Day 4 – Paros: Golden Beach, Moraitis Winery & Living Like a Local
Today was our last full day in Paros so we wanted to make the most of it. We woke up at 8am & did our morning ritual of ordering 2 frappes and enjoying the complimentary hotel breakfast downstairs. We biked to Ride Moto to extend our bike rental until tonight, then biked 20 minutes to Golden Beach. I typed “golden beach” into google maps but because this beach is much larger than the other beaches we’ve been to (700 m long) they have multiple beach bar options with lounge chairs. The first one that we ended up at seemed rickety and old. The chairs were like regular pool lounge chairs, thin and no cushion. We both looked at each other and it was a no. After a quick search Sol e Mar Beach Bar was only 5 min away had great reviews. So we hopped back on the bike and drove 5 mins further south. This was MUCH better. It had thick comfy lounge chairs and a full bar & restaurant up top. We opted for front row for 40 euro. It was cool watching all of the wind surfers ride in the water here & the wind and water conditions were perfect for it here. I wanted to take a lesson but they didn’t have any availability until 4pm so I might save that activity for when we’re in Chios.
I’m glad we went a few mins further south because by 12pm you could see the north end of the beach was much more crowded compared to where we were. The sun was the strongest it’s been since we got to Greece. By 1:30 we had to pull our chairs under the umbrella into the shade. I was getting a little hungry and ordered a “fruit cup” which ended up being the size of a playa bowl, perfect midday snack for Steli & I to split. By 2pm we had enough of the sun & the beach and biked back to the hotel to shower and change.
In search of a place with AC to escape the heat, we walked 20 min to Moraitis Winery to enjoy some Greek wine flights & Μεζέ (tapas). The sommelier was very knowledgeable about the history and origin of the Greek wines in Paros, and how the specific wines we tasted were made. We ordered 3 rounds of wine, 5 flights in total.
• Round 1: Traditional flight – 1 white, 1 red, 1 dessert wine & Red flight – 3 different red blends. My fav was the Moraitis dry white wine (would who would’ve guessed that?! Normally I’m a red gal). Stelis fav was the Red reserve & dessert wine.
Round 2: White flight & Vintage Reserve flight. My fav was the full bodied white wine & Stelis fav was the orange tiled white wine. The Sommelier told us that this wine was produced the way that wine was made in the beginning of humanity, no added yeast for fermentation, & without sulfites which I found interesting.
Round 3: Rose flight (not pictured). We both like the traditional full bodied Rosé best.
On our way back from the winery we ran into the sisters at Sisterhood again & chatted it up about life in the states vs here and how they should come visit America. I told them to keep in touch so they followed me on Instagram.
Next we stopped at Toca for a pre-dinner drink & asked the waitress if Monday nights are still fun because it’s our last night and the only night we stayed out late was Saturday. Her response was “ In Naoussa every night is Saturday night”. THAT’S THE ENERGY I NEEDED. So we decided to stay out late again rather than waking up at 8am and getting brunch at Almond. Sold.
We had dinner reservations at 9:30pm at Statheros (we definitely adjusted to the Greek eating schedule at this point in the trip) Statheros is a lovely farm to table restaurant (the Statheros farm is also here in Paros), and it’s right on the water. Because it was fresh farm to table we decided to order dishes that were different or ones we haven’t had yet. Our meal consisted of stuffed calamari with feta and tomato, slow cooked chickpeas for 15 hours, Parrot fish (tonight’s special), and a bottle of Syrah. The stuffed calamari and chickpeas were our favorite.
After dinner we walked over to Taverna Glafkos to meet up with Erato & her family. They were sitting at a large table with some family friends and told us to sit down & join them. So we sat and chatted for awhile. Their son (who’s name escapes me) spoke English very well compared to the rest of the group so we talked for a while. He’s 13 years old and in the 8th grade and this kid is more intellectual, mature, and SO polite compared to most high schoolers back in America. He told me he wants to go to university for engineering and his dream is to work for NASA or Elon Musk, and that if what you do is your passion and you love it it won’t feel like work. Kid’s got a great attitude and outlook on life at 13 years old. I told Erato he’s a great kid and has a lot of potential, she was flattered.
Rather than going out to the clubs we decided to spend our last night in Paros like locals since Erato and her friends invited us to tag along. So we went next door to Fotis All Day Bar and ordered a round of drinks. I got Mastica over ice to sip on and Stelios had an old fashioned. We hung out with their group until 2am chatting about Greece, America, life and other travels. It was a fabulous night and a perfect ending to our stay in Paros.
