We woke before dawn to be at Kokou riding center for a sunrise horseback riding tour of the northeast coast of Paros. When John saw there was horseback riding in Paros he was all in. Lit up like a little boy 🙂
All of Naousa seemed to be asleep at this time of day – and rightly so – but Kokou was abuzz when we arrived. Ivan and Dani are the owners of the stables that have been in Naousa since 1990. They moved from Canada(!) to fulfill their dream. Now they own 28 horses and provide sunrise and sunset tours of the island.
After being fitted with helmets we were shown to our horses – Asteri for John and Irma for me. They were beautiful. We joined another French couple on the tour and were lead by 3 young women – Chloe from London, Emily from Manchester and Emma from Florence. Yes we went on a tour in Greece and our guides were mostly English!
We set out in the dark along a deserted road as the sun rose around us. It was lovely! At this point we were surrounded by land which as I’ve said before is very arid – so brown. And then of course the stark white of the houses that we passed. The views coupled with the sounds of roosters crowing, people chatting and the clomp clomp of the horses hooves was so peaceful.
We made our way to the coast, all the while chatting with our guides – interning for Ivan and Dani for 2 months at a time. Sweet girls seeing the world while they figured out what to do with their lives. To be so young with your whole life in front of you. I hope Gaby does something like this…
I digress. Part of the sunrise tour is riding the horses through the sea. Once on the beach Emma led the horses to the water. They were not afraid at all! And per our guides they really loved swimming! In order to get the horses moving the guides yelled “Alli” and splashed them. You could not be part of this and NOT have a grin slapped all over your face! Soaking wet, riding in the Aegean Sea on a horse, getting splashed by a feisty Italian and getting hit by a squirt gun by Ivan. I can’t make this shit up!
We made our way out of the water and toward the Filizi coast. I have researched this name and (I think) all permutations of it Filizi I can’t find anything on Google about this area of Paros. I’m going to proceed regardless. John and I had not been to this area of Paros – the northeast coast of the island. It is absolutely breathtaking! Instead of the bleaches and marinas we’d seen, this side had steep cliffs and waves crashing on the rocks jutting out from the sea. A harsher look on this side and oh so beautiful. The horses took it all in stride – no pun intended. We were literally on the edge of the cliff and – although we were hesitant – the horses were not.
One area I was able to find in my research that we passed was Ambelas beach which is a small, unorganized beach sitting between two tall cliffs. Gorgeous!
This was a ride I wished would not end. We walked for the most part but a few times the guides let us cantor with the horses. What fun! So much fun I’m sure I’ll feel it later 🙂
Back at the stables we said goodbye to Asteri and Irma and put yet another wonderful experience in our memory jar…
We really didn’t have anything else planned for the day so decided to get in the Little Spark and go explore. Paros is a relatively small island – 22 km north to south and 13 km east to west. It takes just an hour to drive around the island. So why not?
Our host as well as a friend had recommended stopping at the small southern port of Alyki. It is a cute fishing village with a population of just 280 (as of the 2011 census). There are multiple beaches here – as anywhere in Paros! – and you get a lovely view of Antiparos from the end of the port.
We had a nice Greek salad at a seaside cafe called Manolis Cafe but, honestly, this was not my favorite place. It was SO hot. And although the port was pretty, it didn’t seem to have the charm of Naousa. A lot of the shops and tavernas were closed – I’m not sure for the day or for the season. I’m sure I missed something but it just wasn’t my favorite.
Since it’s so small we decided to take the scenic route back to Naousa. Honestly the views here just cannot compare. It seemed like every time the Little Spark rounded another bend we said “ooohhhh”.
Dinner tonight was a direct recommendation from Ivan of Kokou. Called Christiana, it is part of a hotel and sits on a cliff outside Naousa. He said it’s the best mousaka on the island. We decided to try it for sunset even though it would mean John driving Little Spark in the dark.
First, the view from Christiana is incredible. It is in the little village of Ambelas – which we had ridden through this morning – on the northeast coast of Paros. It looks out onto a very tiny port and the island of Naxos which is a large island to the east of Paros.
We were shown to our table and greeted by a local who did not speak much English. No problem – we don’t speak any Greek! I ordered Souma – of course – and John got a white wine. The menu was extensive. All traditional dishes with fresh caught seafood from the brother of the owner. I went for the fresh mussels in olive oil with tomatoes and feta. John – he’d been looking forward to trying the pasticcio which is similar to lasagne or mousaka but without the tomatoes. Well, per our waitress the pasticcio did have tomatoes in it – as did the mousaka. So she recommended a similar dish cooked in lemon. John was disappointed but ordered that along with a split pea appetizer.
The language barrier is a hard thing 🙂 The waitress returned to tell us the “fava was finished”. We thought that meant his main dish could not be ordered. Hmmmm, there was a little bit of animosity on both of their parts as well as mine. A case of really not understanding each other! Unfortunately it affected our impression of Christiana. I say unfortunately because the food was beautiful. My mussels were so delicious and so fresh and so flavorful. And John’s dish was also very very good. We made the best of it and as said, the view was over the top. At the end of our meal the moon made a spectacular appearance just over the mountains. It was huge (maybe just in my mind). But again – I am not the same having seen the HUGE moon shine on the other side of the world…
I needed another glass of Souma and John was on the hunt for Greek pastry. We stopped at a local supermarket where John asked if they had Souma. They – of course – did but it was in a clear plastic (former?) water bottle with no label 🙂 As I said in a previous post, the Souma is made locally so there would be no label. Silly me!
We also managed to find a local bakery – Pastry Shop Antonis – with really really nice Greek desserts. Of course we bought a bunch of them for take away.
Souma, Greek dessert, our apartment’s veranda and me writing this blog – what a perfect way to spend our last night in Paros.
