Chris and Karen included Paros in their Greek island honeymoon so that they could take one of Eddie's Cooking classes.

In this photo we are about to join them in great Greek food presented farm house style. We just had wine while watching a beautiful sunset over the sea and other islands. During dinner the full moon rose behind us. The taste is in the place!

Read more about activities on Paros, even into the autumn.

Last weekend one of Aliki villages most popular citizens got married: Manoli of Manoli's Cafe' married his long time girlfriend, Georgia. They had a party at their house on Thursday and the celebration continued-with rest breaks--through Sunday morning.

I stand corrected on all my previous references in this blog to seaweed. I just learned courtesy of the Aegean Institute here on Paros that all those pieces of plant seen after high winds washing around our rocks and beaches are actually Posidonia (fykiadha in Greek), a grass that is related to the palm tree.

It's main value is that it produces a high amount of oxygen; up to 20 litres per square metre per 24 hours--for those of you who don't know liters and meters, that is a lot. Historically the Posidonia blades have been used for insulation and fertilizer. In our snorkeling we see many meadows of this grass; the water is so clear it grows in great depths. Learn more at the Aegean Institute web site

Also I have written before about Greece dragging its heals on adopting laws to allow freer flow of goods, services and people within the EU. Recently the European Court in Brussels ruled against Greece's used car tax which taxed cars bought outside the country much higher than those bought within Greece. (This and the next story from Athens News Agency.)

Greece is making great strides in infrastructure construction and not just within Athens. Thessalonica, the business capital in northern Greece, how has a 98 km suburban railway that can reach speeds up to 160 km per hour (59 miles and 96 mph).

Finally, I have not previously written about the fires in Greece this summer because I found readers knew more about what was happening than I did. But now chances are that follow-up reporting has fallen off the international media horizon. A recent report by the Fire Service estimated a 30% rise in arson this summer. Yet only 14 of the 137 fires in the Peloponnesus were caused by arson they say. The Fire Service investigators have not found evidence of an organized plan behind the fires. I am sure we will hear more from all sides, however.

Stay tuned.

I have decided to get double duty out of what I wrote for a discussion group by posting it here.
I was asked: "Is there as much "machismo" in Greece as has been reported or is it another stereotype?"

My answer: Interesting question. I have two examples.

A few years back I read a European Commission sponsored study that listed the average number of times that people had sex per month by nationality. Greek men were at the top of the list. This did not quite match my understanding compared to the French and Italians, say. So I looked into the study further. Turns out it was just a survey; they asked the men. I had to laugh; who would believe what a Greek man told them!

I field many questions per year from single women about the advisability, safety of traveling alone in Greece. I assure them that while Athens is like any big city anywhere once you get to the islands you are perfectly safe and will have no problems--as long as you don't mind the compliment of men vocally admiring your feminine assets. The Greek men are very friendly to foreign women, but they will take No as an answer. Of course they have been known to accept a Yes on occasion as well.

Question: "Who was the great Greek comedian?"
My answer:
The Shakespeare of ancient Greece was Aristophanes.
His play that all colleges like to produce because of the sexual theme and phallic costuming is Lysistrata.

Here is a link to an online course about Greek Theatre: http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/spd130et/ancientgreek.htm

I finally have an excuse for not posting.
This update to the new Blogger and a new template is not going well.

It all seems to be misinterpretation of XML code since the same code worked well in the old blogger. But I am plodding away.

Once I get it working then I will fine tune fonts, colors, photo and the like.
Is this fun?

Auction Ads is going from strength to strength. This group allows bloggers and webmasters to harness the power of eBay in a fun and profitable way. Read all about it on their site; it is simple and easy.

Use this link and they will start you out with a $25 credit to your account. There are no charges; they pay you when your commission earnings reach $50.

Sep 16 Update: See sample ad at the foot of this page.






Sep 11 Update: $25 Sign-up Bonus must be the in thing. Now Capital One is offering two for each new credit card--one for you and one for me. So if you would like a Capital One card contact me by Comment or email and I will give you the code that allows each of us to have $25 credited to our accounts.

Sep 17 Update: The blog traffic exchange site Blog Soldiers is running a special offer as well. Take a look!

Cheers,

P.S. Those looking for Greek island content keep reading below.

Today is beautiful; cool crisp air with no moisture to hide all the Greek islands that have suddenly popped up into our view. Yesterday I snorkeled over sand instead of of the usual rocks. I saw many starfish and a medium-sized plaice type fish. That's it, not much happening here.


One of our artist friends, Hans Giesen, who I have written about before, is having a major exhibition in Chania, Crete this month. "Forty years half a stranger in the land of light" commemorates his first painting trip to Crete in 1967.


deTraci Regula's Greece for Visitors has some good material this month including a list of Charities for Greek Fire Victims.


Finally this fun fact from the Lufthansa newsletter:
The name "marathon" and the distance used today of 42.195 kilometres go back to the legend of Pheidippides. He was said to have collapsed dead after running the approx. 40 kilometre stretch from Marathon to Athens to proclaim his message "Nike, Nike!" (victory, victory).