Since this blog is supposed to be about Greek islands, I will include some other Cyclades at least.
Mykonos is the most well known and, in my opinion, the most over-rated. The other islands has everything it has, except for glitzy nightlife, at a lower cost.
To try and generate some Comments--especially any Mykonos lovers out there--my photo is of a typical Mykonos beach, which is much more commercialised and crowded than the typical Paros beach. We do have a couple very busy ones though.
Our favourite beach on Paris is Agri Irini. There are photos in our web site Photo Gallery. Enjoy.
OXI MERA No Day celebrating the Greece entry into WW II on the side of the allies against first Italy and later Germany.
Here on Paros it is sunny, warm and calm. We have no military to speak of so it is the day all the school children dress in their school uniforms or white shirts and dark trousers or skirts for those schools without uniforms and march in a parade with the brass band and anyone else who has a uniform. Lots of flag waving.
Learn more at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxi_Day
This is my lovely wife, Karin.
It is difficult to know which pictures to post--fantastic scenery, quaint local scenes, or something of personal meaning.
This one has some of each, I think.
Traditionally Karin and I go to this Windmill bar on my birthday to have a drink before dinner. At sunset it is the most photographed place on Paros.
I always feel proud when I see so many people excited about capturing a moment that I experience daily.
Many more photos on our web site, of course. www.ParosParadise.com
I have just been browsing some photo blogs and decided perhaps I should show more pictures here.
This one looks like October but was actually taken May 05. It is the Parikia harbour with a Blue Star ferry docked into the West wind.
This is not my favourite; just the easiest to call up because I used it on my desktop for awhile. Because the evenness of the colour it worked well for that. Feel free to do the same.
I just discovered a traffic generation program that appears to be well done.
Check it out! Some work, some don't.
Hits 2 U
Aaah, our nice weather is back. Warm and sunny with just a slight breeze. I walked down to the beach and sat reading for awhile. Satisfying to be warm.
Which brings up another project that I am working on. Off season rental of a very nice villa. You take a chance on weather but it can be fun during a storm as well, especially if you like to eat, drink, read, play games. Come on, enjoy life on a Greek island.
I suggested to the owner to put the following 3 x 5 card up on community bulletin boards. Everyone is welcome to do the same--just personalize it. Maybe you can earn some free nights by sending me business.
Share our Greek island villa
We are part owners of a 2 bdrm house(sleeps up to 9)
that needs more use. Low, off season rates.
Located near the beach on easy to reach Paros, Greece.
www.parosparadise.com/Villa or Phone me at
Part of this blog is supposed to be about we are doing. But even if it is not interesting? Or if it is marketing our programs?
Karin is having an interesting time helping out at an Aliki taverna style restaurant while the owner is in Athens for 3 days. She will have to tell about that later, though.
I have been working on marketing materials for the Plein Air oil painting workshop in May 2006. Above is a picture from the 2005 session. Some typical comments were:
Thank you so much for your warm and friendly hospitality and "behind the scenes" hard work. I enjoyed the week immensely. D.S.
The best thing about the week was seeing the island and visiting the different villages, with plenty of time to paint. A.M.
Thanks for a wonderful first trip to Greece. You have taken the worries out of many aspects of traveling solo. D.P.
See more on our Art Workshops web page
Well winter appears to have reached Paros. Although we still have expectations of warm sunny days we do need to start dressing warmer and close the windows and doors occasionally with day time highs of only 62F / 17 C
Another aspect of winter is sharing our home with guests. We have participated and/or made offers in numerous home swapping/sharing groups--really too many to list. If you are interested, do a Google search and browse a few. The opportunities to expand or enhance your travel experiences are great.
If you want to come to Paros for a short, free visit or a long, low cost stay email us about your situation. We may be compatible.
Interesting? I have received a few enquiries for next summer from groups of 3 and 4 families --12 to 20 persons--. We have had a couple such groups in the past and they do have a lot of fun. Going their indivdual ways as the mood strikes and then getting together for evening meals or sharing a boat trip or windsurfing or the like.
I know of no accommodation specifically for such groups but there are many pensions--small hotels--of 8 to 12 units that work well. Also we know of small groups of villas for that extra touch of comfort and luxury. Groups do it cheaper!
Look for more particulars on our web site or email with an enquiry to host@parosparadise.com
Here I am spending time on this blog instead of re-organising and updating my photos. Oh well, maybe next time it snows here I will do that.
In the meantime take a look at the old ones in our photo gallery
Or best go to Webshots and search Paros--or any other Greek island. There are innumerable interesting and beautiful shots there. You can add yours as well.
