Day 9- Oia to Paris
Today was another warm day without a cloud in the sky but the wind was a lot calmer than yesterday thankfully as today we are to travel by ferry to Paros.
In some ways it was sad to leave our apartment perched on the slope above Ammoudi bay. Oia ( which is pronounced as as “ eee…ya”) was lovely and the food and accommodation could not have been better…. Our accommodation was sourced by my son Chris and his wife, Neat, and was a great introduction to the Greek islands.
After packing up we were met by a porter who “lugged” our bags up the hill to a waiting van to take us to the ferry terminal at Thira. How these guys lug 2 heavy suitcases at a time up the hill is beyond me and they are not big burly men!
The van to Thira was interesting….firstly we had to pay him € 50 cash !!!! No credit card…. Seems the Greek way of doing things is the same the world over. The van had another pickup of a lady and her daughter who were also going to the ferry terminal… their cost was € 55!!! Go figure that out for a shorter ride.
The van trip was about an hour much though the same roads as we travelled on the wine tour..where the van cost was €45 …. For a longer trip!
Well that’s Greece for you.
Arriving at the port after the long steep descent… it was very busy with buses everywhere taking passengers from 2 cruise ships to the local tourist spots!!
We managed to find a cafe near the ferry terminal and the proprietor was very helpful in giving us information regarding the boarding process. As it was past lunch we had a drink ( spritz for me and cocktail for Robyn) together with a club sandwich…
The boarding in the ferry was quite straightforward as we went up the car boarding planks to drop our bags off ahead of going to our seats on the boat. We had booked VIP class for the trip which was excellent as we had a great view of the journey and a glass of wine!
We arrived at Paros after a stop off at Ios to pick up passengers, at about 4.30 pm and were met by Nick our driver who was to take us to our accommodation on the opposite side of the island. The port of Paros is Parikia which was quite pretty. The half hour drive to our accommodation the town of. Dryos was over dry farmland with olive plantations and vineyards… the vines here seems to be on trellis rather than on the ground!
We arrived at our accommodation at the Blue Sea Paros which is a B and B style appartment with a lovely view over the water.
After settling in the the apartment we made our way to the beach for a swim and rest …. The beach is on pebbles…. Yuck but we are told there is a sandy beach nearby.
As the sun was setting we retreated to one of the cafes by the beach for a drink and light dinner…
We were in bed by 9.00 am after another day of adventure.
The picture below is of Robyn … having drinks at the cafe at the end of the day!
