We then set off for a day tour of Paros, an optional extra for our Greece package. The bus drove us threw to the hills and we were shown on the way things like the quarry where much of the Paros marble comes from. Apparently, it was from that very quarry that the venus and David were carved from. That´s pretty cool, I guess.
We arrived at a little Paros town called Lefkes. Lefkes is similar to where we were staying but without any of the tourist places or shops or restaurants, and with a small town atmosphere where you can sense they all still follow tradition and that it comprises a large part of their lives. The streets were similar to before, a labyrinth of narrow streets with white houses, decorated in places by bright colourful bushes with flowers.
We stopped at the Church of the Three which is apparently built over three old chapels. It is the main church of the town, and is quite nice. We couldn't go inside but we walked around and saw the cemetery behind it.
Next door (well, near the entrance) was a small shop where some people bought water and soft drinks. The owner, probably knowing Niki well now, gave us free nectarines that they had grown on their tree. Now, that is awesome. It´s those sort of reasons that you have to take these optional things instead of laying on the beach all day instead. Is that not what you want out of a trip? ¨I went to Lefkes and the store owner gave us some home grown fruit.¨
Our walk took us through to the main square in town, with a monument dedicated to those who fell during the German occupation or some such. From there we went to a small cafe/taverna where we had free ice cream (well, paid for by our tour). It was lovely, with a fantastic view of the town in the valley below, and seeing the church and the path we had walked from there.
From there we jumped back on the coach and drove to a small port town called Naoussa. We walked along the water, seeing lots of pretty little boats docked along the waterside. We made it eventually to the remains of an old small castle located along a stone walkway into the middle of the port. I think it must have been a watch tower of something.
We bussed to Amenas beach and had lunch at a taverna there. Em and I both had mousaka, and they were great. The greek salad starter was also great, with nice fetta, plus bread and tatziki.
After lunch we went down to the beach. We had umbrellas and deck chairs paid for by the tour, so we avoided paying 7 euros (sheesh, expensive). We lay in the sun for a bit, and swam. There were great rock formations around, brilliant for photos.
The water was absolutely blue and was a great temperature. Again, a slight bit cold on first wade in but then cool and refreshing after a while. We stayed till about 5pm and then bussed back to the hotel.
On arrival back at our hotel room we discovered to our horror that somehow we had burned! (although we had put on lots of cream). I had a couple small red splotches on my chest, and a pink back all over. Em was quite red on her back and front. She rushed off to the pharmacy to grab some creams and returned with a tube of aloe vera after-burn stuff and a tub of yoghurt. Yoghurt? She was told by one of the Top Deck guides that it was a miracle cure for sunburn so we thought we´d try it.
Absolutely fricking disgusting. The smell, oh the smell!
We stayed with it on for about half an hour then each showered to wash it all off, fearing smelling like sour dairy product for the rest of the day.
We met up near the lobby at 8:30 with Niki, Stella (the second guide, in training) and a few group members. We headed off for a quick cheap dinner. We found said food along at a sort of cheap take away-ish souvlaki place near the main square of the town. This was exactly the sort of place we were looking for in Athens. We had some chicken souvlaki rolled in pitas. Very tasy, very filling.
From there we went straight out, heading to a bar called Salon D´or, although by the sound of it I thought it was called Saloon Door. That really made a bit more sense to me considering the saloon type doors at the toilets there. We stayed outside, sitting on couches, for a couple hours while a couple people watched a Euro Cup game projected on a big screen in another area of the bar. We were chatting with Niki, talking about music, and exchanging bands for each other to listen to.
A bit later some tour group people arrived and we went inside to dance. The music was rnb, hip hop, etc. Not really my favourite but all right just to dance to, and fine if there´s a group of people to do it with. It was fun but I called it a night at about half 1.
We forgot we had left the keys to our room at the desk earlier when we set off. Unfortunately, they close the front door after about 12, so I couldn´t get in. I waited around for 20 minutes till some people came back from the bar too. They let me in and I grabbed our keys from the front desk.
All in all a good night out.
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