To celebrate my wife’s 60th birthday I arranged a special family celebration on the Greek island of Paros. To prepare for the main event and to unwind a little, we first headed to Athens for 2 nights at the St George Lycabettus, which is a wonderful hotel perched high up and with incredible views of the Acropolis. Even in mid- September it was still very hot so we took advantage of the roof top terrace for a cool drink and to enjoy the views before heading into town for dinner at Ex Machina, a superb restaurant which combines wonderful Greek produce with Asian and Middle Eastern influences. Delightful staff and incredibly good value, which was a treat after London prices! Truly a dinner to remember. Anyway we waddled home and after a delicious breakfast on the 6th floor terrace the next morning we headed into town. It was a Monday so sadly the museums were closed but we had a good rootle around and walked through as many shaded parks and backs streets we could find to avoid the worst of the heat. We returned to our neighbourhood for a great pasta lunch and a much- needed nap before heading out again on foot for another wonderful al fresco supper. The perfect start for our trip!
We then headed over to Paros, a short flight from Athens with a beautiful views of other islands and an easy descent into paradise. We were collected by the lady who runs the villa we had rented and wow, what a property it turned out to be. I had found it through a friend who was a friend of the owner and who was incredibly kind and helpful to me during all the planning. We were close to the very pretty town of Naoussa, which has excellent shops & restaurants. Having taken receipt of the 3 rental cars I had arranged, after a trip to the supermarket and a swim, we headed down to the port to collect the family off the ferry from Mykonos and then I cooked some steaks on the barbie, whilst they unpacked. Our villa had a huge pool, was surrounded by a lovely garden and had amazing views across the bay. The interiors were stylish and very comfortable, with a mass of white marble which Paros is famous for. It felt like a home, rather than a rental property which was important to us after some slightly disappointing rentals in the past.
There followed with our family of 6 adults and 2 small children the most glorious week of exploring the island and having fun. Azure blue skies and white-washed villas with shocking pink bougainvillea tumbling down, the sparkling Mediterranean as a backdrop, the barren hills with pretty villages, it was all so enticing. We visited the pretty interior town of Lefkes, with its winding narrow streets, soft blue painted doors and lots of cats, snoozing on sun kissed doorsteps. Fun little shops for buying presents and the best baklava I have ever eaten. Naoussa was a coastal and slightly larger version of this, with excellent restaurants, yet more windy streets and a pretty harbour, with fishing boats bobbing around and a few selling their catch of the day. We had fun exploring all the shops with lots of pretty, local pottery, cushions and modest jewelry. Plenty of tavernas & bars with friendly staff and all very relaxed and low key. There was never a scrum or a queue for anything, even the fabulous ice cream shop.
We had a great dinner one evening at Sigi Ikthios, which was very atmospheric, with fun staff and delicious hearty seafood dishes. The grilled squid was particularly memorable but the linguine & jumbo prawns were amazing too. We ate so well all week and we were further spoilt by having a private chef come to the villa for 2 special dinners. Dishes like Tzatziki, Dalmadaki, fava, whipped Feta (everyone is still talking about this) or courgettes with toasted pine nuts, served alongside amazing salads and then a delicious fresh fish of the day and to finish bakes peaches or roasted figs. Marula and her asst Noa were real foodies with a real passion for their craft and great fun as well. We chatted with them a lot after dinner and they made it all a real Greek experience! We also had wonderful barbecues at the house and one night I marinated a huge quantity of jumbo prawns which cooked beautifully on a hot barbie. The island had very high quality butchers and fish shops, so we were pretty spoilt on the provision front but the bakeries took the crown for naughty but nice treats when we needed a coffee fix and something sweet.
After some lovely visits to various beaches and one rather fancy beach club complete with thumping music and good looking but slightly dopey staff (not really our scene but great people & super yacht watching) our final highlight was a day spent on a private boat I hired from a friend of our villa owner. This was a lovely 50 foot caique (motorised sail boat) which had lots of space to lounge on deck with great canopy cover and below deck cabins and kitchen etc so all very civilised. It was a really pretty old wooden boat with lots of charm run by Cristos in a very efficient but relaxed manner. We found some magical beaches and coves tucked away around Paros and even managed at one point to stumble across the island’s nudist beach! We all loved jumping off the boat into the beautiful clear sea and had some wonderful swims with the kids. We took a delicious picnic and the boat owner provided a huge selection of cold drinks, wine, beer etc so a very happy & lazy last day which made us all fall even more in love with Paros. Family gatherings can be complex to arrange and getting all the ingredients right takes careful planning but the beautiful island of Paros welcomed us with open arms and we laid down a lot of happy memories, which we will cherish for many years to come. A special week for a special birthday for a special lady and requiring a special location. We picked a goody!
