The Night Parga Stole My Heart

Parga is beautiful, that I already knew even before I arrived but I didn’t expect that it’s going to be THAT beautiful. After seeing Lefkada and Corfu, I wasn’t thinking much about Parga and was already considering that it won’t live up to my expectations. Well to tell you very honestly, I thought that the beauty that I have seen in Corfu and in Lefkada will be very hard to beat. That’s not the case though as Parga instantly became my favorite among all the three resort towns that I have visited during this trip, it didn’t take a lot of time for me to decide on that as Parga stole my heart the moment I laid my eyes on it.

We arrived there at dusk just when the restaurants and shops were starting to give light to the promenade. The port was busy with people waiting for their ferries or water taxis to pick them up probably from a day tour to Parga town. I felt lucky that I was not going to leave this place that early.

The town is nestled between hills which makes it more charming. Narrow, winding and small alleys surround it with whitewashed houses and bougainvilleas prettifying the atmosphere even more. The original architecture seem to be preserved and I love how the houses along the sea stacked on top of each other were painted in bright pastel colors giving a vibrant yet cozy atmosphere to the place. Tavernas, bars, cafes and hotels line up the promenade and as the day turns into night – the crowd slowly picks up, there is a strong indication in the air that “fun” is just about to begin.

We walked towards the right end of the promenade passing through a myriad of tavernas but we wanted to sit somewhere quiet, somewhere away from the crowd so we continued our walk. From here we could see the ruined Venetian castle on top of the hill overlooking the town and on our left side, the charming church of Panagia sitting silently across the town of Parga in a small island – remote, quiet and peaceful.

At the very end of the promenade was a cozy Italian restaurant called Ostria. We sat on one of their outdoor tables overlooking the sea and the church of Panagia right in front of us. A small boat passed by and docked right in front of the church, I watched as it bobbed up and down in the middle of the sea and as I squinted my eyes to see it clearly – I saw a man holding a camera with a lens as long as my arm pointing towards the Venetian castle right on top of us. I wanted to yell out to him to ask him to pick me up so I can go with him to take a photo of the castle from the boat. It must’ve been a very good perspective to take a photo of the castle and the town as well.

The food was great in this Italian restaurant. I loved their garlic bread and the buttered mushroom and my main course of seafood pasta was to die for. It was a huge serving but I finished it all off, I’d highly recommend this restaurant. It was so good that we even considered dining there the next day which of course does not conform to our rules – never dine in the same restaurant twice while on a holiday. So we didn’t, as much as we’d love to.

After the dinner, we walked some more towards the other end. By this time, Parga is buzzing – people flocked the area and all of the tavernas we passed by earlier whose waitresses were calling out to us were already too busy to notice the people passing by. Almost every place we passed by was full and lively, I suppose they were all tourists but then it still made me feel like it’s a typical Greek dinner atmosphere – loud, noisy and fun!

At this time, the town was fully lit which created a very romantic atmosphere into the night. We reached that part of the promenade where Kryoneri beach was located, it’s a small gulf with sun beds and parasols. Of course empty at night but I can only imagine the crowd it has during the day. We walked back towards where the bars were and sat at a lounge called Sugar.

We were greeted warmly by a lovely girl who we later found out was from Bulgaria and was just there for the summer to work. The boyfriend ordered a margarita and a certain drink bluntly named as “blow job” caught my eye – made of bailey’s irish cream and kahlua. I teased the boyfriend to order it for me, he didn’t so I had to ask for it in a low voice. LOL. The waitress laughed out loud though probably mocking me for being shy about it or she just wants to embarrass me more. The drink came with an incredibly long straw and as I sipped on it, the waitress kept asking me: how’s your blow job? She’s funny.

I ended up ordering one more of it before calling it a night. As we wound our way past the tavernas, souvenir shops and bars back to our car, there’s only one thing in my mind – I’ve fallen in love with Parga and I envy this cat who sees Parga’s beauty every single day of his nine lives,

I really would like to post a lot more photos on this blog but I’m afraid I will reach my limit of photos just on this post. If you wish to see more of this wonderful place, please do visit my Facebook page: Pinay Flying High.