Paros is a great island for walkers--that includes Antiparos. There are a few off-road foot paths and a great many unpaved back roads.
This photo is of our favourite: out our door, through Aliki and along the coast to the North. We usually go about 15 minutes out to a nice beach that has a lot of shells and other flotsam and jetsam. The more intrepid can walk all the way to the Pounda ferry port, I'm guessing about 6 km.
Many people like the history-laden Byzantine Trail between Lefkas and Podromos--all down hill.
Foxy, a walking hobbyist from the UK, has recently added several pages about walking on Paros to their web site. It includes several walks and plentiful photos.
Other friends from the UK who belong to a walking club there and live part of the year here are setting up guided walks. So if you either want to bring a group or come on your own and be on your own e-mail us for helpful information.
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The Greek letters in the logo are OPAP, the official Greece lottery and sports betting organization.
They are the administrators of my new retirement plan.
(Some of you may know I lost a lot of money in a failed real property investment. So I figure I can't do any worse with the lottery.)
My contributions to the plan are as low as 45 and 30 cents. That is for a convenient outlay of 75 cents I receive 3 chances on the next lottery draw plus another number that can be a winner if two or more numbers at either end match the drawn number. There are at least ten different games to play so I have a lot to learn before I can invest wisely.
Read more about our life on Paros on our full service web site.
Forget what you have known about Greek island hopping in the past. "Times they are a changing."
I have wanted to write a comprehensive article on the deregulation of Greek ferries but, as is typical of Greece, reliable information is hard to come by. Each sector (travel agents, ferry companies, governments) is waiting to see what the other does.
Last week I saved this article from The Times, UK
July 17, 2006
Greek ferries to see price wars
Greece is deregulating its ferry services — so that routes and fares across its 240 ports will be opened to competition. Fifty of the least profitable routes are protected by government subsidies for now, but the busier routes will see fierce price wars.
Noel Josephides, of the specialist tour operator Sunvil, says: “Companies have spent a fortune on new ships — the ferries are more modern, faster and more comfortable. Fares are more flexible: travel midweek, for example, and you can now get great discounts, while weekends might be very expensive.”
Blue Star Ferries (www.bluestarferries.com), for example, has fares starting at £7 from Piraeus to the Cyclades, and £15 to the Dodecanese, and a 10% discount on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Hellenic Seaways (www.hellenicseaways.gr) also has 15% off for early booking on the internet, as well as serious discounts on business-class and cabin prices.
In this transition period to full deregulation, the government has set ceiling fares for economy class and vehicles, but cabins and premium-class fares are now unregulated.
The prospect of reduced fares was exciting to us. We checked and saw a "super economy" fare from Piraeus to Paros of 10 Euro where before the cheapest was just under 25 Euro. The euphoria was short lived however, as this week we learned that most of the ferries were booked solid for next weekend. People would have trouble getting to the island and those here difficulty leaving on schedule. There simply are not enough spaces to go around, unless perhaps you upgrade to First Class. Note that for safety reasons the ferries have strictly enforced rules limiting the number of passengers per boat.
Stay tuned. I will try and update the situation as it develops.
Today I received this e-mail:
Hello there,
I am looking for your help!
I am researching a piece for The Irish Times on Irish Women who met their foreign partners whilst on holiday or working in the partner's country. Subjects would need to be willing to do an interview about their lifestyle and to have their photo included.
I have posted notices on a couple of websites but still need more answers.
Would you be able to give me advice on how to post messages for Irish people in the Greek Islands?
I am under huge pressure in terms of time so would really appreciate your help.
Looking for interesting stories with human interest value - maybe someone who was unhappy here and has found happiness and love abroad etc;
Lifestyles piece so interview need not be too in-depth.
All the very best,
Yours in hope,
Hilary Fennell
hilary@hilaryfennell --add .com if you would like to respond to Hilary
I found in interesting that we have known quite a few foreign women married to Greek men and can think of no foreign men married to Greek women. Also we know of more such marriages that failed after a few years than we know of long term successes.
Compare and contrast that to Ireland of recent history where there is a major cultural gap for a Catholic to marry a protestant; and the USA before the 60's that had the same taboos.
Please Comment.
P.S. If you are interested in Ireland check out our Ireland Itinerary site.
We recommend all visitors to Paros include Santorini in their itinerary as well. It is an easy ferry trip--two to 4 hours depending upon ferry and route.
This first picture taken as you approach the ferry quay helps you understand why the first time you see the island from afar it appears to be snow capped.
This is our granddaughter, Sarah, taken from the opposite view.
Santorini is enjoyable sight seeing and shopping, but many people make the mistake of scheduling as much time there as for Paros. They usually find, however, that two days is plenty. While Paros, the island with something for everyone, takes 3 days just to scratch the surface.
Read more about Santorini and the excellent Paros beaches on our full service web site.
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Last month I posted about easyCruise coming to Greece. Read here:
Paros Paradise: easyCruise among Cyclades
I had looked at the easyCruise web site but missed the following from one of their press releases:
Commenting specifically on easyCruise’s expansion plans in Greece, the cruiseships will sail from one of the Marinas located in the Faliro area near Athens (avoiding the commercial port of Piraeus that other cruise lines and ferry companies use),
offering weekend cruises to Mykonos and Syros, and 4-day cruises to Santorini, with possible visits to Paros, Naxos, Milos or Serifos.
According to Stelios Haji-Ioannou: “We aim to create a new cruise market in Greece, just like we did abroad. easyCruise ships remain in the port during most of the day and overnight, so that the passengers are free to visit the local bars, restaurants and shops, thus strengthening local economy in their ports of call.
We target a young, active crowd, with average age 30-35 years, both Greeks and foreign visitors. The advertising campaign that will support our activity in Greece will contribute to the country’s promotion abroad. Greece and its destinations will also be promoted through an easyCruise on-board reality TV show that is already on air in European and US channels”.
I think this is great news for the Cyclades and Paros. Not because we will have more visitors but because we are suffering right now from limited ferry service. A recent meeting on the issue by all the island powers-that-be came up with many suggestions but no solutions. One idea floated was to pool resources and buy our own ferry. I understand Amorgos did that. I should mention, however, that Parians are notorious for not being able to agree on anything relating to the good of the whole island.
Stay tuned.
I would like a logo for this blog and then for my full service site.
We will see what comes from: http://freelogo.blogspot.com
Our Granddaughter, Sarah, is visiting with us for about three weeks. She recently graduated--with honors--from Evergreen HS in Vancouver, Washington.
Green is her school color and she likes watermelon.
All in all a beautiful combination.
Photo courtesy of another proud Grandfather, Robert Bailey.
When Google Earth first came out we checked out Paros and found that it became a blur when you got down to individual building level. So we were plesantly surprised when a friend sent us this reference from Wikimapia.org: http://www.wikimapia.org/#y=36994335&x=25138178&z=17&l=0&m=a
Open it in another window and you can browse the island of Paros to your heart's content. Of course there are no place names for orienting purposes.
The photo above is our village of Aliki. Our villa is just above the left corner of the This is us! tag.
Read more about our island life on our full service web site.
There is also a map there if you want to find some place particular on Paros.
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