- Greece 2022: Retrospective
- Day 86: Athens Flight to the UK
- Day 85: Sifnos to Athens (Koropi)
- Day 84: Sifnos Troulaki Monastery and Kamares
- Day 83: Sifnos Sightseeing
- Day 82: Mum and Dad Arrive on Sifnos
- Day 81: Piraeus to Sifnos
- Day 80: Athens Airport Meet Up by Metro and More Piraeus
- Day 79: Exploring Athens Part 2: Hadrian’s Library, Roman Agora & Ancient Agora
- Day 78: Exploring Athens Part 1: Acropolis, Parthenon, Museum and Temple of Zeus
- Day 77 Agistri to Piraeus
- Day 76 Agistri Part 2 – Megalochori and Dragonera
- Day 75: Agistri – Chalikiada, Megalochori, Dragonera, Livadakia and Aponisos
- Day 74: Aegina Temple of Apollo, Ferry to Agistri
- Day 73: Exploring Aegina – Aegina Town
- Day 72: Exploring Aegina – Nectarios, Aphaia, Agia Marina, Ancient Olive Grove, Marathonas and Perdkia
- Day 71: Crete to Aegina
- Days 67-70: Last Few Days in Stalis
- Day 66: Day Trip to Agios Nikolaos and Elounda
- Day 65: Gym in Malia, Sunbathe in Stalis
- Days 63 & 64: Malia and back to Stalis
- Days 59-62: More Malia
- Day 58: Malia, Gym and Jogging
- Day 57: Stalis to Malia
- Days 52-56: Stalis Life
- Day 51: First Day in Stalis
- Day 50: Ios to Crete
- Days 48 & 49: Last Two Days on Ios
- Day 47: Southern Ios – Tris Ekklisies, Magganari, Kalamos and Chora
- Days 45 & 46: Exploring Northern Ios
- Day 44: Ios Mylopotas Relaxation
- Day 43: Amorgos to Ios
- Days 42: Kos to Amorgos
- Days 37-41: Kos Town Downtime
- Day 36: Kos Paradise Beach, Kefalos and Zia
- Days 34-35: More Kos Town Relaxation
- Day 33: Kos Lido Water Park
- Days 31-32: Kos Town
- Day 30: Kos Paradise Beach
- Day 29: Kos Town Hotel Move
- Day 27-28: Astypalea to Kos and Kos Town First Day
- Day 24-26: An Unexpected Extension on Astypalea
- Day 23: Astypalea Part 2 – Vatses, Kaminakia, Marmari, Steno, Schinonta and Chrisi Ammos
- Day 22: Exploring Astypalea: Tzanakia, Agios Konstantinos, Livadi and Chora
- Reflections on Paros
- Day 21: Paros to Astypalea
- Day 20: My Last Day on Paros
- Day 19: Exploring Paros by Quad Bike (ATV)
- Day 18: Paros Revisiting Aliki
- Day 17: Parikia Again
- Day 16: Chilling out in Parikia
- Day 15: Antiparos Again
- Day 14: Paros Parkikia Sightseeing and Beach
- Day 13: Antiparos e-bike Experience
- Day 12: Paros Golden Beach
- Day 11: Paros Krios, Marcello and Naoussa
- Day 10: Paros Aliki Beach
- Day 9: Paros Logaras and Punda Beaches
- Day 8: Visiting Antiparos
- Day 7: Travelling to Paros
- Day 6: Back to Kalamata
- Day 5: Elafonisos
- Day 4: Monemvasia
- Day 3: Climbing Mount Taygetus
- Day 2: Mystras
- Day 1: Manchester to Kalamata
- It’s Almost Time… Kalamata Here I Come!
- 2022: Another Greek Summer Beckons
Sunday 3rd July 2022
Morning Cardio
My first full day of solo travelling began with some much-needed cardio. The gym was closed today, so my only option for exercise was a jog/run. I hadn’t slept that well the night before, but I still managed to drag myself out of bed when the alarm rang at 7 – as much as I hate morning exercise, running in Greece is best done either first thing in the morning, or late evening when the sun isn’t as intense.
I planned a 3km route north from the hotel around the beach road. I wasn’t sure how far 1.5km would take me but I was hopeful of reaching the mid-point before the road turned away from the beach and started uphill. I wasn’t far wrong; the turning away from the beach was at 1.35km but luckily the gradient stayed flat until I hit 1.5km when I turned around and began the return leg.
I was pleasantly surprised at how good the run felt. I began with a 5:24m/km but managed to improve on that with a 5:10m/km for the second kilometre. Somehow, I then managed to smash the final kilometre in 4:35 which is pretty much my PB pace! I was definitely hurting at the end, though.
Back in the hotel, I showered and then sat down to enjoy my homemade breakfast using the ingredients I’d purchased the previous day: yoghurt with Greek honey and walnuts, a Starbucks latte coffee and some orange juice. I also had one of my protein shakes to refuel after the run.
Antiparos Take 3
While eating breakfast, I tried to figure out what to do with my day. As it was a Sunday, I had no work commitments and could in theory go anywhere for the day. I considered taking it easy at the main town beach, but that didn’t seem very exciting and I thought it might be busy with it being a weekend too.
With Caroline’s accident on Friday cutting our Antiparos visit a bit short, we’d never had the chance to revisit the nice beach we found on the north coast during our first visit a week ago today. I decided to rectify that by taking another trip over there: it’s not difficult or expensive to get from Paros to Antiparos so it seemed like a good way to spend some time.
I took the 10:10 bus to Pounta and got straight on the connecting ferry, so I made it to the beach just before 11 and had it pretty much to myself at first.
Wind and Waves
Although it’s been breezy on and off for most of the days I’ve been on Paros, today was quite windy and it was noticeable on the beach. The waves were larger and more frequent than they’d been on the previous visit, so although I did get in the water a couple of times, it wasn’t easy to swim and I mostly just floated around to cool off.
By midday, the wind had picked up even more and the beach had become a little crowded (only with 8-10 people, but it’s a small beach with limited sunbathing spaces), so I packed up my gear and started walking back to the town after one last dip in the sea.
Thinking about food, I’d seen a gyros place on the map called George’s Grill so I planned to stop there for lunch before taking the ferry back to Paros. However, when I arrived they were closed and a sign indicated they didn’t open until 13:00. I didn’t want to wait around, so I continued a bit further south and ended up back at Soulatso, the same cafe/taverna Caroline and I had visited a week before.
I had a very tasty club sandwich with chips and a nice dip, plus a Coke Zero to avoid having more alcohol (for a change). I checked the ferry and bus timetables and decided the 14:00 ferry was the best choice as there was a 14:25 bus back to Parikia.
Dinner for One
Back at the hotel, I showered and rinsed my swim shorts, then chilled out for a couple of hours. At 19:00 I got dressed for dinner and headed out in search of a place to eat. I wasn’t feeling particularly adventurous so I returned to Aioli as I’d seen a few pasta dishes on their menu that I wanted to try. My intention was to have a small meal, but ended up ordering three courses: garlic bread to start, followed by tortellini with smoked pork in a creamy sauce, and then chocolate mousse for dessert. I’m blaming the 0.5 litres of rose wine for my lack of willpower to resist the pudding!
Even though it was still quite early when I finished eating, I didn’t fancy staying out or spending any more money, so I went back to the hotel and worked on some YouTube content before going to bed.
