had to wait till the guard arrived and then were taken across in a caique. We just had 40 minutes whilst the guard showed us around before being ferried back.
    Also on Antiparos is a well known cave full of stalactites and stalagmites. It goes very deep rather than sideways into the mountain. They say it's the deepest vertical cave in Europe. We stopped off here and went most of the way down before climbing back. We earned a delicious lunch in the port before catching the ferry back to Paros.    Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsReturn to ParosTraveler
    View of the site on Despotiko from Antiparos
    Reconstructed stoa and temple facadePile of sherds from ancient pots and amphoraAncient bathroom!Storage cubiclesView across the site

    Despotiko

    October 1, 2021 in Greece ⋅ 🌬 19 °C

    The new archaeological site is on the island of Despotiko. It is only 10 minutes across from Antiparos in the caique. They have excavated over 20 buildings from the 8c BC to 6c BC. The buildings are mostly temples and supporting outbuildings and the current view is that they are a sanctuary area when the island was a centre of trade, much like Delos near Mykonos. In the recent dig season they have found a large cistern and aqueduct bringing water from mountain springs. Unfortunately they have started to reconstruct some of the buildings which, whilst giving an idea of what they would have looked like, look glaringly out of place when they use shining white marble.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsReturn to ParosTraveler
    6th century church
    FrescoesOrthordox bapistry4th century byzantine baptistry

    Admin day!

    October 1, 2021 in Greece ⋅ 🌬 20 °C

    This morning we had to do our covid tests for our return to the UK on Sunday, and wait for the results, and the afternoon was mostly taking up with Lynette getting exasperated filling and submitting the UK border passenger locator forms. In between we managed to go for a walk to the main Orthodox Church in town which is a gorgeous building dating to the 6th century, with even a Byzantine baptistry dating earlier, maybe to the 4th century. It was mostly derelict but was renovated in the 50s and 60s, and still covered in places with very fine frescoes.Read more

  • Tim Lynette WilkinsReturn to ParosTraveler
    Our suntrap terrace
    Dinner at Dionysus restaurant

    Back home

    October 3, 2021 in England ⋅ 🌙 11 °C

    Yesterday was a very lazy day - we didn't set foot from our apartment until it was time for dinner. The weather was mostly sunny with frequent puffs of cloud passing over the sun so whilst our small terrace is a very sheltered suntrap, just when it was getting too hot, a little cloud hid the sun to cool us down.
    We did our best to use up the yummy food we had bought for self catering- yogurt, figs and honey for breakfast, omelettes and salad for lunch and sticky baklava for tea. Dinner was at a lovely stylish restaurant with a garden sheltered from the wind. The food was excellent too!
    Today was long and tedious with 9.30 flight to Athens and a long queue to check for the Ryanair flight to Stansted. A delight was bumping into Natalie, Andy, Finlay and Emily at Stansted - their flight from Lesbos landed just after ours.
    Lovely holiday but glad to be home again.    Read more

    Trip end
    October 3, 2021
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