28 October is OXI Day, a national holiday. Read last year's description here.

The day before Karin was invited by Yaya (grandmother and our neighbor) to attend her grandson's preschool program. Karin enjoyed it as entertaining and enlightening. The children were very well behaved and non hyper. The posters were very militaristic, she thought.







We celebrated the day by going horta (wild greens) picking with Yaya. We now know what to look for so we will never go hungry.

Horta cooks up like spinach but is bland tasting so you need to add vinegar, garlic, pomegranate or whatever you have around.


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One of the little known benefits of living simply on a Greek island is the general lack of bathroom scales. No one bothers, so it has been two years since Karin and I weighed ourselves.

Yesterday, however, we walked into the wrong neighborhood. Suddenly we were confronted by a "stand-on" scale in the doorway of a pharmacy. Tending to be the type that rush in where angels fear to tread, I stepped onto the infernal machine. Boom, the needle swung to XX kg. Oh, oh my short hand conversion into pounds was way too high; I need to go home and use a calculator. Then maybe the result will be more acceptable.

No such luck, however. October this year has been a difficult month.We have only gone swimming a few days and I have not replaced that with regular walking. Top that off with the annual round of dinner parties for the expats who are leaving for the winter and my belly is back to the obnoxious size it was last spring.

No photos are available to illustrate this post!

So here is one of Karin swimming last week.

We are seeing frequent reports in the news media about Greek antiquity theft. There are at least two reasons, I believe. One, it is trendy topic because of the hoopla about the Elgin marbles and two, the police have received increased funding for this area.

This recent report is typical and just the tip of the iceberg in my opinion as anyone who has been in Greece more than a couple years, including the natives, will have picked up something ancient.

An 81-year-old man yesterday faced a prosecutor on antiquities theft charges after police seized more than 450 ancient artifacts from his home on Alexandras Avenue in central Athens.
The cache, which included objects dating from Neolithic times to the Byzantine era, is one of the largest and most valuable collections of illegal artifacts to be discovered in years, officers from Attica’s antiquities theft unit said. The collection reportedly included objects made of marble, bronze and clay as well as coins and icons.
“Archaeologists who have examined most of (the artifacts) are convinced they were illegally excavated,” Reuters cited a police official as saying.
The man allegedly told police that the artifacts were family heirlooms.

Just last month we took some guests to the ancient quarries for the Parian marble from which many famous statues are carved. I picked up a small hunk of white marble and held it to the sun. They were amazed at the light that shone through; so, of course, they had to have pieces to take home. Airport security gave them no grief, I am happy to report.

I should also report, however, that just last year an American girl spent the night in jail for putting a stone from a field at the Acropolis into her day pack.

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24 Oct Update: After reinstalling my old security suite I managed to upload four photos.


We have been having heavy rain and wind the last couple days. Just before it started Karin and I discovered an excellent place to weather the storm: the Moraitis Winery.

The winery has an excellent reputation on Paros but like Greece wines in general it is not known much elsewhere. In fact I was quite surprised at its large size and extensive storage. We have been in many Oregon and California wineries that are smaller. The photos will convey this better than my words.



There is a large central vault/hallway with numerous smaller vaults to each side; right for bottles, left for barrels.












Ha Ha or HeHeHe For Two days I have not been able to upload any photos.
(Plus numerous other computer problems; all related I am guessing to memory requirements of an upgraded security program. Just another example of terrorist activities creating havoc in everyday lives. And another example of the prevention being worse than the possible illness. Or just another case of me being frustrated as hell!)


We regularly drink their reds so took advantage of the tasting room to try their premium white and a rose'. Both are made from a Monemvasia-Asyrtiko blend. We found them excellent--certainly better than what we normally drink. The white had great character and depth; the rose' had a berry fruit taste without being too sweet. They also produce red and white from organically grown grapes.


The winery is not only open most days for tastings and tours it has a large tasting room with a grand piano and an audio-visual room for presentations. So it is available for meetings and conferences, that is social and cultural events.

The tasting rooms and storage facilities also serve as an excellent museum of by-gone wine and ouzo production. Karin did her usual job of many excellent photos. I had to severely limit what was included here to just convey the winery and not the museum.

For more on Cycladic wines read this article in our full service Paros web site.

Man, it's cold here. High: 68° F 20° C Low: 64° F 18° C

If this keeps up we will have to change out of our summer clothes and close the windows and doors. We are loath to do that because then summer would be gone.

Plan your trip Local Radar Detailed Forecast

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Here's an interesting item From deTraci Regula,Your Guide to Greece for Visitors

Fans of Nia Vardalos' hit comedy My Big Fat Greek Wedding" can rejoice. She's started work on a new movie, "My Life in Ruins", in which she stars as a beleaguered Greek tourist guide. And for the first time in more than 20 years, Greek authorities are allowing the filmmakers to shoot at the Acropolis. Apparently, they suspect this film may be good news for Greek tourism... not that Greece needs any help, as 2006 has been a record-breaking year for travel in Greece.

