Paros: island number two

Paros: The second island I visited but the first stop alone. Of course I waited until last minute to book a place to stay. I selected at random from booking.com and hoped for the best. It seemed like a decent enough deal, around 74 euro for three nights. Since it's less of a tourist spot there really weren't hostels to choose from so I ended up picking a studio to rent. This is actually a cool thing that they do here. Studios and apartments are cheaper yet similar to a hotel room and if you don't book them before you get to your island, when you get off the ferry there are hordes of men with signs offering rooms to let and rides to those hotels. So crazy and chaotic. 

Anyways, I did at least book a day before and it appeared my hotel was in walking distance from the port, although when I got there I was skeptical and thought about trying to find a taxi. Turned out there weren't any so I just started walking the direction it had looked like it was on the map. Sure enough, only about a 10/15 minute walk and I was there. The hotel itself was nothing amazing. Pretty standard, but the manager Nikos made all the difference. He was so wonderful and welcoming. Only 28, and cute to, he was pretty much the only person I talked to while in Paros that wasn't a sever or cashier. 

The first day i kinda wasted.. I was so exhausted from having to leave Athens at 7am and hadn't slept much the night before I took a nap and by the time I woke up the day was pretty much over. So to salvage some time I went out to dinner, got some delicious mussels and then after went and had a glass of wine as the sun set. Not too shabby for a first night. The second day I spent relaxing at the beach that was only about five minutes away. Real simple- this is where I took my photo with my corona. Nice beach, a little crowded and touristy but still nice. The third day, since I hadn't been very adventurous I decided I needed to go out on an adventure. SO I rented an ATV and got to drive around the island on my own adventure. I went in search of one of the great beaches mentioned on all the maps and travel sites.. I'm on a bus right now writing this so I can't look up what it's called at the moment but it starts with a K. Anyways, it's this beautiful beach with amazing rock formations and turquoise water. Not only was it a blast getting there but once there I actually wandered off from where you pay for a beach chair and umbrella and laid for a while on the rocks.Then after going for a swim I saw two people in lounge chairs totally separate from everyone else in this semi closed cove. When they eventually left I took their spot and essentially had a private beach to myself the entire day. (And didn't have to pay for the chairs and umbrellas that were there) It was probably one of the coolest and most enjoyable afternoons ever. 

After I was sufficiently crispy from the sun and it was nearly five o'clock, I packed up (sadly) and got back on my ATV. On impulse I decided to go drive around the other main town, Nousa or something like that, and walked around for a bit. It was a cute place but I was tired enough that I probably didn't do it justice, another time I wished I was with someone who would have convinced me to stay and eat dinner there. Regardless, at least I went. I got back on my fancy ride and drove back to the port where I did discover much more to the place than I had realized and ate dinner at the far other end. After dinner and sunset again I went back to the hotel where I again had a lovely evening of chatting with Nikos where he offered me some free local wine. It was really a great stay. 

As a final note worth mentioning, the rental of the ATV was great timing because for 12 euro I had it for 24 hours so in the morning when I had to leave for my ferry I had a vehicle to drive to get me to the port with my heavy bag. WIN. And then I was off to Santorini :-)