Paros, Antiparos, Naxos

All three islands are favourites, like triplets, we love them all equally.  A return visit was something that we were looking forward to when we planned this trip; ten days on Paros - four in lovely, lively Naoussa, a week in quiet, serene Drios, then five days on tiny, but stunning Antiparos.  Back to Paros on the little blue wooden ferry for the ferry boat to Naxos, and five nights at Naxos's best beach, Agia Anna.

Over these summer months we seem to have settled into a bit of a routine; a few days of moto scooter exploring, then boat hopping around bays, then trundling around on local buses, interspersed with hikes or meanders to Byzantine churches in olive groves, or other places of interest. We liberally pepper this with days spent on beaches - hours swimming, snorkelling or just floating in a palette of the Aegean's most beautiful blues and greens.  

This is exactly what we did over the weeks in Paros, Antiparos and Naxos as each of our triplet islands welcomed us back and revealed to us some new treasures.  Naoussa is Paros's little gem in the north, except after 10pm when it's so crowded that you really can't believe that it's the same quaint and quiet place you enjoyed a peaceful breakfast at 13 hours earlier.  At 9.00am you'll have Naoussa to yourself.   At night, be prepared to share it!

There are always new coves, different villages, more astounding architecture, landscapes, archaeological remains, ancient frescoes to marvel at, or ancient pathways to walk, but in Paros we returned to the beautiful mountain village of Lefkes that we visited in 2015.  It's a pedestrian village that sits, like an amphitheatre, facing the majestic church of Agia Triada.  It's a lovely wander down through the marble paved streets past the whitewashed homes to the square outside the church.  Just as we did two years ago, we spent a few hours sitting under the shady grape vine at Kafeneio Marigos.  We watched village life, sipped coffee and sampled 'mother-made' delicacies.   The whole while, across from us sitting outside their house, was a couple patiently and precisely preserving their dried figs.  Yaya would score a cross in the rump of each fig, Pappous would tear each fig down to its stem, creating a four-petal fig flower, dip each one in a tray of sesame seeds and sandwich with another fig 'flower'.  Press together.  Repeat.  Voila, dried sesame figs for the whole of next winter.

Paros is pure colour

Until about 10am you can pretty much have pretty
Naoussa to yourself.  After about 10pm forget it!
It's crammed with the night time crowd. They
spend the day at every corner of Paros and converge
on Naoussa at night.

This is Drios beach and its strange ancient hand carved
rocks, a remnant of its maritime past

One of the two excellent tavernas at Drios beach

Lefkes mountain village

Lefkes locals will teach you what to do with
an abundance of summer figs.

Fig and sesame 'flowers'

Sitting in the shade of Kafenio Marigos in front of
Agia Triada and its twin marble bell towers.

After four days in Naoussa we headed south for a week in quiet little Drios and rented an apartment from Flora. Flora's the one who would throw her hands up each morning when she saw us, as she shouted 'kalimera, kalimera' and planted kisses on both our cheeks.  Right after that she would deliver grapes, her homemade jam, or some of her tomatoes and cucumbers.   I don't know how that week went by so fast, it was idyllic but soon we were hugging Flora, promising to return, and loading on to the 5 euro ferry bound for Antiparos.

Antiparos comes into view as we arrive on the
little blue wooden ferry.  Just a 20min trip from Paros.

Antiparos port

The main street of Antiparos is lined with lovely cafes, restaurants, tavernas,
boutiques, and a few little supermarkets.  A couple of hours walking up and
down is a delightful passeggiata. 

Antiparos town main street

More of Antiparos town main street

This mural is in Kalokeri, our favourite restaurant in Antiparos.

We spent a couple of days lazing at this gorgeous sheltered cove,
Apantima Beach and The Beach House.

There are gorgeous tavernas around every corner.  This is Klimataria.

Sailing day around Antiparos and its neighbouring
island tiny Despotiko.

Blue and white, caves and cliffs.
Extraordinarily beautiful swimming locations.

Another pic... just because I loved this restaurant so much.

Moto riding to the southern tip of Antiparos to lunch
at Captain Pipinos taverna and a swim at Vathis Volos
and Kako Rema beaches.  Outstanding!

Dusk in Antiparos town

Beautiful Agia Anna beach, Naxos

Naxos sunset and moonrise.

Three days moto riding around the mountain villages
of Naxos. and the Tragea valley. 

Our friend in Naxos, Dimitria, said 'go to the mountains
and eat rooster'.  We found this, and yes, the rooster
was great!  So too was the village of Melanes.

Poppy pots in Melanes

Country walks and lanes to gardens and
churches

Visiting Greek mountain villages often feels
like stepping back in time.

Maybe our favourite village, Halki.  This is the old town square
and lunch time eating under shade of the ripe grape vine.

Citron liqueur is the local speciality. This is the
Vallindras Distillery.  The liqueur is made from
the leaves of the citron tree.

Not sure of the purpose of this architectural feature, but
I think they are beautiful.

Town square, Halki and Yiannis Taverna

The vine covers the whole town square and is
completely laden with these beauties.

The varieties of citron liqueur available for tasting in
the distillery.  There's also a lovely museum showing
original distillery machines and artifacts from the last century. 

Frescos cover the walls of the 6th Century BC church.

The Byzantine church of Agios Georgios Diassoritis

Curly heart ironwork - I can spot it a mile away!

Naxos by night is so pretty

Wanderings in the warm night air.

A special mention - Greek Pharmacies.
Full of wonderfulness.

Naxos Chora, this picture is taken from the splendid Portara.
The narrow strip of land connects old-town Naxos and the Portara.

The Portara,  530BC, is the marble gateway of the never-finished
Temple of Apollo.  It was built to face towards the sacred
island of Delos.

We've detected a change these past few days, a tiny autumnal pebble appears to have wriggled it's way into our Greek sandals, it's slightly uncomfortable.  We've noticed that the temperature is dipping below 30, there are white fluffy clouds in the bright blue sky (we haven't seen many clouds for - well, a long time), and people are wearing cardigans in the evening. Heavens, we didn't even pack a cardigan!   What this slightly uncomfortable pebble in our shoe is really telling us is that our Greek summer must soon be coming to an end.

'Let's not think about it', I suggest, as we board the ferry to Mykonos and then to Syros, our final two destinations of this glorious, perfect summer.

FUN FACT:  Venus de Milo (discovered in Milos, now living in the Louvre) is made of marble from Paros.