Packed up to check out and then went down to the port to pick up our ferry tickets. So scary going down the road to the port - insanely narrow zigzag road carved into the mountain. I had to close my eyes when the buses tried to squeeze by us (luckily for everyone, I wasn't driving). So scary.
Picked up our tickets and then went back to Oia to walk around and get some postcards. Stopped for icecream and then hit the pool for an hour or so before it was time to catch the ferry to Paros.
I couldn't believe the size of the boat - the Block Island ferry would look like a dinghy next to it. Riding in style for sure. Caught up on my journal and looking forward to the next part of our Greek adventure!
We picked up our rental car after getting off the ferry. We met a man named Nikos who was very helpful with directions as well as restaurant suggestions around the island. Paros was very quiet because it's before the high season, which was really nice. Cute little fishing boats in the harbor - gorgeous.
Made our way to the hotel, but got a little lost along the way which only means more exploring! Found our way to Stelia Mare outside of Naoussa (which is spelled in Greek as well as several other English spellings so I'm not really sure what the correct one is). Mom found Stelia Mare on the internet and it was a perfect choice - I think she was a little nervous because you never know what you're going to get with everyone's conflicting reviews on the several webpages out there.
Mom's hard work researching definitely paid off - Stelia Mare was dreamlike. A young woman named Maria greeted us and showed us around this paradise-like boutique hotel. She was so friendly and had a great personality; probably around Lauren's age, so cute and spoke great English with an adorable Greek accent. Everything at the hotel was white, but I enjoyed their use of dark red instead of the traditional Greek blue and white. The place was nicely decorated, had a beautiful pool area and the rooms were great. We couldn't get over it and you could even see the beach from our room! There was some complimentary homemade ouzo left for us, but we knew better than to mess with that - so lethal.
After we got settled in we walked into town. It was nice that the hotel was so close to everything yet still in its own location. We went to a place called Silence of the Fish for dinner, which was recommended by the Hertz man. Such a cute place right on the harbor. All of the restaurants were right next to each other and you really wouldn't know the difference between restaurants besides a slight change in the chairs (the tables were literally back to back). The chairs were mostly white so it's nice that it all blended and no one lavishly outdoes the other.
We decided to eat family style so Mom and I started with a half liter of white wine. We had a Greek salad, grilled local cheese which I didn't like one bit (hardly had any taste and the texture was so weird that it literally squeaked in your teeth), linguine with pesto (not as good as in Cinque Terre, but still delish), couscous with chicken and vegetables (very nice), and then we shared banoffi and chocolate mousse for dessert. Planned on leaving, but then one of the waiters gave us a complimentary half liter of white wine - Mom and and I were already struggling to finish the first! Way too much, but had a little to be nice. As we were leaving, the waiter that gave us the free wine stopped Mom and said how he'd like to take us (Lauren and I) on a date and he just wouldn't stop asking. SO AWKWARD. Mom was like "welllll maybe we'll be around tomorrow."
We quickly made our way away from the restaurant and poked in a shop or two. Realized we didn't need to browse any longer after noticing a 115 euro bathing suit. Walked back to Stelia Mare, but definitely didn't go the way we came - much longer and probably more dangerous walk because on the roads instead of through the pedestrian-only part of town, but oh well! Did some reading before bed.
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