We spent a pleasant Easter Sunday. 

It started well with one of our rare sightings of a migratory bird.  Karin took this photo out our lounge window.  I tried to sneak around the corner to get a clear shot but the bird took off immediately.  It easily had a six foot wing span.  I thought it might be a stork but the color appears wrong.  The closest I could find on the internet is a Purple Heron, but the color is wrong there too.  Any ideas?

The weather was warm but there was a strong North wind that I didn’t notice until we were driving our scooters into it.  Even so we battled our way to the farthest point of the island from us to have traditional lamb on a spit with other expat friends.

Afterwards we stopped in Naoussa for coffee and happened to be there in the middle of their traditional commemoration and procession, the main element of which is very loud firecrackers.

Then back home, still in the sun, for a quiet evening recuperating from all the food, drink and noise.

It took me most of a whole day but I think I have created something cool.  A survey form for Paros beaches using Google Docs.  The responses will be automatically tabulated in a spread sheet.  The next step will be to learn how to display the results but I need more responses first.  So please do your part by participating in the survey.

You can go to our our web site page Paros Beaches to see a list and photos of most of the beaches.  The survey is there as well.

Cheers,

Although I blogged about it at the time nearly two years after the fact I have finally written an article about our trip to Milos in June 2009 and created a web page for Milos.  This is part of my trend to provide personalized travel guides for the places that we have been.

As experienced Greek island hoppers we were not quite prepared for Milos. As our ferry powered into a large open harbour the vista was of hilltops broken with mining scars. The port town of Adamas sprawled up a hillside with remnants of industry here and there on the fringes. When we were in the town everything appeared dusty. In certain places on the island we would get a whiff of sulphur. Yes, Milos was noticeably different and has a unique history due to its geology.

During our three days there we grew to love that diversity and found many intriguing places to visit. The islands Mining Museum is a new building full of interesting old stuff and a fascinating display of minerals. Over the years many different products have been mined. We wanted to find the abandoned sulphur mine because we had heard stories about how strange it was.

The visit was a haunting experience ​even eerie, you would have to be there to know what I mean. The buildings (many not shown in the photo) had a heavy, slightly sinister feel to them.

We also enjoyed several beaches as we toured the island on our motor scooters. These included Firiplaka and Provatas. The most starkly unique was Sarakiniko; like a lunar landscape yet unreal.  Very white convoluted rock formations reach out towards the sea as if a monumental sculpture.

Below the central towns of Tripiti and Plaka are ruins of an old Roman city. On the way there we stopped at the cave where the famous ancient sculpture Venus de Milo was discovered in the 18^th century. This statue, by the way is carved in marble from our home island of Paros. Also near here are ancient Christian catacombs where the early, persecuted Christians secretly buried their dead.

Our other side trips included Klima where the houses butt up to a hillside with boathouses in caves below them.  While we chose the central town of Adamas for our stay the village of Pollonia especially impressed us.  It reminded us of our home village, Aliki, Paros.

Another highlight of our Milos visit was a meal at the O! Hamos taverna (O! Xomos in Greek, means The Mess).  We have never seen anything like it in Greece for charm and character.  It was funky, had writings on the walls and chairs and lovely pottery cups to drink our ouzo from. Then we were pleasantly surprised by friendly, efficient service and to top it off, the food was great.  I strongly advise any island hoppers who are getting tired of the traditional taverna to make a point of discovering this place at the edge of Adamas.  As it is right on the beach, we ate, walked across the street and swam and laid in the shade. It’s worth writing home about!

Milos is certainly not your typical Greek island for sea, sand and sun but we highly recommend it for its unique character and style. Since it is on a different ferry route than the main Cyclades of Paros and Santorini it is less busy and more of a Greek experience. Yet for most of the year there are daily ferries between Athens/Piraeus and Milos. This route usually includes stops at Serifos, Sifnos and Kimilos; all attractive little islands. There are also flights from Athens. Greek island hopping is a fun travel adventure, dive in.

Next I will update the Sifnos portion of the trip.  In the meantime you can see Karin’s photo journals starting HERE

Spring is in the air.  We are finally having some warm weather.  Houses are being aired and our neighbours are starting on all the weeding and painting that has to be done before Easter.

We are anticipating a traditional lamb barbeque on Easter Sunday afternoon at Margaritas, one of our favourite tavernas.  Below is a link to Karin’s photo account of an August afternoon there and elsewhere on Paros.  Note that this was an August afternoon when the island is supposed to be over crowded.

A Sunday Afternoon on Paros

This year we may even go again to the dramatic parastaseis in Marpissa.  The print edition of Paros Life has published some brilliant colour photos by Photo Frank.

We have written several places about Easter Week on Paros but today I want to mention an excellent article by Carol Mason in Canada’s Globe and Mail.  She writes:

The island of Paros does Easter better than anywhere else. It's the third largest in the Cyclades group, where you'll also find Mykonos and Santorini. Picture whitewashed churches with blue domes, orange blossom and bougainvillea tumbling down nearly every wall, mysteriously interlocking streets with no names that are no wider than the expanse of your outstretched arms, sugar-cube houses piled up on hillsides, or dotted sparsely on the windswept edge of a cliff. Paros's charm feels effortless.

And later:

From the minute the tiny Olympic Airways flight circled the island to land, Paros spoke to me, and kept on saying all the right things. On my first venture into town, an elderly man gave me a rose. Someone else tried to offload a kitten (cats run amok on Paros because the Greeks don’t spay and neuter; some people own about 20). The clothing boutique owner couldn’t bear to see me in flip-flops – 26 C being winter for a Greek – so she gave me a free pair of brand-new imported Italian shoes. When I protested that I couldn’t possibly accept her offer, she charged me a token two euros. Then, ironically, I did catch a cold, and the local café owner fed me a bottomless cup of hot souma with honey, and someone else bought me socks. As a tourist, I was hardly a rarity. But Parians take an interest in you. Of the Northern Europeans I met in the month I was there, it was easy to see why they had been coming back for 20-plus years.

Read the whole article  HERE

You can see it is easy to love Paros.