Have I got a deal for you!  This book is $15.95 in the printed edition on Amazon and $6.99 in the Kindle edition.  You, my friend, can get it from me for free.

In One Year Lived by Adam Shepard (no relation)  you will meet a young man who has crammed into one year:  around the world travel with fantastic adventure, fulfilling his sophomoric bucket list, helping with volunteer projects, meeting and marrying the woman of his dreams, personal enrichment and gathering material for a career of writing and speaking.  It is told in a young, casual style as if he were telling a funny story to friends at a local watering hole.

I recommend this book for the same reason that I publish personalized travel guides:  not so the reader can repeat the same journey, rather to serve as a stimulus to chose your own course and pursue it with confidence you can leap over, or at least get around, the inevitable hurdles.

To receive your free PDF just comment on this post as to why you are interested in reading this book --and include your email address or email to me:  paroshep at gmail    Or if you would prefer to contribute to Adam and to me buy the book from Amazon.

                                                            
                                           North America                               Europe

While construction continues on the new Paros airport yet another regional airline announces new flights to Greece.  Now the Italians, who have been coming to Paros in increasing numbers over the past few years, have direct flights between Mykonos and Venice, Naples and Bari and between Santorini and Venice, Naples, Bari and Palermo.  Of course, both islands are just a quick and easy ferry ride from Paros.  More at Volotea.com

Thanks to Stella at Margarita's for this news alert.  She is the chef for our Greek taverna cooking classes

By the way, bookings are coming in for our private villa rentals so for the best selection you had best make your choices now at Paros villas  2013 looks to be a good year for Greece tourism.  Join in!

Lately I am seeing more and more on the world-wide web about being local.  For me this started because I greatly enjoyed the local food on Paros--the eggs were heavenly.  I have written often about the benefits of eating locally.

Now I think the economic slow down around the world has encouraged "buy local" movements.  Paros people, I know, are pulling together as never before.  Well, how about travel local?  Yes, a new internet concept has debued in Athens with the web site www.Dopios.com and is spreading to other major cities.

Their services include: 

• Customized Experiences and Tours by Locals
• Traditional Dinner with Local
• Casual Meetups with General Location Overview
• General Advice about your Destination

At this writing they have 69 locals listed under Athens and are looking for more.  Many offer walking tours and special dinners but my favourite is by Evita:  A Day with my Greek Family (€40)

We will spent the day in my hometown close to Athens (1 hour away) we will be next to the beach having cold drinks and enjoying the sun just 5 minutes away from my family's place! The name of the city is Kiato! My hometown offers a very bebautiful and breathtaking view to the sea and from the other side to some high mountains very close to it! There are also some very original villages that we can have our lunch and return to my place for a traditional Greek dinner made my mother!!!

 Or if you are the type who wants to find the late night action try Enjoy Nightlife in Athens with Kostis. 

Perhaps browse their site for good ideas and then think about doing the same on Paros.
Enjoy!

Would you like the thrill of being the first to find an important artifact from a lost ancient city (formerly lost anyway)?  Enough to pay €550 per week for room and board for the privilege of providing labor at a dig site?

 

The Helike Project in the Peloponnese is seeking volunteers for the 2012 season of July and August. Details on their site.  This city was lost in an earthquake in 373/372 B.C. and just found again in 2000.

I wrote previously about a similar arrangement on Crete and I would love to organize an archeology holiday on Paros and Antiparos.  Comments welcome.

Believe it or not, all good things come to an end; that includes our paradise on Paros.  Karin and I have decided that our needs and desires have changed.  So we are moving on to greener pastures literally and figuratively.

Hopefully we can carry on the lessons learned about integrated lifestyle from the previous post as we change the Greek taverna for the Prague pub.  I have initiated a new web site to go along with the change:  www.TravelShepherd.com  Please take a look.

As you will see on the new site we will not be abandoning Paros.  I will continue posting in this blog as items of interest to grecophiles come to my attention.  I will continue to host workshops and market private villa rentals, actually expanding this to include holiday homes around the world.

Our primary “home” will be moved elsewhere but we will return to Paros as often as business dictates. So please help us get back frequently by signing up for art or cooking workshops or hiring a villa by the sea, its cheaper than you think.

Cheers,

Finally summer has arrived on Paros as we have no rain or even heavy clouds in our forecast.

