Below are excerpts from two emails that Karin and I sent to some English friends that had seen an advertisement for a holiday flat for sale in our village of Aliki.

From Karin:
Aliki is a small village, but growing. It is on a bay, has 3 swimming beaches, one right in the village center. Aliki has a petrol station, 1 wonderful large bakery, 2 "supermarkets" , one very traditional and the other more gourmet. In winter, the gourmet one becomes a bit more traditional, as in season it caters to the people from Athens and abroad. We have a friendly butcher and wife, a very helpful and friendly woman pharmacist, a Doctor comes 2 or 3 days a week.

We have bus service to Parikia. We have a language school. The village center wraps around one of the beaches, and has 6 restaurants, some out on the water on a pier/jetty. We have a small souvlaki takeaway, an ice cream shop in summer, a kiosk with a little childrens playground in center of town on the beach, and a larger playground, sports field and tennis courts in a different location, a shop that is slightly touristic, yet sells wonderful gift items, shoes and a small line of clothing, a scooter rental and in summer a shop that sells Paros items such as wines, soaps, sweets, etc.

While this is a lot for us, it still maintains a small village atmosphere. However, the surrounding area is growing with more summer homes now; yet it is still rural. We live in Piso Aliki on the beach, with sheep running around and goats in the fields in front of us. It is quiet except for the chickens in the morning.

The street that runs along the sea in front of restaurants is closed off to traffic in summer from 7:00 PM until midnight, so that families can stroll and kids can ride bicycles.
Aliki is a safe place to be...I have walked home at 2:00 AM in the morning alone and never even given it a thought to not feel safe. Also, just today, I commented on how wonderful it is to see children playing on the beaches, running around so carefree with parents assured of their safety. People know people. People care about their neighbors, often the Greeks share there veggies and fruits with us. The tavernas and cafes here are full of people meeting friends. It does attract tourists during summer months, so there are several hotels blending in with the homes.

Because of 3 beaches, it can handle all the tourists in August without a problem of being overcrowded. If you are thinking about all year, then I can tell you more about winter here, but am presuming that you are interested in summer only?

From Michael:
I just wanted to add a bit more to what Karin wrote.
I drove by this area but could not tell the exact building. There are some recently completed and some under construction. So this area has become an extension of the main village. Right now it is a long walk--5 minutes--to the village centre and its shops. But we have been told a new supermarket will be built across from the new bakery.

The new bakery is across a side street from this area. That is a plus for convenience but a negative for weight gain. Same sort of thing that the area is next to the sports field and lighted tennis/basketball courts. Is that a plus or minus? It is quite close to one of the three beaches in the village. The area--I guess it has a name but I don't know it, probably St. Nicholas for the small church there--is at the edge of development so it is a short walk to the countryside and to our favourite walk along the undeveloped coast.

In short, I like it and that price a buyer can't go wrong. It will both be easy to rent and will certainly appreciate in value. You ought to come take a look for yourself.

Here is a link to a Google satellite photo: Click for Aardvark Map

Any comments? What is your ideal location for a holiday (vacation) home?

I thought I should keep up with blogging styles by embeding a YouTube video in my blog. But it seems 99% of what is available has been posted by hormonal young men and the majority of those taken at the Pounda Beach Club.

This is the place that Karin and I happened to be going by one day and saw their bunge jumping crane. We stood on the hill above watching the mass of gyrating bodies moving to the base beat. We got dizzy and left.

Many Paros visitors would consider such a scene as spoiling the island. Yet to the young people there it is heaven on earth. All I can say is don't worry, this beach club is well shielded by high board walls; most visitors and even many residents aren't aware of its existance.

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Airport to ferry port in 50 minutes, without changing trains! Although the Athens Metro (subway) has connected the two since the 2004 Olympics the trip involved a transfer in central Athens that was difficult to manage with luggage. The Express busses were still the best option. In another two months that will be changing.

The Proastiakos or suburban railway has already had its test run carrying the Transport Minister and members of the press. Although the route looks very round about on a map the trains are capable of 160 km per hour (100 mph) .

The train also connects to other popular destinations out of Athens such as the Corinth canal and the historical capital of Naplion on the Peloponese.

I am really impressed with the continual improvements to transportation in and around Athens. If they would only do something about the parked cars blocking the sidewalks!

Hey Greece visitors, it’s getting easier and easier to get here. This year there are not only increased flights to Europe from the other continents; there are increased flights to Greece from throughout Europe. Now we even have a new airline coming to Paros.

I hope to write more extensively on flights to Europe and Greece later, for now just let me say that the most economical way to get here is to find a direct flight from your nearest gateway city to a European gateway, then a no frills or charter to Greece. For instance we flew direct from Portland, Oregon to Frankfurt, Germany and then easyJet to Athens. Also many European cities, including several within the U.K., have weekly charter flights directly to the nearby islands of Mykonos, Santorini and Crete.

This season in addition to the 2 or 3 flights per day by Olympic Airlines to Paros we have twice daily Seaplane flights from the Attica port of Lavrio. In June it is only 70 Euro to reach our paradise and 82 to leave, including taxes, fees and the like. The company claims they will soon have inter-island routes available as well as charters and excursions. They use Twin Otters that carry up to 19 passengers. The company is AirSea Lines.

Maybe exchange the traditional Greek experience of ferry boats for the exhilarating bird’s eye view of the island bespeckled blue waters. They call it flightseeing.

Read more about transportation, Greece and Paros on our full service Paros web site.

Today is a quiet day for us--excluding the firecrackers frequently exploding throughout the neighborhood--because I am just recovering from what was probably the flu. That combined with traveling to Syros has caused a week without posting.

I have prevailed upon Karin to write about Syros and our visit there. So soon you should see her evocative prose and pictures.

I won't comment upon the cruise ship sinking at Santorini because I have no insights. Bad things happen to good people wherever they are.

One Paros connection that I am tardy in my reporting is Marion True and the Getty antiquities controversy. Read the background HERE, in which mention was made of exchanging her freedom for a couple of the antiquities in dispute. Sure enough it happened in March. Although no one will admit to quid pro quo, Marion is now free on bail (small enough that I wouldn't expect her to be coming back to Greece) and Greece has two more antiquities from the J. Paul Getty Museum. They are a 4th century B.C. gold funerary wreath from the Greek province of Macedonia and a much older statue of a 'kore' (young woman) made of Parian marble.

Of course Greece has more museum quality artifacts than they can display. What they are really after is return of the Parthenon Marbles--commonly called the Elgin Marbles.

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