A last night in Paros

Today was it, last full day on vacation in Paros. It might seem disingenuous, but these twelve months aren't about vacation. They are about seeing the world, understanding different cultures and educating our entire family with the backdrop of planet Earth. The last three days were vacation, plain and simple.

We (I) bought way too much gas for our rental car on the first day, so today we drove around the entire island of Paros. Quite beautiful. We stopped at this verdant little valley that is home to myriad butterflies. The butterflies were "neat," but for me it was an atmosphere of forced relaxation highly juxtaposed to that of the rest of the island. A natural spring kept things green and cool and almost damp whereas the rest of the island is almost a desert. While I'm not a huge fan of humidity, I like overly arid environments even less. Let's just agree that I'm environmentally fragile and move on.

Once we returned to the beach house we visited the beach for the first time in the afternoon. Our previous visits had been in the morning and they were wonderful, but quite windy. This is the windy season for Paros, but this afternoon was fantastic weather on the beach paired with a delicate breeze to keep the air fresh and the body cooled. The water was wonderful and the hot-cold currents in the water took me by surprise; differences that felt around 5-10 degrees Fahrenheit. All in all, this is the type of beach I can enjoy; I'm not really a beach person so it has to be pretty perfect.

I finished up my fourth book since leaving home. Sitting on the porch, with the breeze and the ocean view is simply the perfect atmosphere for reading a good book.

In the evening, we decided that since we're in a port town we should eat seafood. We went to a fantastic little fish restaurant in Naoussa called Barbarossa. If you've got a pirate flag waving over your restaurant, you clearly know what you're doing; sometimes I just have to call it like the ten-year-old boy I am inside. Something truly magical happened at dinner, at least magical to me. We all ordered different dishes, we shared ample samples and we all walked away most appreciating the dishes we individually ordered. Sometimes there is a clear winner at dinner, today we were all winners.

Now to pack up our laundry, pack up all the rest of our junk and get a good night sleep. I think the troupe will need all their energy, hopes and travel karma to survive the 4-hour ferry ride back to Athens tomorrow. Wish us well.

It is a perfect time to introduce the mystical Grecian steed that our family rode: a Peugeot 206+ 4-door 5-seater. Or, as Tori says, "our Food Lion car."