Beautiful Naousa, Paros
We really didn't know what to expect from Naousa when Morgan and Courtney said that's where they wanted to go. If you read social media, you would think it would be overrun with tourists and it may be during the summer but while we were there at the end of September it was pleasantly busy but not overwhelming.
It's a quintessentially Cycladic village with white washed buildings trimmed in blue, narrow alleys full of shops, and beautiful views. We think they picked well!
Naousa is the most popular tourist town on Paros and truthfully, after three weeks of exploring Crete we were ready to just settle in and enjoy it. As a result, we didn't see any of the rest of the island. We tried ATVs with Courtney one day but decided after about a half hour we all prefer to ATV on beaches and dirt trails rather than busy roads so we returned them and headed back to our hotel pool. In fact, we spent most of every day by the pool. I'm sure you can see why?!
Morgan, Steven, and Madelyn enjoyed the beach but the rest of us couldn't drag ourselves down the steep hill and away from the hotel bar. 
We did walk across it a few times as it's the shortcut to town if that counts.
Naousa Town
As most of the Cyclades are, Paros is very hilly. We stayed just outside the old town so got a bit of a workout walking into and back from the old town but cabs were plentiful so after a few late dinners we let them do the work. The old town is simply beautiful. Everything you see on social media is true. The shops have great high-quality merchandise and we all did a fair amount of shopping.
Not sure who has to paint around the stones every year but it certainly adds to the beauty.
There's a tiny little fortress at the end of the sea wall that we explored one afternoon. 
There is an interesting history on Paros of pirates, including Barbarosa, harrying the population so the fort dates from that time. Another interesting piece of history is that during the 1770–1775 Orlov Campaigns of the Russo-Turkish War, the Russian Aegean fleet used Naousa Bay as a base of operations against the Ottoman Empire. There's even a monument to the soldiers that died that we spied on our boat trip, which led to my investigations. I couldn't figure out why there would be a monument to Russian soldiers on Paros but there you have it.
The small harbor is really quaint. We spent a few hours a couple different days just sitting by it enjoying meze and wine.
And two evenings we ate dinner next to a smaller, picture-perfect cove just behind the harbor where the sunsets were great and the food was even better.
The restaurants on Paros's harbor are mainly the "pictures on the menu" kind of places and there's an inordinate number of Italian places but travel just a little further back and you can find great seafood tavernas and more authentic Greek restaurants.
Anna Maria Boat Trip
Morgan booked us all a trip on the quant little wooden boat, the Anna Maria. It was definitely a highlight of the trip! First, we toured out to Agía Kali Island where the aforementioned monument is and also a small chapel.
Then we just cruised along the inner bay over towards Monastiri Beach where we watched the sunset behind the hills and the Monastery of Agios Ioannis Deti.
It's always great to get on the water and see an island from a different perspective.
We are so grateful that everyone came to Greece and we got to share their vacation with them. It was great to be together and make so many happy memories.
Next up is Agios Nikolaos and Eastern Crete so stay tuned.
This featured blog entry was written by mrb430 from the blog Arrr Adventures.
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