I caught the ferry from Piraeus to Paros with no problem. The ferry was packed because it was the day before the Orthodox Easter weekend and everyone was travelling to Paros (or Naxos, Ios, or Santorini) for the weekend. The day before I left Athens, Rita was telling me that they were expecting 250,000 people to travel from Athens to the islands over the weekend.
I had arranged with Hotel Paros Philoxenia for someone to pick me up at the port. As directed, I exited the port and walked 150m down the road to the left, to the ΚΡΗΤΙΚΟΣ super market, where Mr. Vali was waiting for me. It took a while to get out of Parikia because of all of the ferry traffic but eventually we were out of the town and onto country roads. Mr. Vali drove like a local - fast! - with first techno and then Greek music blaring on the radio. It was perfect.
The hotel is on Nea Chrisi Akti beach. It was further away from any amenities than I realized. Also, when I arrived, I learned that their restaurant was closed until May. Thankfully, I was able to rent a car from them - well, from Mr. Vali, actually - for EUR30/day. I had planned to rent a car for a couple of days, so it wasn't too far off plan, but it was still disappointing.
I settled in to the hotel and then drove to the nearest super market. I stocked up on water, beer, bread, cheese, sliced turkey, fruit, chips, and some paper cups and plates. I figured that would do me for lunches and I could go out for dinner.
For dinner I drove to a nearby restaurant, Anna & Giorgos, that was recommended by the hotel. It had a nice big gravel parking lot, which was perfect. I had lettuce salad, zucchini croquettes with tzatziki, and spicy meatballs with rice.
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