I subscribe to an expat newsletter published by Telegraph.Co.UK Recently they have run a series about Cultural Profiles. You only get a brief summary for free but it looks accurate--for stereotypes that is.

Any Greek readers please do not be offended. The one I read about the French is much more insulting.

National Cultural Profiles – GreeceNational Cultural Profiles are your guide to the thinking patterns of all the world's major cultures. Below is an extract from the Greece profile, please follow the link where you can subscribe to read the profile in full.

Introduction: Greece is a mountainous country and comprises a mainland and more than 400 islands, over 150 of which are inhabited.
Values and beliefs: Greek consciousness is keenly aware that the Greek city-state period laid the basis for Western European civilisation and the liberal democracies. Greeks believe strongly in their intellectual powers, intuition and sense of artistry. Self-image is of a cultural, eloquent, sophisticated European, experienced in social and commercial matters.
Concept of space: Greece is a tactile culture. Its distance of comfort is similar to the Italian - hugging and kissing are common.
Communication patterns: Greeks are verbose, theatrical and intense. Greeks believe in their own powers of oratory. They use rational argument like the French, but spice it up with emotive content.
Body language: Eye contact has been measured as the strongest in Europe. Special Greek features are a slight upward nod of the head (meaning “no”) and tilting the head to either side (meaning “yes, of course”).
Behaviour at meetings: Greeks hold many lengthy, argumentative and intense discussions amongst themselves. Non-Greeks will find them extremely loquacious, digressive, often volatile. They respect logic, however, and are skilled at pleasing (and often manipulating) other nationalities. They can display great understanding and charm, often appearing extremely flexible and accommodating. One has, however, to listen carefully as they extract concessions smartly when an opening occurs. They are normally well-dressed, neat and well-composed.
Concept of status: There is great respect for education, qualifications and intellectual prowess on the one hand, wealth and family connections on the other.
Manners and taboos: The multi-active nature of the Greeks means that they are often late for appointments and, when they give interviews, let them run on endlessly, even if someone else is waiting. Elderly people have a lot of authority and are not kept waiting. Greeks are excellent hosts and their hospitality can be embarrassing.
(Contact harold.formstone@rlcglobal.com for subscription details.)

For more about our life among these excellent hosts see our full service Paros web site.

We took our Sunday jaunt on Saturday, a warm, still, hazy day. We decided to ride out past Kolimbythres to the Monisteri area and then hike to the lighthouse on the extreme northwest of the island.

Karin took a ton of pictures of the dramatic rock formations but these are the two beauties that I chose to show. Aren't I a fortunate man!

I also found this change of seasons photo interesting. The livestock sharing the field with the sail boats.

Anita Miller has just posted photographs of her paintings that she created last month. They are found at TheArtistsRoost.com under Landscapes. The photos don't do the justice to the paintings, I'm afraid. We are very proud of the one Anita gave to us.

This painting of Anita's I am including in our continuing series: From Our Veranda--although it was actually painted from the veranda of the villa next to ours.

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This is a photo of one of our workshop participants, Marianne, painting on our veranda. (Hey Andy, that's you through the screen door.)

It is not too early to start planning your painting holiday for 2007. Start with this site: Paros Art Workshops.


painting holidays
Art Workshops

We are really enjoying the calm after the flurry of summer business. So far the October weather has been delightfully warm and calm. There is a sense of peacefulness as we walk the streets and beaches with just a scattering of other people--mostly older couples, a few younger couples.

Yesterday we took a jaunt to our favourite beach, Agri Irini, with the idea of having an ouzo after our swim at one of the tavernas. The south beach (Palm Beach) was closed up tight and the few people on the strip of sand were mostly nudists so we headed to the north Beach. The taverna there was having a private party to eat up the leftovers as they had just closed for the season. Karin's charm earned us a free ouzo.

The sun and sand were delightful but I couldn't walk to my preferred snorkeling spot without disturbing the congress of an amorous couple. It seems the sparsity of people on the beaches and along the paths this time of year produces a back to nature effect. Hmmm, if you can't beat them, join them.

Palm Beach

Blog Mad is going crazy. Or is that an oxymoron? redundant?

Anyway they have teamed up with a revenue sharing blog host named NUTANG.COM
I just checked it out and was quite impressed. I had tried Blogcharm which is part of BlogExplosion and it was O.K, but Nutang looks better and easier to use. Further there is a community aspect to it like MySpace and the rest. So have fun blogging and earn some change to cover your expenses. Click here. Cheers!

Currently membership is by invitation only but Blog Mad members can easily receive an invite. Join Blog Mad with this link.

Oh yeah! This blog is supposed to be about Greece so here is something that I don't think I have posted before.

Everything you want to know about Greece can be found in or around our full service Paros website: http://parosparadise.com