INFORMATION ABOUT GREEK ISLANDS
There are more than 6000 Greek islands if all the shapes and sizes are taken into account. The minimum size of the island can be as small as a decent-sized rock. About 166 to 227 islands are inhabited. We are visiting 3 islands from the Cyclades. Paros, Naxos and Santorini. Paros and Naxos are neighbours in the centre of Aegean sea.
BLUESTAR FERRIES AND DISAPOINTMENT WITH INTERRAIL GLOBAL PASS
We took Blue Star ferries to go to Paros from Athens. It is the biggest ferry company in Greece. And our only option as a form of our transportation. Again, our expensive Interrail Global Pass was useless in this area. They offer only a 30% discount. And the discount applies if you have taken the previous trip with them from Italy to Greece. Well, we hope in future, Interrail clear this confusion. Because, it seems to be one of those dodgy advertising where someone says, “You can have something for a very low price!!!”
Then at the very bottom, it’s written,
****Conditions Apply****** and those confusing *conditions* will be explained in another page…
FERRY RIDE FROM ATHENS TO PAROS
The ferry ride, however, was amazing. Those ferries are basically ships that serve as ferries. They are gigantic. Almost resemble the shape of a cruise ship. Inside you have a reception. Then, we sat near the outdoor deck. So that we can go out to see the view from time to time. We could see the ocean view from inside as well. The view was of course, beautiful as expected. Weather was calm. So, our ride was smooth. Our bodies were very very tired though. Short sleep and early morning walk till the ferry station were tiring. So, psychologically we tried to stay hyped up. But, physically we were gone.
About 4 hours later, we have arrived at the Port of Paros. Everyone exited via the back of the ferry. Wow-what a view. Ocean, mountain, boats, birds, white and blue everywhere we looked at. Thanks to the low season, Paros was tourist-free. We saw maybe 5 or 6 Tourists, I think.
WHAT KIND OF ISLAND IS PAROS
Paros is situated in the central Aegean sea. It’s neighbouring with Naxos. Which is only 8 kilometres away. Naxos is going to be our next stop. We were staying at its main Town, Parikia. Houses are the very whitewashed and flat roof. Colour of the windows is mostly bright blue. There were cats roaming around everywhere. What we did on our arrival day was exploring a little bit, the north quiet shore of Parikia. Far in the deep sea, we could see the fishing boat heading to the port and a flock of birds were following behind it. Then we walked towards the centre. Next to the jetty, we sat on the rocks on the shore to enjoy the beautiful and windy sunset.
OUR APARTMENT
Our apartment was not far from the port. Our host was waiting for us. He took his time to explain everything within the room. It was not a bad place honestly. A balcony with a view. We took a walk to the nearest grocery store to get out breakfast lunch and dinner during our stay. After this part, all was left to explore the beautiful Paros. Weather forecast seems to be all right for the next few days. So, we cooked lunch. Ate. And left to walk around a little bit.
EXPLORING THE ISLAND
In the morning we woke up with an objective. Flying our DJI MAVIC Mini Drone in Paros. Just to achieve some beautiful scenic view from the above. And of course, capture some images and videos. We walk behind our apartment where there was a park. We flew from there for a little bit. Then we moved to another location. The same location where we were the day before on the beach. The water was so clear. Photos and videos looked really nice. We headed back home to get some lunch. And then took a bus trip Naoussa, a village up north. The bus ride was beautiful with a scenic view.
Funny story about the bus ride. We actually misread the timetables. Weekend for weekdays. When we arrived at the stop, the bus was already gone.
The port was Naoussa was a beautiful place. There was some kind of gooses, chilling and floating under a little bridge. Lazy boats were floating. Some looked fancy. Some were fishing boats. The old town of Naoussa, on the other hand, was just WOW. We walked through the beautiful whitewashed cobblestone narrow passages. Those Traditional streets seemed to be made just to look at. If you walk on them, they may get dirty. So beautiful!
From the cathedral of the village, we enjoyed the panoramic view of Naoussa and Lefkes village. Extraordinarily formidable view. We did walk around as much as we could. Then, stop by the Portside cafe for a sugar treat. We kept looking through the photos and videos we have taken in the village. They were so beautiful. Anyway, time to head back.
AN STORMY DAY
But it is not always sunny in Paros.
We started our day with a stormy day. Wind speed was about 50km. That didn’t stop us. We walked up in the hill till the Frankish castle. But unfortunately, it was closed. We got stuck for a while in the rain. Then walked along the shore. Dark clouds, big waves hitting the rocks, green scenarios, strong winds. I guess those words explain it well. We passed by a couple of windmills. Paros is also known for them.
Me about to get hit by heavy waves 
Aftermath
GARBAGE NEAR OCEAN
Almost everything was closed because of the low season. As we were passing by the ocean, we noticed that there were a lot of plastic bottles and other garbages were just lying on the shore. Pretty disturbing to see. When will we change?
Anyway, on cliffs, we walked passed by a couple of windmills. Not far from the old town of Paros. Windmills of Paros are almost the icon of this island. When we were heading to the church of Paros, I got hit by a few waves. It was my fault though because I was too close. The main Church was beautiful. After spending a little more time here, we headed back to our apartment via the town. What a beautiful island. Luckily, there were not many tourists. So, we dearly enjoyed it.
NEXT STOP
The neighbourhood island, Naxos
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