Also today brings the prospect of more flights to Greece from all over the world.  Hellenic Imperial Airways has announced that starting June 24 they will be flying between New York and Athens four times per week—followed by other countries later this year.  To quote from their press release:

“In phase 1, Hellenic Imperial Airways will be connecting Greece with non-stop scheduled flights to and from USA (New York), Syria (Damascus), Romania (Bucharest), U.A.E (Dubai), Morocco (Casablanca), Saudi Arabia (Jeddah), United Kingdom (London), Switzerland (Geneva), Canada (Toronto- Montreal) and France (Lyon, Marseille).
In phase 2, aiming to be implemented towards the end of 2011 Hellenic Imperial Airways aims to expend its network of scheduled flights to the Far East and Australia.”

I did not find these flights in a fare search yet but they claim the rates will be competitive but more importantly to me they say:

“their planes have 217 seats in the same space that Olympic Airways formerly fit 263”

Hellenic Imperial Airways has been operating as a charter airline for over 4 years and their international flights use pilots and planes from the former Olympic Airways.

Here's to the lazy, hazy days of summer. 

Greetings to all my Chinese readers out there.  Ha, do I have any?  Let me know.

Anyway, I have been watching with interest over the past couple years as Greece and China have cozied up to each other business wise.  This was given a boost when Greece elected the President of Socialist International as Prime Minister (George Papandreou).  Now Greece has created excellent karma in China by greatly aiding the evacuation of Chinese citizens from Libya.

I have also been reading that tourism from China is mushrooming all over the world, yet we see very few Asians on Paros.  Maybe that will improve this year because Air China announced in February that on May 11 they will begin “direct” (by way of Munich) flights to Athens from Beijing.

Hmm, it will be interesting to see how many Chinese are interested in the birth place of Western civilization.

Several years ago when we operated a pension on Paros I tried to extend the season by establishing an “Harvest Your Own Olive Oil” program.  I got a lot of publicity and interest but very few takers.  It seems not many people want to travel to a Greek island in November, the harvest time on Paros.  The weather is usually quite good but you can’t guarantee it for any particular date.  Now we are usually off island in November so I have had to turn away a few enquiries.  However, I just saw an AP photo feature of our neighbours picking and processing their olives so maybe I can turn the program over to them?

For lovers of antiquities and Paros’ ancient poet Archilochos here is an example of the high quality off-season art and culture programs on Paros:  http://aegeancenter.wordpress.com/2010/11/20/antonio-corso/ 

deTraci Regula, the About.com Guide for Greece has written a comprehensive, useful and entertaining Greece Travel Countdown Planner—Its nine pages long but worth the read.

By the way, if you are a family or small group now is the time to book your Greek island private villa for next summer.  Prime dates are being snapped up and choices will be limited after January.  Remember villas at the beach or with a pool are cheaper per person than most hotels.  Browse here  http://www.ParosParadise.com/villas.htm

We are preparing to do a lot of travelling over the next few months—something like six separate flights before February.  Our biggest concern, other than cost, of course, is weight restrictions on luggage.  So I was whinging that airline tickets ought to be sold on the basis of total weight of passenger and baggage.  I figure that most adults weigh more than I do so I should come out ahead.  Or at least I would not be able to complain about excessive charges for extra weight.

Today I see a survey for TravelSpec.com of 6,000 U.K. travellers indicates that 70% favour charging overweight passengers if they infringe on a neighbouring seat.  The others say that that obesity is embarrassing enough and they shouldn’t have to pay extra.  Hmm, I wonder if the respondents indicated their own weight?

In other questions survey participants indicated that crying babies and restless passengers were also a concern but the greatest number said they would least like to sit next to people with body odour.  True, I can’t think of anything worse.  How about you?

Comments welcome.

It seems that I have got this simple video thing down.  I just put together some snaps and clips from last May.  College students learning, reflecting and expanding their horizons on Paros.  Too bad I wasn’t with them when they went out at night, then I would have some interesting shots, I’m sure.

This is an old story with a new development.  Last year we left Paros on Thanksgiving—in America, the date is nothing in Greece.  The day before we drove our scooters to the home of our American friends, Al and Ardy.  They were not only storing our bikes for the three months we would be gone, they threw in a big Thanksgiving feast as well.

So after drinks in the sun in their garden we went inside for dinner.  I took my camera in to photograph the food but left my windbreaker and camera case on an outside bench.  Later when it was time to leave I went to get them.  They were gone?  Was it some workmen from next door?  Unlikely, more likely was a neighbour's hound dog we had seen skulking around earlier.  So after much searching in the dark with flashlights, Karin and I left for Berlin and Prague with no camera case and no windbreaker.  The windbreaker did turn up the next day in a field with paw prints all over it, the camera case must be buried in someone’s yard.