Enjoy!
Paros
Imagine, 3 days since my last post. Once a day seems to come along so frequently. Thursday I didn't have anything to say and Friday just disappeared in unexpected activity.
Still, I did find time to drop by Paros Kiteboarding Center--not to be confused with Paros Kite Pro Center, of course--for a chat with George Georgoudakis, the owner. It was a beautiful warm day without much wind so everyone there was mellow. One old gent caught some nice fish off the pier; if he was a kite boarder anybody can do it! I think he was hosting his 20 something grandkids, though. Anyway, George and I will be working on some package deals for next season. So start thinking about your wind surfing or kite boarding now. Look at the cool pictures on George's site: http://www.paroskite.gr/index.htm
As I have mentioned before, Culture is big on Paros. This year the International Paros Art Circle, IPAC, has made great strides under the leadership of Peter Seibt and Heidi Mazenauer. The graphic is a self-portrait of Peter.
The IPAC web site has a fantastic gallery of local offerings.
They also published an Art Map of Paros that shows numerous studios that are open to the public--more I am sure than most large cities.
Paros is truly an art lover's paradise.
Well, it’s that time of year. Each fall as I think about the long, slow winter invariably I tell myself: You must learn some Greek! Some winters I have done pretty well, but then come summer I am busy with visitors, few of whom speak Greek, and I lose it rather than use it.
A popular book here is “Learn Greek in 25 Years” by Brian Church. It is a collection of humour articles about how difficult the Greek language is.
I will give a couple examples. Now that I have been in Greece for six seasons I no longer ask at tavernas for butter with my bread mainly because few have it available. But voutiro was one of the first words that I learned; pronounced boo tear o, it seems simple. But in real Greek it is βουτυρο.
Hopefully the most common word that you will hear is Thanks, relatively easy at efharisto’, according to the books pronounced ef har ees toe, but I have yet to hear a Greek say it that way. What I hear sounds like pear as tal. Yet when I have asked Greek friends about it, they have no idea what I am trying to say.
Trying to explain all this I have bitten off more than I can chew. So more later—if my winter intentions remain, that is.
"Matt Barrett - that quintessential Greek island expert - even states that if he had to relocate to a Greek island, then Paros would be the one. And that's high praise indeed. "
This quote was taken from the Paros Web Message Board
http://www.parosweb.com/paros-messageboard/index.html
Sunday is a good day to for a browse of local property offerings. There are plenty on Paros. There has been a building boom here with no end in sight. Mostly holiday homes for Athenians and a few people from other countries rather than hotels or tourist facilities.
Here is an excerpt from our Local Information Page
- Kristel Henauer of Kastro Real Estate in Parikia. She speaks German and French as well as Greek and English.
- Kalligrammon Designs - is a full service atelier providing design, construction and restoration of homes, businesses, interiors and furniture.
- Aegean Villa--Paros - Stone villa construction and other properties on the island. Make your dreams concrete and stone!
A good source of information about Greece travel—if you don’t mind advertising—is “Greece for Visitors” by deTraci Regula of the About Network. We occasionally trade ideas as shown by the Press Your Own Olive Oil piece she wrote about us.
Another article is about Volunteer opportunities in Greece. It is at
http://gogreece.about.com/od/jobsingreece/a/volunteergreece_3.htm
On our site we have a section listing volunteer opportunities all over the world. The link is http://parosparadise.com/World2.htm
Antiparos back country
Yesterday was cloud free so Karin and I decided to take the afternoon off and explore a back road on Antiparos that we had not traveled before.
Although windy it was a delightful day and we helped replenish our suntans. It was actually quite hot while we ate our picnic lunch on a small isolated beach. We thought it was the end of the road until afterwards we noticed a mast sticking up between the hills and thus discovered a tour group having lunch on an even better beach. While the guests waved the boat operator seem perturbed that we had spoiled the exclusivity of his offering.
We just moved on to explore some unusual rock formations and some other back country curiosities. For our swim we shared a beach with a retired couple and their camper van at one end and a young nudist couple at the other. We were in the middle literally and figuratively.
Official naming of Blue Star Paros
The most common question that we are asked about travel involves ferry schedules. Ferries are subject to a great many more variables than trains, for instance, so they are seen as "unreliable". To me, rather, it is just part of the Greek island experience to be more relaxed and tolerant of the uncertainties caused by wind, water, holidays and even labour strikes.
