Pricey Paros
Anyone who has used island ferries knows the drill: you place your bags in the rack labelled with the name of your destination, settle on deck or wherever, then return to pick up your bags just before disembarkation. So picture our reaction when we return to the car/luggage deck and find what looks like several hundred bags piled where our backpacks were and, when we pull and throw loads of them to one side, ours are no longer there.
Just as panic sets in, Michaela spots hers, on a rack marked for a different port, several racks away from the correct one. Mine is even further away, and the two backpacks are well apart, each a long way from where we left them. Passengers are already off the boat by the time we’re loaded up and are hurrying off the ramp, breathing heavily and sighing with relief.
Moments later we are on the bus from the port town across the island to our next base at Naoussa, looking out at a very different scene from our last few stops. Paros is a larger island, a popular holiday destination and very much more geared towards the tourist market; after successive stops on quiet, tiny islands, the port town of Parikia looks like a city to us. What a difference.
Naoussa has a reputation, both generally and with Michaela who has been here before, as one of the prettiest harbours of all of the Greek islands. Even at first sight it is obvious that the reputation is well deserved – a tourist trap it may be, but the tight little harbour, filled with fishing boats and surrounded by fishermen’s storage huts converted into tavernas, is ridiculously quaint.
Those former huts are in that quintessentially Cycladic sugar cube design, clustered tightly around the lapping waters of the harbour. It screams at you to sit down and order fresh fish and retsina. Or maybe, as in our case, a cold beer to recover from “backpack shock”.
As darkness falls and the subdued lighting of the tavernas kicks in, the little harbour becomes romantic as well as quaint. Judging by the huge number of taverna and bar tables, Naoussa must be a very busy place in high season. It soon also becomes clear that tables around the harbour come with hiked prices: our first meal is the first of the entire trip to top 80 euros. Compare that with an entire night out for less than 30 back in Thessaloniki a few weeks ago.
In fact it’s as if a 2-hour ferry trip has delivered us to a different world. 15 euros for a starter…up to 39 for a main course….5 for a cappuccino…or you can order lobster at 120 euros per kilo. And in the shops, 112 euros for after shave which we can get for 48 on Amazon; Michaela looks at a casual top in a clothes shop, price tag 130 euros.
Now we’re not exactly on a tight budget, but we are given to wondering who on Earth all these people are who fill these tables and happily pay these inflated prices which are far removed from the normal Greek island experience. Of course, there are some cheaper places back from the waterfront, but wow that view sure comes at a premium.
Paros, and Naoussa, also greet us with a significant blast of island winds, so strong that it’s all but impossible to find refuge. The harbour is a vortex, seafront restaurants are deserted and the alley ways have become wind tunnels. The evening wind has a proper chill factor too.
Whilst the change in weather disrupts our plans for the day, it also makes for some decent seascape photographs….
25 Comments
Terrie Chrones
Love your catch up. Yikes, what prices! We just booked our return with vouchers from air Portugal from 2020 credited! To Lisbon October 20 and back to states nov 11. When do you return? Love the phrasing Cycladic sugar cube houses. Xxoo Terrie
Phil & Michaela
Hi Terrie, glad you are enjoying the blog. Great you are at last getting to Lisbon! We fly home on 10 October that gives us 10 days to catch up, lets get something in the diary 😁xxx
Jyothi
Wow… great captures! Lovely post Michaela!
Phil & Michaela
Thank you!
wetanddustyroads
Gosh, I’m happy you got your luggage (we’ve “lost” our backpacks in between flights on the way to our first Camino in Spain … you can just imagine our joy when it was delivered to us 2 days later 😀). And then, I suppose you did not had any lobster (those prices!!).
But love your ocean photo’s – wind has it downsides, but it sure does deliver great pictures!
Phil & Michaela
Yep!
Amanda
Depite the wind Naoussa looks idyllic. How do they get those pink flowered plants to flower so prodigiously in that wind?
Phil & Michaela
Hi Amanda. Well we’re not experts but the two most common blooms are the bougainvillea, which grows long pliable branches which bend with the wind, and the oleander which is more rigid and resists the wind that way. The angle at which some of the plants grow, bent by the wind, is fascinating.
Heyjude
Yikes, those prices are painful! I guess you won’t be hanging around Paros for long then.
Phil & Michaela
Well we’re committed till Monday evening ferry…
Toonsarah
Wow, what a jump in prices! It’s a pretty village but so are many of the others you’ve visited. What with the backpack incident and the bill for dinner, you’ve had a few too many shocks for one day it seems 😬
Phil & Michaela
Beer resolves everything though!
Toonsarah
Indeed 🍻
Latitude Adjustment: A Tale of Two Wanderers
Best thing to do with those prices is drink! Great photos. Cheers!
grandmisadventures
another beautiful town- love you pictures!
Phil & Michaela
Thank you guys
Alison
A heart stopping moment for you, hope you had all the essentials about your person! Paros looks gorgeous but I think you’ll be moving on soon!
Phil & Michaela
Well we’re committed until the Monday afternoon ferry now. Yes we don’t let the “essentials bag” out of our sight…
Alison
Enjoy the rest of your stay 😀
Joe
Thanks for introducing me to Paros and Naoussa. Your photos and narrative are marvelous. I notice that Michaela is wearing a day pack on her front and a large pack on her back. I like to do the same, keeping all my valuables in front and with me at all times. That way, if my large bag gets lost or stolen, I only lose my dirty clothes. It would still be an expense and hassle to replace, but not a fatal blow to the journey. Back in my working days when I only had three weeks vacation per year, I wouldn’t pay much attention to menu and hotel prices while on holiday. Now that we are retired slow travelers, we like to leave the overpriced places to the tourists, and celebrate our own fortune of good health and free time. Ya mas!
Phil & Michaela
Yes, we both do the front bag, and that’s where the important stuff is. Those day bags don’t leave our sight when on the move. Like all experienced travellers I suppose!
Lookoom
It’s good that the view is free and you make good use of it. These quaint little white houses do indeed look a little too quaint to be real. But isn’t it the caricature that many people come for. That doesn’t prevent you from being more adventurous elsewhere. Thank you for sharing.
Phil & Michaela
Yes we’ve found sone very nice places elsewhere on the island, as our next post will show. But Paros is generally an up market expensive island, and not the authentic Greek island experience at all.
Cathy Boyd
Paros is so much more than Naoussa. Sorry that was your impression. Next time visit seaside tavernas in Logaros or Drios.
Phil & Michaela
Thanks for dropping by and thank you for taking the time to comment, we love receiving comments. Yes we’ve posted again since (title: Paros In Perspective) where we visited other parts of Paros.