A Fly Past to Parga and Paxos!

Another thing that Gouvia has to offer is several travel agencies offering a wide choice of excursions. On my first day here, I popped into Madalena Tours and spent about 20 minutes with a very helpful lady. I left with receipts for 3 excursions. Well, when in Rome! Anyway, a fleeting visit to Paxos will help me decide whether to stay there longer – or not.

The first of the excursions is a trip to Parga and Paxos. The following day at 08:00, I made my way across the main highway to the front of Deillas Supermarket. A couple of other people arrived soon after. It was raining as predicted and everyone had come appropriately attired in waterproofs. When I’d hummed and hahed over whether to book this excursion, the lady in the travel agency had convinced me that most places look even more beautiful in the rain. We’ll see.

Right on time a minibus with the name of Sarris arrived and we continued to pick up other people along the way. Down at the port, I presented a QR code that had been emailed to me and was given a boarding pass. By now it’s stopped raining and is beginning to brighten up. Several other minibuses arrived, depositing people at the entrance to the boat and soon we were on our way. I’d taken a seat on the deck above the lounge – my favourite place to be. It was forward-facing and would give me views on both sides. As we left Corfu port, we sailed past the old Fortress. There was almost a stampede to the right-hand side of the boat to photograph it. Had everyone just stayed in their seats, with a bit of patience and accurate zooming everyone would have been able to get a snap or two. I didn’t have to leave my seat even sitting in the middle of the boat. I just cropped out unwanted elbows later. Hmmm, this reminds me why I don’t like doing excursions! Ah well Stephanie – make lemonade!

We called in at Lefkimmi in Southern Corfu to pick up another batch of tourists who now fill the boat. We set sail again with the rugged mountainous landscape of mainland Greece on the left and the last remaining slither of Corfu to the right. I watched the tip of the island until it petered out into nothing. Now we’re out of the protection of the straight the boat begins to gently roll almost lulling me into a trance. Paxos and Antipaxos can be seen in the distance, but the boat begins to turn in the direction of the mainland and soon we are arriving into the picturesque harbour of Parga.

With strict instructions to be back at the boat at 1335, we have 1 hour and 50 minutes to see what we can of our first destination. I decide to get the strenuous bit over and done with first and head up to the castle, taking in the brightly painted houses, set amphitheatrically onto the hillside. Parga is as pretty as I’d expected it to be. When I’d stayed in nearby Sivota many years ago, I’d hoped to make it to Parge but it didn’t happen. 10 years later I’ve finally made it albeit it in the form of a whistle-stop tour.

I’m not going to lie, the walk up to the Kastro was a killer. The steps were steep and it was hot. I could feel my face burning. I hadn’t come prepared for good weather – only for the rain and the cold. My waterproof coat had already been stowed away and my linen jacket had now been discarded. Thank God I had a vest top on underneath. There are lots of little shops along the way, ingeniously located because nobody is going to be passing them at a rate of knots. They’re all a little bit overpriced with sunhats weighing in at the 30€+ mark. I’ll persevere a little while longer.

Once within the castle walls, the views of the bays on either side are pretty spectacular. The colour of the sea transitions from dark green, to blue to turquoise, the perfect ideal for swimming and boy could I do with a dunk right now!

After leaving the Kastro I head back down in search of sun lotion and a bandana – it doesn’t take long to find them with the extensive array of shops. This is a shopper’s paradise though not for me. The clothes are much of a muchness in every shop, all mass manufactured in China and being sold for an above average price. They are popular with others though.

I have a mooch around the harbour. The remaining time is too short to see much else. One thing’s for sure, the beaches are very busy with not a foot between each sunbed.

I’m one of the first to arrive back at the boat and thankfully everyone else is punctual. As we hand in our boarding passes they are exchanged for one of a different colour for Paxos which is now where we are headed. Before we arrive, the guide on the boat, a multilingual talented lady, tells us that there is an optional bus trip that will take one hour. It cost 9€ and would take us to the village of Lakka which I was interested to see so I booked my place.

