Around and about on Paros

We didn't start the day with a very well formed plan other than that we were going to hire mopeds and then go and visit the butterfly valley.  I wasn't very sure about this plan both from the moped part and the butterfly but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

First up was to hire the mopeds which went off quite quickly and they fortunately didn't notice that my license was expired.  In total it was 64 Eur for the four mopeds so Carl had Alistair behind him and I had Megan behind me and everyone feeling a little bit outside of their comfort zone.

We took off and right at the top of the first hill there was a roadside bakery so we had to stop and have a donut. I thought that we are going to be stopping quite a lot because trying to navigate from a tourist map and from memory is a recipe for disaster.

Above is the "hogs" on the ferry terminal with Anti-Paros or, as I am calling it, Anti-Pasta which is going to be another day on the mopeds next week sometime.  On our way down we managed to take a route which turned into a one way so we merrily carried on; nothing quite like breaking the law and then just blaming it on being a tourist.  Once we popped out the other end we understood why it was a one way, trying to cross the next intersection was very tricky and required a little confident driving which was definitely just put on.  After negotiating around Parikia we headed up to the butterfly farm which happened to be closed as it isn't butterfly season so we headed on down to the ferry terminal for Anti-Paros to find out how ofter the ferry leaves and how much it is.  Every half an hour and 1.10 EUR per person per passage which seems very reasonable.

 After we left the terminal we wound our way along the coast road planning on intersecting the ring road and then carrying on around the island when we stumbled on this restaurant in Alyki and it looked so good that we just had to stop and have lunch which we had under the umbrella above.  Just the most magic place to have lunch of squid (Alistair), grilled sepia which is grilled cuttlefish (Megan),  fried calamari (Kirsten) and more squid (Carl).  Caron had grilled sardines and I had deep fried succhini and grilled feta cheese and we all ate ourselves to a standstill.

We had already called for the bill and some pudding arrived unbidden and this has now happened several times where the restaurant just gives you a bit of a parting gift to eat and it turns out that this is a bit of a tradition here.  At this restaurant we were presented with a sliced banana, three scoops of thick greek yoghurt all covered with a sweet quince sauce; just delicious and our food tanks are now overflowing.  Two meals ahead and two dumps behind as Andre would say.

The view over the water to the next beach and the next restaurant along wasn't too bad at all.  Megan and Alistair dropped some bread in the water and before they could blink there was a serious fight on between dozens of fish for the food.

  Once we had left the restaurant we carried on around the island stopping on the odd occasion for photographs and then headed up towards Lefkes where I wanted to go to a monastery high in the mountains.  Unfortunately the road turned into a dirt road and it was late and everyone was a little unsure about mopeds on dirt so we descended down to Lefkes and had a great cup of coffee looking out over the valley and down to the sea.

Arriving back Kirsten and Carl had some supper, I don't know were they are putting all the food.  I couldn't face eating anything because my cold and perhaps a bit of a touch of the sun has given me a fever so I was sitting outside watching them eat dressed in two jackets and Alistair was in a t-shirt.

After supper we wandered into town and around the alleys and even though it was quite late pretty much all the stores were open and children were playing in the central play ground or shooting hoops and it seems quite the thing to do to take a stroll around the place.

By the time I got back I was really, really ready for bed so that was it.  Carl and I were talking and one of my sentences came out with all the words present and account for but in completely the wrong order which is when I knew that I had had enough of the day.  Altogether a fantastic day in the sun.

We only have to give the mopeds back tomorrow morning at 10:30 which is enough time to get back up to Lefkes if we start at about 07:00.