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