Paros a.k.a Paradise

Hey guys!

So after what felt like weeks traveling, we finally made it to Paros and it was SO worth the trip. The ferry ride from Athens was long and boring, as was expected. Plus, the whole way I was a little stressed because we weren't getting there until after 8pm and we didn't have a place to stay. I thought we would end up having to pay an arm and a leg to stay for the night, but it turned out the exact opposite! There was an information booth as soon as we got off the boat. We told them we needed a place to stay for 2 nights and they found us a place right in town (and a 30 second walk to the beach) for about 12 euros each a night! We were exctatic, but were expecting a pretty run-down place, but again we were pleasantly surprised! We have 2 double rooms, each with a bathroom and a fridge and they both open up onto a shared balcony. It's absolutely amazing!

Today we slept in, which was desperately needed. When we finally got up and going (around lunch time) we decided to check out if we could rent a car or some motorbikes to explore the island for the day. The only real option we had was renting a car, but it was awesome!! We got to explore the whole island stopping wherever we wanted and not having to worry about buses and everything. One of the coolest random things we saw was an old marble quarry which was so cool! We spent a few hours on a GORGEOUS beach with awesome water where Graham rented a windsurfer for an hour. This time I managed to mostly avoid the sunburn except a few spots where apparently evaded the sunscreen.

After the beach we headed to this place called Butterfly Valley which is beautiful and has the breeding ground for a rare type of moth. It was sooo cool! The butterflies were EVERYWHERE and when they flew they flashed a bright orange colour. At one point there were about 15 flying all around me and it was SO cool!

The butterfly place was up the most windey (I know that's not spelt right), narrow old road ever! On the way back we took a different route, which was similar, but the coolest thing happened! We literally got intercepted by a herd of goats! We were driving down this road that wasn't wide enough for 2 cars and a whole herd of goats started coming at us! We just sorta sat there letting them pass us. It was so funny!!! And the babies were SO cute :-)

Anyways, everything about this island is amazing. You know those houses that are cement an white with blue trimming and look sort of like boxes? Well, everything here looks like that, it's so gorgeous. And the views are amazing with the mountains and those white houses and then the ocean and some smaller islands close by. I know my description can't do it justice, so you are all just going to have to come to Paros some day!

So that's about all. We're hanging out for the night, might get a small supper (we didn't have lunch until about 4). Tomorrow we're heading to Santorini which is supposed to be the most beautiful Greek island there is. I can't wait to see it because I can't really imagine anything being more beautiful than here. I'll let you know soon! We don't have a place to stay there either, we're hoping it's just as easy as it was here.

That's all for now! Stay cool!
Kaila

P.S. For those of you wondering, I did learn from someone in our Rome hostel that Michelangelo didn't paint the WHOLE Sistine Chapel, just the most prominent ones. They had names, but I forget what they were... Apparently it took him 24 years... and he wasn't the first person he asked to paint it! The person they asked originally said no. Oh, and it was his first fresco ever. Before that he had basically done sculptures. This person knew a lot about it because he was spying on all the tours that were going on there... he didn't actually pay for one himself. I thought that was pretty smart!