Have you stayed home for the holidays? Well, get ready to travel back in time… to July. Grab something to sip on and get transported to the Greek Islands. I do love doing my travel posts, because I really get to relive the holiday and memories made. Have you missed my previous Greek 2018 posts? See: Rhodes, Athens and even How to Travel with a Toddler

I’m so sorry my travel posts are so late too… but life. Thank you for understanding and for your patience. 

One early morning in July, Sox, Georgie, my sister Tandi, my BIL (Brother in Law) Ross and I caught the train to the port and a 4 hour ferry to the island of Paros. Georgie was fascinated by the water whizzing past us…

He napped…

…and then loved being out up on deck.

Once we arrived in Paros, we got a bus, which was 13 kms from the Port to Aliki, a small fishing village. We were dropped right at the beach and walked 600m to the rooms we had rented.

After we checked in, we walked back to the beach where we spent our days!

We would start our days at the beach restaurant with Freddo Cappuccino’s or Frappes. You can’t go to Greece without drinking these speciality coffees. They’re so refreshing in the heat.

George was a proper little beach bum. He absolutely loved the warm water, playing in (and eating) the sand, playing with his bucket & spade, and living his best life with his Aunty Tandi and Uncle Ross…

I took this photo of his little sandy footprint (next to my foot)

I was so grateful that Georgie took his naps on the beach. We put a beach towel over Tandi’s blown up lilo and he fell asleep on that with his Love Bunny.

In Georgie’s naps, I read the book “The Honeymoon”  by Tina Seskis. I picked it up at the little beach store and I couldn’t put it down… it had an ending I did not expect!

We really took full advantage of the sun setting later and maximising our beach days. We’d feed Georgie his dinner on the beach, enjoy the sunset and then take him for his shower. After bathing George, and getting him into his PJs, we would then shower and pop him in the pram, where he’d fall asleep, while we walked the town and found somewhere to eat. Some nights we didn’t eat out, and rather put him to bed, while Sox and Ross went to fetch take aways and a bottle of wine, and we all ate dinner together on our balcony.Paros is beautiful at night, they close the main road off from cars, so it becomes pedestrian only. Couples stroll hand in hand, children wait for ice-creams and the smell of delicious Greek cuisine lingers.

Our favourite restaurant happened to be To Balcony tou Aki. We always ordered a plate of fried zucchini to share. They must be salted. 

They always ended our meal by bringing complimentary ice creams to the table.

Speaking of food, we enjoyed the fresh juicy fruit from the local supermarket. Tandi and I picked fresh figs off the church grounds (and wondered if we would get struck by lightening for “stealing.”)

Delicious Greek salads were a must.

Some mornings, we walked to Sophie’s Bakery where the smell of freshly baked bread, phyllo pastry and cinnamon wafted out in a welcoming hug. The one thing I could happily live on for the rest of my life: Bougatsa. Flakey phyllo pastry, with a sweet, warm custard and dusted in cinnamon. Drooling as I type this.

If only they were a Superfood. Sigh.

They cut it up here, but (perhaps it’s all in my head) it changed the taste for me. I’d recommend you eat it whole, like a pastry, taking bites of the pastry and warm custard- just sooo good!

This is Sox’s favourite chocolate: Soko-Freta (it’s like a Kit-Kat – but better)… oh and the hazelnut one tastes like a whole bar of Ferrero Rochers – unbelievable!

We took refuge from the lunch time sun and found a souvlaki place, where we ordered some pork and lamb skewers and found a bench by the boats…

If you want fresh seafood, and in particular, fresh octopus, choose a restaurant that has the octopus hanging up – catch of the day!

Sox got in some early morning drone flying…

We walked the cobbled streets, admiring the bright bougainvillea flowers against the blue shutters and white walls… (the perfect Instagram spot – sorry, not sorry)
Tandi and I took one night for ourselves – some sister bonding! Ross went to do night time photography, Sox stayed in with George, and Tandi and I did face masks in her room. I LOVED it!

We kept having to reapply the masks because we couldn’t stop laughing… especially over the funny Snapchat filters! To keep straight faces for the mask was a challenge! Having my sister by my side, also meant my hair was beautifully braided! 

George really adores his Aunt and Uncle and it was so sweet to see them together – it made my heart burst! From the time on the beach, to the early morning wake-ups and knocking on their bedroom door – bouncing on their bed and having morning cuddles, to afternoon naps together and general giggles. Spending time with Tandi and Ross was priceless! I am so grateful that the four of us get on so well!  Meeting up in Greece was just magical, and the funny thing is that since they have moved to London, we’ve never been closer. We can’t wait for our next adventure 🙂