For my last day on Paros I had initially planned to take a ferry to check out Naxos. But after three long days I thought better of it and instead decided to have a lazy day before my travel to Athens the next day. That resolve lasted until about 9am, when I checked the ferry timetable, quickly got ready, visited a local travel agent to buy a ferry ticket and soon found myself on the way to Naxos. Yes, I get bored easily.
I had originally chosen Naxos over Paros as my third island but had eventually settled on Paros. I was still very interested to visit it and grabbed the opportunity. And besides, what’s another ferry trip when I have already had so many! Being on a Blue Star ferry, it was an inexpensive journey.
I will digress for a moment. Greece has several types of ferries but essentially they are considered either fast or slow/regular. The pricing is set accordingly and fixed. So, unlike train travel in most of Europe where you painstakingly do your research to find the cheapest place and time to buy tickets, with ferries they never change. The ferries I took between Crete and Santorini and then to Paros were all fast ferries. The one I took to Naxos was a regular ferry and the one I would be taking the next day to Athens was also a regular ferry. The regular ferries, aside from being cheaper, are also considered better for seasickness. The large fast ferries I had travelled on are usually not too bad but there are some notorious small fast ferries that people recommend to avoid if you are prone to seasickness. Moving on.
The first glimpses of Naxos were quite stunning.
Similar to Parikia, it was a short walk from the ferry port to Naxos Town. To my left I could see an imposing ancient site and to the left an elevated old town. I checked out the town first. My nose led me to a rustic bakery, and despite having no need for a loaf of bread I bought one anyway because it smelled so wonderful.
My wander through the old town eventually led me back to the waterfront. Lots of leisure boats to be seen.
Somewhat unexpectedly, the day was quite a bit cooler than I had experienced to this point and it even rained a little. I had become quite complacent about the June Greek Island weather. From the waterfront I dodged the waves and braved the drizzly rain to visit the ancient site I had seen earlier. It is called the Portara, part of an unfinished temple apparently at one time being built to honor Apollo.
The rain became a bit persistent so I retreated to a taverna for a lunch of saganaki. After a bit of shopping it was time to head back to the ferry port and return to Paros for my last night.
My final night in Paros was quietly spent walking up to the windmill I had photographed a few nights earlier to sit and watch the sunset, then dinner. After nineteen days in Greece I was pretty tired and needed to rest up for my final destination that I knew would be busy.
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