Sunday was a travel day. We were up bright and early at 5am to catch our bus to the port for our ferry to the island of Paros. I barely remember the 4-hour ferry ride there, mostly because I slept the entire way, with my head, face-down, on a table at the ship's cafe/restaurant. I was not embarrassed, however, because I was joined by most of my classmates and Boden took an epic picture of us sleeping that I am sure will be posted soon. We eventually arrived on Paros, went to our hotel, dropped off our bags, and headed to a historical church for class. It was actually pretty cool and has a myth attached to it, proclaiming that it has 100 doors (but it doesn't; someone ought to let TripAdvisor know that it doesn't have 100 doors). After class, Cuzi and I took another long nap, eventually got dinner, and watched "Water for Elephants" with Jake and Zoe before passing out.
The island of Paros
Monday was the first day of our "holiday". Most of the group ferried off to Santorini while Eileen, Jake, Zoe, and I went to check-in at our new hotel on Paros. It was called Casa di Roma and was gorgeous. The staff was so friendly and the place was quiet and colorful. We decided to rent ATVs today to check out the island. We rode along the coast and stopped a few times for coffee and pictures. One of the larger cities we visited was called Naoussa and we saw a Venetian fortress in the harbor and fresh octopus drying out in front of a few restaurants. That night, we all washed up, got dressed, and headed to a restaurant called "Happy Green Cows" and had some amazing seafood pasta in a very vibrant-colored room. The owners were very nice and gave us a few on-the-house shots of grappa (aka Italian rocketfuel instead of Greek). We headed back to the hotel to relax and watch a few episodes of "Friends" that Zoe had purchased for $0.50.
Fresh-catch of octopus in Naoussa
Tuesday we took the bus to the port of Pounda on Paros so we could venture around the island of Antiparos (a 10 minute ferry ride from the port of Pounda-you can literally see the port across the water). Once we arrived, we took a bus to the prominent Cave of Antiparos. This cave was much better than the Dictean Cave on Crete and went down into the earth pretty deep. We also counted 350 steps to get to the very bottom. After we wandered about in the cave, we took the bus back down the the port, passed Tom Hank's summer home on the island (yea, we really did), and found a small gyro place for lunch. After lunch, Eileen and I went searching for another Venetian Castle but came to realize the only remaining piece of this castle is an archway. Not too thrilling. We then made our way to the other side of the island to the Sifneiko Beach, sat and watched the waves come in, and then took a return ferry to Pounda port. As Zoe and Jake rode their ATVs back to our hotel, Eileen and I took the public bus that, of course, was going the long way around the island, back to our hotel. Later that evening, we showered, packed, and went to dinner at "the oldest Greek restaurant on Paros". Cannot say it was teh best meal I have ever had, but the staff was very friendly. Anyway, our night ended pretty calmly as we returned to the hotel and watched yet more episodes of "Friends".
Eileen, Zoe, and I in the Cave of Antiparos
The only thing left of the Venetian Castle on Antiparos-exhilirating, no?
Wednesday we left the island of Paros and headed to the neighboring island of Naxos. Naxos is much larger and definitely has a different atmosphere compared to Paros. We met our host of our hotel Anatoli, Maria and Stavros, at the port. They drove us to the hotel and it was even better than the one on Paros! Even though it was not in the city-only a few minute walk from the shore), their yellow labrador Miguel made up for it. He was such a cutie! He reminded me so much of Madagascar that it was practically impossible to not be homesick. We decided to relax by the pool for the rest of the day, enjoying the nice weather, before we went out to dinner. I unfortunately came down with some ridiculous cough and was forced to take Nyquil before dinner. Although it was rough to keep the eyes open, dinner was a pleasant Mexican spread, and my night got better knowing I could return to my bed sooner than later.
Eileen and I (drugged up on Nyquil) at dinner at Picasso's Mexican Cafe
Thursday we woke up, ate breakfast, and learned that it was supposed to rain all day. We were slightly disappointed since it would be our only full day on Naxos, and that we couldn't catch a earlier ferry and would be stuck camping out in our hotel room. However, we decided to fight the weather and venture out in the wind and overcast to see the port city of Naxos, Chora Naxos. We were able to see the ancient Venetian Castle in the town center as well as the remains of the ancient Temple of Apollo at the port. Naxos seems to be more of a place to live rather than a tourist island, however, I would say it is my favorite island so far of my trip. Don't get me wrong, Mykonos was amazing. But Naxos has a special charm to it that I have yet to encounter on my trip here in Greece. We stopped for lunch on the waterfront, had some mid-day cocktails, and then returned for a nap at the hotel as the weather began to take a turn for the worst. As you can see by the dates of my blog entries, I clearly spent my siesta time catching up on my blog (I am sorry I am so bad at daily blogs) and Skyping my Dad! In less than a week I am fortunate enough to lead my parents, Meghan, and Maggie around Greece and show them what I have been doing for this semester. It feels like yesterday when we made the plans for them to come, and it was 3 months away. Here it is, 2 days until they land on Greek soil and 7 days until we are reunited! I am super excited about it and I know they are too. The rest of my evening was spent on the ferry (which was 30 minutes late from arriving at Naxos), heading for the good ol' port of Piraeus.
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