The boat sails past between the tree-covered islets of Nisida Panagia and Agios Nikolas and the coast of Paxos. The port of Gaios isn’t what I’d call a pretty port. It looks rather utilitarian which I guess most modern ports do. A low sandstone cliff topped with trees and shrubs disguises the main arterial roadway that leads up out of the port onto other parts of the island. The traditional, pretty ports on many islands (such as Symi) have now been protected and new ports have been built, set away from any picturesque areas. I don’t know if that is the case here or not. We sail further along into the marina where an array of yachts and the odd tourist vessel are moored. From here, there are no signs of any settlements so it’s hard to get a flavour of the island at this stage.

For those that have chosen to do the optional tour, we disembark the boat and jump on board the bus and we drive directly to Lakka. Along the way, our guide tells us about all the celebrities that have holidayed here – Demi Moore, Madonna, Morgan Freeman (twice this year), Keanu Reaves, Angelina Jolie – the list goes on. Some people may be impressed by this but it has the opposite effect on me. I feel that once celebrities start visiting certain islands, the place becomes a ‘wannabe’ destination. I’ve seen Antiparos change dramatically since I first visited it over 25 years ago and I blame Tom Hanks for buying a house there! Once a simple little island with a hippy vibe and time on the beach would be on a towel under the shade of a tamarisk tree. Now a place where you can expect to pay a fortune for a front-row sunbed with cocktails served to you! Sorry – angry old woman coming out of me there. I hate to see how some destinations that are inadvertently endorsed by the rich and famous become over-touristic and overpriced, making travel for those of us who just love the country and the people priced out. OK rant over and I haven’t even seen any of the island yet!

I must say that even travelling from Gaios to Lakka, from what I can see, Paxos has a lot of old-world charm. It seems to have retained a lot of its traditional character and that is what most of us travellers to Greece find appealing. It has clearly been protected. After reeling off all the celebs that visis Paxos for their VIP stays, our guide tells us that we will have 10 minutes to see Lakka and we must stick to her like glue – no wandering off because ‘they’ won’t like it. It sounds like ‘they’ whoever ‘they’ are just about tolerates the day trippers.

Ten minutes we were given and ten minutes (if that) we had. I had to walk and click which never yields good pictures but I did the best I could. I do manage to spot and photograph the school from Maestro in Blue. My God, I think I’m becoming all the things I despise!

Back on the bus we now head back to the viewing point above Gaios which offers views over to Gaios and also over to mainland Greece.

We are dropped off in Gaios and are given just under an hour to explore here. We aren’t told how long to allow to get back to the boat but I know that it would need a good 10-15 minutes. I quickly whip my way to the waterfront and head down as far as the statue of Georgios Anemogiannis, hero of the Greek War of Independence. I must say that I was very taken by the neo-classical architecture.

I just have enough time to buy an ice cream tub before I walk back to the boat. I can just about manage to walk and click but walking, clicking and eating icecream is an art I haven’t yet perfected. By the time I reach the boat and take a seat on the deck I have a tub of milkshake which I drink rather than eat!

Once everyone is back on board, we set sail for Corfu, stopping again to drop people off at Lefkimmi. The journey back seemed far longer than the one going. TBH it felt like an awful long time on the water for so very little time at the two destinations. I had seen this as an opportunity to help me decide whether to go back to Paxos and stay longer – a little taster if you like. Has this whetted my appetite to come back and stay longer? I’m still undecided. I’ve been following a Paxos Facebook group and people’s thoughts are very mixed. Although as with any reviews you have to take some of what is said with a pinch of salt, generally it gives an insight into the experiences of a wide range of visitors, except the likes of Morgan Freeman. I wonder what his kind of a stay he has had x 2 this year. How did he fill his time and why does he love Paxos so much? My time there has been so brief I can’t form an opinion. It’s impossible to absorb the essence of a place when you’re under time pressure. Let’s see how I feel over the coming weeks.