Also there is constant tussle between the ferry companies, the government, island interests and who knows who about which islands should be served how often and costing how much. As a result final schedules are usually not available more than a few weeks ahead of the new season. So the traveler finds it impossible to fully coordinate flights and ferries--again part of the Greek experience. More than one travel advisor has warned that precise planning and Greece travel are incompatible.
My favourite site for ferry schedules is Greek Travel Pages Others like Greek Ferries
More information about getting to Paros on our Greece page at http://parosparadise.com/Greece.htm
While living in Ireland we got used to starting and finishing, if not dominating, every conversation with comments about the weather. Upon moving to Paros, however, we just got blank stares from the locals when we commented, "Nice day!" Everyday here is nice.
Not quite, but it is all relative. Lately we have been having some unseasonal coolness and showers. Average day time high: 75 °F / 24 °C Average night time low: 69° F / 21° C
Starting to think about wearing long pants and shoes, but not yet.
There is more about typical weather here and seasonal averages on our Paros Page
I just realised that not only am I way behind in sending a newsletter, I have not posted the most recent one to our web site. So I will post it here for now and upload it there later.
The newsletter archives are located at: http://parosparadise.com/RecentNewsletter.htm
Greetings from Paros! June 2005
Summer has arrived after a very interesting and different spring. Different in the sense that while the cold did not linger on, the warm weather came slowly. Usually the cloudy spring sky gives over to total blue with haze out at sea, but this season the sky was full of clouds and we could see the surrounding islands as if they were "right in front of our face". So now if anyone wants to know what is typical spring weather I could not say for sure.
To start the fun was a painting session! No, I did not paint, but we did host a group of talented painters who came for plein air instruction from an American painter from Cincinnati, Ohio, Ron Johnson. The group was 16 total, including a few non-painting partners; most were Americans, but two were Greek and two from Belgium. Some where talented in another art medium, but wanted to learn the plein air technique. While trying to "stay out of their way" and still be a part of it, I discovered that I have absolutely no talent....but certainly did enjoy meeting everyone and seeing their progress as they brought back their day's work. The week long session ended with a beach party at our house in Aliki....where they still brought their sketch pads to paint the lovely church next to us and the sea view. I guess once an artist always an artist! From all of the above, they left me with a desire to learn to sketch--a nice quick way to capture your surroundings--combined in a journal with some descriptive words...wow, what a memory book that would be! (See note at bottom about September watercolour workshop.)
So far we have attended two concerts. One a Mezzo Soprano and flutist from New York who comes every year, lately combined with a very good pianist and the other was a wonderful night of Archilocos (An ancient Parian poet). His words in ancient Greek were set to music by a local group who beautifully and hauntingly sung them to an enraptured audience. How fitting that it was held in the local "Archilocos Hall". I admit to liking that event the best. It was so Greek!
One of our guests, Rob Magson was there as part of a degree project on the Poet. If you are interested in ancient poets, see his site at: http://magson.org/indexarch.html
Lots going on....Joyce and I took a cooking class. We learned a different style of Greek cooking from a Dutchman! He has a unique old farm house up in the hills with a view to die for! He has selected various areas where we eat our creations in the evening...these areas being under his olive trees with a sea view, on his terrace (pergola) with a sea view and another very special spot by a stone wall overlooking a fantastic view of AntiParos, with sunset included! We took the class with two other women from Amsterdam and received a lovely cookbook afterwards of all the recipes we learned to make. The problem with the class is that Joyce and I have now lost all desire to eat out in a taverna or restaurant. Eddy's style of cooking is so spectacular and wonderful, we are spoiled and most restaurants just pale in comparison! His secret is slow cooking and fresh spices. Eddy cooks only on top of his stove, using no oven. He picks his own herbs from the surrounding hills, and knows who to go to for local olive oil and tries to use mostly local products. We really learned a lot! He has a website if you want to see for yourself. It is in Dutch at the moment, but he is working on an English version. Click here.
We are doing more traveling this summer so next issue I will tell more about some other islands and the many local activities that are available.
Yiasis. (Young people now shorten this greeting to: Ya!)
Karin
From Michael
Building on the success of our May Plein Air Workshop we are now holding a September Watercolour Workshop with Marianne Gabriel of Athens. If you know of anyone who wants to improve their painting abilities please pass on this link.
This workshop also will be suitable for beginners. What better way to pursue that first step into painting than in the light and air that has captivated artists for thousands of years—Greece.
I won’t bore you all with the gory details but we had to unexpectedly change buildings in the middle of May. So we are now doing business as Paros Hospitality—providing our special brand of hospitality in a choice of locations. See our web site for photos of the current building or here for the Villa Randiana that we also manage.
Adio until next time
Michael
