Naoussa, Paros

I saw a brochure that discribed Naoussa as a 'quaint cycladic fishing village'. Upon arriving in the town I realized that Naoussa is about as quaint as Myrtle Beach on Labor Day weekend. The outskirts of the town is a vast collection of rooms and hotels and finding a spot in the huge parking lot by the port took some pretty clever manuevering by Carolina. But it was early in the morning and we were actually able to wander around and appreciate the beauty of the town center without bumping into the tourists who were either still in bed after another night of celebration in the many clubs and bars, or were on their way to the surrounding beaches, by car or excursion boats that seemed to be leaving frequently from the main fishing dock.

Naoussa, Paros, The spiritual center of Naoussa is the tiny fishing harbor, packed tightly with traditional fishing boats and surrounded by restaurants and cafes. Its almost postcard perfect. I say almost because in the afternoon you practically have to wait on line to take a picture. According to Andrea, who visited Naoussa several years ago, if you come here at night you do have to wait on line if you want to walk the little promanade around the port, past the cafes, bars and restaurants. But at 9am the place is perfect and you can take great pictures without some geek with a camera ruining your shot.

Naousa Octopus drying There are so many octopus drying strung across the fronts of the restaurants that I wonder if they are actually catching them or manufactoring them. Each restaurant has what would amount to a years catch on any other island and after looking around to make sure nobody is watching, I squeeze the tentacle of one to make sure it is not made of rubber. It is real. And as I find out later when I eat it grilled on charcoal, quite delicious. To find out the amazing truth about where all these octopus come from click here.

Naoussa, Paros, Greece Drying in the sun near the small church in the harbor are tables of Kolios, which are makeral, seasoned and grilled and then served with ouzo at restaurants and ouzeries like Barbarossa and the Psarotaverna-Ouzeri to Naftikon. The dish is called 'gouna'. They taste incredible. Despite the fact that popular tourism has won the battle for Naoussa, the food here is excellent. We spent the entire afternoon drinking ouzo and sampling dish after dish of Parian specialities and even some dishes like the Kritiko salad, served on paxamadia (dried bread), which obviously came from Crete. Just when I thought it could not get any better a plate of sardeles pastes appeared magically in front of me, a gift from the owner who was obviously impressed by my knowledge of Greek cuisine and my ability to drink ouzo while keeping pace with the toughest of the fishermen. As I finished the last delicious fish I heard the owner ask his friends at the table next to us "How did you like the sardeles?"
"What Sardeles?" They replied.
I hid the empty dish under the Parian Potato Salad.

Naoussa, Paros, Greece When I looked around at the other tables I realized that we were the only foreigners. In fact, as Carolina explained it to me, what keeps Naoussa and these seaside restaurants and ouzeries authentic is that the village is a popular destination of Athenians. Had Naossa been completely swallowed up by mass tourism we would have been eating mousaka and squid-rings (tourists get weirded out by tentacles). Because the Greeks love Naoussa these restaurants serve high quality food at reasonable prices.

Sitting there in the shade, with the wind blowing, watching the Egyptian fishermen mend their nets, I realized that despite the commercialism of the place, I could easily spend my summers here, sipping ouzo, eating grilled octopus and grilled sun-dried makeral, living life to the fullest, while occasionally being asked to help out a tourist couple by taking their picture in front of the small church.

Naoussa, Paros OK. So Naoussa has been exploited. Its not a quaint traditional fishing village any more than Monterey, California is. But who cares if the fishermen have hired Egyptians to work their boats while they tend bar or play host and tabli in their restaurants? Who cares if the cafeneons have been replaced by galleries? This is the new Greek island reality and you can no longer look at it as a visit to a pleasant little country when you come here in August. You have to see it for its entertainment value, like a trip to Disneyland. And Naoussa, like the rest of Paros, rates very high. Maybe my six year old daughter would disagree but I would rather be here then in Disneyland, any day. I'd even rather be here than in Mykonos. And when you walk through the beautiful back streets of Naoussa past whitewashed buildings and little shops do you really care what surrounds it, whether it be a sea of hotels or even an expressway? (No there is not an expressway in Paros). There are many beaches near and around Naoussa including the popular Kolimbithies and the world famous windsurfing beach of Santa Maria. But it is the nightlife that makes Naoussa a mini-Mykonos and for more on that I introduce you to Mr. George Papadakis.

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