The point being:  among the accessories in the case was a knockoff of a Gorilla tripod.  I had found it very handy but not gotten around to buying a replacement.  But today I signed up as a Google Affiliate for Joby, the maker of Gorilla products.  So I am now buying the real thing.  It is perfect for taking photos of yourself in any location as well as holding the camera still for night shots.  Just don’t leave it where a dog can steal it.

One of the major drawbacks to living on an island paradise is getting off island and back again with manageable luggage.  Karin and I used to travel with at least two gigantic bags each when leaving for months at a time.  But now the decreased airline allowances and increased charges for overages have severely hampered our ability to bring back necessities such as peanut butter and maple syrup.  See Back on Paros

This week the travel search site Skyscanner.net highlighted a potential solution to packing light:  Nakation.  That is travel to clothing optional or naturalist locations.  They published a survey that indicates 2% of their respondents booked a naked vacation just to avoid paying hefty baggage charges.

We do live simply here on Paros.  Maybe we should carry it a strip, I mean a step, further.

Read about Nude and Topless beaches in Greece

I love that title and use it a lot when promoting my workshops on Paros.  But today it is announcing a series of free mini e-courses by deTraci Regula who edits the Greece Travel part of the About.com network.

She is offering the following:

• Plan Your Trip to Greece -  Plan your trip to Greece with these tips for Greek travellers
• Learn the Greek Alphabet in 8 Three-Minute Lessons - Learn the letters of the Greek Alphabet quickly and easily with these fun, easy lessons.
• Learn About Greek Mythology - Learn about the Greek gods and goddesses in this easy e-course on Greek mythology.

Think Greece  --  Have Fun  --  Sign up here

Guest post by my wife, Karin:

A big decision has been in the making over the past few months in our house by the sea. Deliberations going back and forth, with discussions of personal dreams and desires. Which has been fun in a way, because these "meetings" required only my husband and I and usually a couple glasses of ouzo!

It all started last year, in fact, with our 10 day trip to Prague for the Christmas Holidays...and it was Love At First Sight for both of us! When we left, I dragged my feet, cried a few "real" tears, and vowed to come back. Michael, as always, was a bit more quiet about it all, but actually his mind started thinking...slowly at first, but gathering momentum as the year passed. A busy summer came, and fall and winter were before us.

Now as wonderful, lovely, etc as life can be here on this beautiful island of Paros, it has one BIG drawback. When the tourists go home, and the island belongs to the locals again everyone sighs a big sigh of relief. For a couple of months we really enjoy the peace and quiet….the empty roads….the empty beaches. Then reality hits us....when the shops close, restaurants close, friends go back to their "other" homes in various places...and we are suddenly left with what feels like: nothing. OK, the scenery is still to die for, but culturally, it is about a 0 on a scale from 1 - 10! We have no TV (long, technical story – others on the island do) and we can only read just so many books. And how many times can you walk around the island….talking to the sheep?

That is the time a person starts dreaming their dreams...of getting off the island and finding some culture that inspires! But where? As everyone knows, the economy this year sucks so it has to be someplace close to home and not so expensive to get there.

Turkey was an option, as we travelled there last year and thought how much we would enjoy going south, to Bodrum perhaps, and stay a month or two. But somehow that did not appeal as it really is not that much different weather wise to here. (Is it possible to admit that we get tired of sun every day? People who live where it is cold and grey would never say yes to that!) Then, in a flash, we both looked at each other and said, "PRAGUE"! It just sounded and felt SO right.

From Michael again:

So this Thursday, Thanksgiving in the US but nothing here, we are on are way off island until March. I will be keeping up this blog as I find Paros and Greece items to write about—probably about the same frequency as I have the last few months. But even better, Karin will be joining me in writing about our Prague adventures. Those readers who have seen her past photo journalism efforts know they are in for a treat.

Please add this link to your readers, RSS, bookmarks, favorites, whatever you use: http://www.parosparadise.com/CzechMates

The Olympic Flame is in the news again.  I can not think of anything that is more travelled.  It makes a round of the world every two years for both the Winter Olympics and the Summer Games.

Last Thursday there was a handover ceremony in Athens's Olympic Stadium attended by dignitaries of both Greece and Canada.  The flame is headed to Vancouver, Canada for the 2010 Winter Olympiad—and Paralympics.

The flame reached the stadium after a circuit of Greece starting in ancient Olympia where the lighting ceremony was held last week.  It won’t reach Canada until taking a circuit of the world.

In 2004 the flame was on Paros but my photos are of backs of heads of the crowd and the feet of the runners.  So here is a dramatic photo of a statue of ancient Olympia during the 2007 wild fires.

Photograph: Petros Giannakouris/AP

I have just been playing with a cool web site which has actually been of value to me during this busy time of meeting arriving guests.

