Paros

This morning we left Athens and boarded the Blue Star ferry to the Island of Paros for a break in our trip out to Santorini. The girls got a real kick out of this ship as it was the biggest they have been on yet, 3 parking levels and 5 passenger levels. 

We found a spot on top for our 4 hour journey and the girls really loved their corner view by the lifeboat, just in case. 

Paros is one of the lesser know islands of the group and we had the place to ourselves, much the opposite from our Acropolis experience.  We had another lunch first today in that it lasted 4 hours.  We chillaxed in the chairs while the kids got a little rowdy in the hammock and then found their way to the water. 

The girls met the only other English speaking kiddo on the island. Her name was Vivian.  She is enroute from Germany to Australia via all kinds of stops, Canada, Iceland and a number of others before finding her way to Greece. Her mom landed some work here and she is going to attend a Montessori school at least through the high summer season.  We bought the kids some nets so they could 'fish', and fish they did. 

After lunch we launched our expedition to wander the town and visited a bunch of shops in the narrow alley ways.  A Gelato establishment was found much to the delight of the girls who have not had that taste on their tongues since Italy. Dad is a fan too.  As you may have already guessed, Gelato has flavor, so Patti cannot have it. 

Tara, who is in her latest growth spurt, and is admittedly just a little clumsy at the moment, had to carefully escape this store which was the most extraordinarily packed shop of breakable I had ever seen.

I had to pick up a new pair of cheap sunglasses as the pair I bought before we left lost a lens screw and were now being held together by a scrap paper pressure fit. My sweet pair of new and authentic Ray Bans cost 6€.  Apart from the price, the dead fake giveaway was the fact that the frame said made in Italy which is English for made in China.  Here is Riley modeling the crazy aviator look. 

In our wandering we found a church that had a section that dated back to the 4th Century, unfortunately that part was now a museum and was closed when we found it. But the church was interesting to wander around in nonetheless.  We were hoping the roof was not going to collapse when we were in there.

We wandered around every dark nook and cranny of this building. The Eastern Orthodox Church has a long tradition of iconography and this building did not disappoint in that measure. These images show the angels at the the empty tomb of Jesus and Him with the woman at the well as He gave her the hope she was not able to find in this world. 

Later in the evening we went out for part two of the fishing expedition and girls were catching crabs, little fish and some sea urchins.  All catch and release of course. However, there were a few little boys out there with whose grandfather we were managing to communicate with who had told us that the eggs inside the urchin were a delicacy. Or maybe he said they were deadly.  Either way, Tzatziki Sauce makes everything OK. 

It is probably worth mentioning the shower portals which seem common here in Greece. Rather than ceiling fans, the showers have windows that open to a ventilation shaft or to the outdoors. The kitchens have ventilation windows as well instead of hoods.  While Riley was prepping to cook and Tara was mid shower in Athens, Riley opened up what she thought was a cabinet only to see Tara peering back at her from the shower.  Lots of giggles ensued. 

The kids prepared another great meal for us tonight with the meat, cheese, bread and tomatoes that had we picked up in the local market along with the subway mustard packets that we imported with us. 

We ended the evening with a drink down on the beach while the kids played in the water with Vivian. 

Images in 2015 Paros.