Paros, Greece

Paros is a small and quiet isle. Althought many ferries use it as a hub, no large cruise liners come in dropping off thousands of people for the day. The main town has an old town which is responsible for most of the famous photos of Greece outside of Santorini. Each step, every corner is photogenic in the old town. We were there mid-September and apparently the tourist season had ended and many stores were closing and the sidewalks were empty of people. It is so beautiful that you just want to sit in a cafe and try to absorb it for later use. I am amused by the cicada bug as it is mentioned in so many novels. Paros had a great supply of them buzzing furiously all the time and everywhere (well, they go to bed right at sunset and shut up then much like crows in India). Oddly, Rhodes was cicado-less and I missed their buzzing. We did take two busses out for exploration into the mountains and small towns, but there was not much to keep us there for long. We had decided that Mykonos would be crowded like Santorini and that we would rather spend that time in Rhodes. But to get to Rhodes from Paros, we had to jet boat back to Santorini and pick up the giant overnight ferry.