The good ship Paros

 So on my way out for dinner last night, I saw some men taking down the masks off the utility poles. It was good I had been there in time to see them. I went to the Temple of Apollo after dinner and took a few night shots.

The Apollo taverna was open, but I decided to go to my room and get ready for a fairly early start the following day. As I walked to the port this morning the ferry was there, and as for all my journeys so far, it was the ferry named Paros which was quite apt for today. The crew, I now recognise, having seen them several times. It will be interesting if when I come back in June, if I see that ship and crew again. The ferry left on time, for me it was a short journey but because of the positioning of the two ports, on the islands Naxos and Paros, the journey takes longer than you would think. But at least it was warm enough to be outside. As we neared Paros there were several little islands, you probably could not even stand on them, they were so small. After getting off the ferry, I saw the tourism information building, which is inside a windmill.

After checking into my room, which is one long room with a bed in a little balcony which you reach by some open stairs. It’s very quirky, but that helps you feel more comfortable in what is a very small bed sit. I then decided to walk around the coast as I did at Naxos. There is a church at the point I decided to go to. I had a coffee before I set off and carried a drink with me, as it was quite warm. There was this pretty church by the harbour wall.

This town is much smaller than the one on Naxos and a lot of the buildings relate to tourism, room, rentals and so on. A lot were still closed, I might struggle to find somewhere to eat tonight. Meanwhile a fishing boat was selling fish and a couple of fishermen mending nets.

Amazingly I saw two containers, which were for water bottle recycling. For reasons I don’t understand, we are told not to drink the water out of the tap. I wonder if it’s a scam by the bottled water people? I followed the coastline, sometimes on the beach sometimes on the cliff. About halfway round I saw a boat wreck, it looks like a wooden boat, all that is left are the ribs of the boat.

I then reached my goal the church, which was partly masked by trees on one side protecting it from the elements. It was locked unfortunately. I think it is called Agios Fokas.

I went just a few steps past the church and think this was the best coastline shot of the walk

On the way back I took a closer look at the flowers, there were some pretty pink ones I had not seen on other islands, and the cactus plants, I have seen before, but they were flowering here, maybe it’s milder? I also saw a guy tending his beehives, they tend to paint them bright colours over here, at home they are left their wood colour. After getting back into the town, I went to the supermarket for some supplies and then to the main church which has an exterior wall around it with two sets of bells on the front face. The church itself is pretty, to it’s right is what looks like an old Byzantine one.

 Tomorrow I will hire a car and have a look around the island.