MarineTraffic.com tracks a great many sea-going vessels around the world, including all of the Greek island ferries.

Features include:

Location and speed of ships

Live web cams of ports, showing ships in sight

Photo gallery of ships, yachts and the like

Ability to search boats by name

Browse around; its fun. 

Since I live about 20 minutes from the ferry port I use it to make sure the ferry has left its previous port.  The only drawback is the ferry speeds are given in knots while the Google map is scaled in miles and kilometres.

The photo is of the Rodanthi which I am meeting about 4 A.M. tomorrow.  When I first came to Paros 9 years ago this was a standard ferry.  Now it is one of only two or three old and slow boats still in service.  Very hard to judge it’s arrival time.

Hmm, maybe this is the excuse I have been looking for to buy a Blackberry, Palm or what have you to track the boats live from the port as well as at home.

The Athens Urban Transport Organisation, OASA, announced a new “tourist ticket”:  three days of unlimited travel on all modes of public transport for 15 Euro.

While we personally seldom spend more than 24 hours in the Athens / Piraeus area this sounds like a good deal even for two days.  We find we are hesitant to take unfamiliar buses because they may turn the next corner and go a different direction.  With this ticket you just get off at the next stop and take a different bus—a nice adventure of discovery.

The old one day, all mode ticket only cost about 3 Euro but included only one trip to or from the airport.  So you couldn’t pop into Athens during an airport layover without buying two tickets.

This new tourist ticket also includes the tram to Glyfada and Piraeus as well as the Bus 400, which is a hop on, hop off service for the major attractions.

We have found Athens a terrible place to walk due to cars blocking the footpaths.  Now you can take the Metro, or bus, or tram, or train everywhere and don’t need to walk.  Cheers!

We have been back on Paros since Thursday and now on Sunday we are nearly settled in and caught up.  Though things will never be the same as before we left at the end of March.

Not only do we each have new computers and a new device to watch computer downloads on our TV, we also have lots of new clothes and many items of our favourite foods.  For instance we can get peanut butter and maple syrup on Paros but only at speciality import stores and at “special” prices.  One delicacy that we can’t get here is Beaver Horseradish Sauce, a national brand made in our home town of Beaverton, Oregon.

The photo above is just a portion of our bounty.

The major surprise we received when we looked over our veranda was our artichoke crop.  We left large plants with no buds but returned to prolific bushes.  Along with fresh local beets they made a great lunch today, especially with a touch of Beaver Horseradish Sauce!

 

 

We were also pleasantly surprised with the abundance of blooming flowers around our house.  It’s good to be back.

(Please click on photos to enlarge.)

 

 

 

Finally some good news about Olympic Airlines.  First the bad news, two weeks ago the government rejected all bids for the company.  They have been trying to restructure or sell the money losing business for years but nobody wants to pay what the government can politically accept.  Meanwhile the EU has ordered illegal subsidies returned to the taxpayer and the airline's always bad service--like any government owned business, I might add--has deteriorated.  Read our sorry example  HERE

Andreas Vgenopoulos

This week it was announced that the Marfin Investment Group has entered the picture.  They are a very well heeled (Arab money) company, Cypress based I believe, that has a track record of money making companies.  They are also politically connected as shown by last year's deal in which they bought most of the government's share of the phone company and then resold it to Deutsche Telecom against the unions' strong objections.

Some of the companies with a local connection in which MIG owns large stakes are:  Delta Dairy, Chipita chips, Goody's fast food, SingularLogic and our favourite Blue Star Ferries.

The dark cloud on the horizon is that the MIG chief executive met with the Socialist opposition and promised that if they won the next election (they are leading the polls) MIG would back out so that the airline could again be turned into a featherbed organization.

The executive, Andreas Vgenopoulos, is quoted:

"We want new planes, good service and an Olympic Airlines that will
make us all proud, and we will achieve this if the tender is complete."

He went on to say that the existing employees were the obligation of the government although they would create numerous jobs for new and existing employees.

Of course, Paros will lose its subsidized air service but I think it will be worth it to pay more for dependable schedules.

What do you think?  Comments welcome.

Do you want to know my innermost thoughts about life and travel? Last week I filled out a questionaire for the TravelPod site with the intent of posting it here as well. But they did such a good job of displaying it I will just refer you to The TravelPod Blog


That post commerates my selection as a Local Expert for Greece in their travel forums. You can find my "starter kit" or FAQ at this link: TravelPod Forum for Greece


Feel free to browse through the TravelPod site and forums; you will find some interesting people and information, if you like to travel that is.