Our Little Mykonos
Little Mykonos (Paros)
Since we had an earlier evening, again to the surprise of the Captain, we thought we would have an early morning. Alas, one of the other 4-5 times per summer of rain hit our boat again. Thankfully, Captain warned us an disappeared for a coffee and we followed him for a yummy breakfast. We had a mild panic once the rain occurred as we weren’t sure who was on the boat to close the hatches! For our luck, I cannot believe we would get 2 rainy days in our 2-3 days in Mykonos…
Ancient Delos
One of the tourist activities is a day trip to Delos, an island off Mykonos, to visit the ancient ruins. In its heyday, Delos was the central education and government for the Cyclades. After the Spartan last stand (i.e. the movie 300!), the Persians invaded Delos and burnt it to the ground. Fortunately, the ancient ruins are well preserved and we can visit today!
For us, Delos was primarily a swimming place. As we sailed away from Mykonos, the weather turned from miserable (ala rain) to pure sunshine. Captain was “surprising” us with a great swimming place and boy it was amazing. With the ancient ruins as a backdrop, we swam for a long time.
The water is extremely clear and blue and you can easily see the floor. At this time, we had gotten use to the freezing cold waters. Later in the summer, the water apparently warms, but I imagine the heat is nearly unbearable! We loved swimming here as we were one of the only boats in the little area. There were other yachts, but they stayed on their “little boats” probably watching TV and wishing they were as cool as us!
The Sail
Similar to our other swims, Captain received a call that the marina was getting full so he called us in and we sailed away to Paros. In Sarah’s handy Lonely Planet book, Paros is called Little Mykonos as it is just as full of life, but significantly cheaper and less touristy! Thus, we already were very excited at the visit!
Our sail today was only three hours. For now, Captain said our sail times would be very quick so we would have more time for swimming compared to our other days. I cannot wait! Again, sailing is very “boring” in terms of writing about it. We read, napped, talked, and stared at the blue Aegean sea. One of the most exciting things happened today where we were visited by dolphins!! It was very majestic!
Since we swam until well past our lunch time, I played housewife AND captain for the boat. I made some great peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Safe to say everyone ate them very quickly, but we still left everyone hungry. I wonder if Captain thinks we just don’t drink or eat…
Paros Beach
To continue our lazy day, once we arrived in Paros we headed straight to the sandy beach. Captain obviously pointed out some great cafes and other rocky beaches, but we preferred sandy beaches! In our opinion, the beach was very disappointing. The water and sea floor was very rocky and had sea urchins and trash. We weren’t pleased. Thus, it became more of a sunbathing experience.
First, Nick immediately went to the nearest cafe. Within 15 minutes, Kathryn, Sarah, and I retreated to the cafe. Abbey joined us shortly afterwards leaving Mary Frances as the stronghold on the beach. I swear that girl can lay in the sun reading until the last light. The rest of us were overwhelmed with the heat!! We had to drag Mary Frances off the beach partially so she wouldn’t burn (again) and she took the longest to get ready for dinner!
Free Entertainment
Perhaps our favorite truly free entertainment occurred in the Paros harbor. Attempting to dock their tiny little sailboat, an elderly French couple was clearly struggling from the very beginning. As novice sailors, we noticed it from the very beginning as they just were constantly struggling to back in a straight line. To make matters worse, they clearly couldn’t speak or understand much English.
To give more of a backdrop, this old French couple was trying to back into an already tiny spot between one semi-luxury yacht and a very nice sailboat. Already, they should have been cauitous. On attempts 1-8, they either misjudged the current and were sailing away from the berth or either struck the anchors. Attempts 8-11 they definitely hit the anchors of those boats and lightly nudged the yacht. At this moment, the more experienced captains were involved!
For attempts 12-14, they were getting “better” at backing into the berth, but the anchor was dropped too early leaving a 10-15 foot gap between them and land. At this point, one of the people on the sailboat jumped onboard to help the old man, but the boat kept having to go back into the sea so he ended up temporarily stuck on the boat!!
To be fair, the couple desperately needed help. The man was clearly past his prime and his wife (no joke) sat in the back watching her husband rather than helping. Past attempt 10, she simply went inside.
By the 15th try, with the help of 4-5 people, he finally docked. It was truly a team effort, but man it was delightfully entertaining for an hour. For us, we grabbed our wine, sat on the deck, and laughed the entire time. It made for a great start to our evening!
Is this the Paros life?
We probably had one of the better sunsets in Paros. The entire sea and sky turned into a beautiful orange and red. For us, we obviously had to take selfies and group photos!
In typical European fashion, all the good restaurants were closed on this glorious Sunday. Captain was going to take us to his favorite restaurant, but it was closed! Thus, we settled for his second favorite place - a hole in the wall gyro shop!!!
Finally, we had one of the best meals of our trip. It was simply amazing. The food was fresh, delightful, filling, and very, very cheap! For seven people, we had over 10 gyros, 2 liters of wine, and loads of fries for 60 euros. It was amazing!
To make the meal even better, Nick and I sought out this bakery, Ragkousis Bakery, which is one of the best ones on Paros. Safe to say our mouths were watering the instant we walked into the store! We ordered loads of baklava, other cakes, and more baklava! Everything was very yummy and the Captain was very pleased with our choices.
Personal Tour
After our terrific gyros, Captain took us on a tour of Paros. He pointed out the hip new bars, built in the 1700s, and cool shops. If only we had more time here! The streets are so cool and very similar to Mykonos. All the alleys are white marble with little shops and cafes around the corner. It was delightful!
To cap our evening, Captain took us to a friend’s seaside cafe to watch the World Cup. Perhaps the most amusing part was seeing the Captain in his element with his old friends! They were very attentive to our drink and food orders and even brought out ouzo! Abbey and I were the only brave ones in the group to try it. Safe to say, it burned going down, but now I can say I try it!
I wish we had more time in Paros! It is a Little Mykonos and I do believe we would enjoy our time here more as we would have more money, better activities, and less crowds!