Paros Paradise Blog

Greek Variation

2008-10-12T10:09:00.003+03:00

Here is a Greek version of an old joke. I stole it from another blog.

Here’s a poem I wrote down from a bar wall in Santorini.

Heaven is where…
the cooks are French
the mechanics are German
the policemen are British
the lovers are Greeks
and its all organized by the Swiss.

Hell is where…
the cooks are British
the mechanics are French
the policeman are German
the lovers are Swiss
and its all organized by the Greeks.

The Grasshopper and the Ant

2008-10-07T17:19:00.004+03:00

I am not just a grasshopper playing in the glorious sun. I am also an industrious ant preparing for winter.

This is 100 Euro of oak fireplace wood. It should last us through the winter along with what other wood we have scavenged from the beaches and construction sites. (There is 500 kg. in 3 rows.)

Our open fireplace is our main source of heat in the evenings, November through March. During the day we have strategically placed electric heaters. Our house is plumbed for radiators but we have not invested in a boiler. We would rather travel in the winter.

To fill out the post here is a photo of an unusually broad sail boat that anchored off our beach for a few minutes in August.

Vicki is 50! Paronaxia Reigns!

2008-10-06T17:38:00.004+03:00

Vicki Preston, Publisher of Paros Life, celebrated her 50th Birthday with an Open House gathering today.

The indoor highlight was this cake including a map of what Vicki likes to call Paronaxia.

The outdoor highlight was the crisp clean air that brought the neighboring island of Naxos so much closer. On my way to the party I could make out buildings on Mykonos as well; on an ordinary day we barely see that island.

The last few days have been warm and sunny with cool, clear nights. Whenever I step outside the Mister Rogers theme song pops into my mind: It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood!

This is Tsoukalia Beach in front of Vicki's home.

McCain, Biden, Greece Connection

2008-10-02T15:10:00.003+03:00

In sync with the election and tonights VP debate I am passing on this little tidbit:

In a biography of John McCain, "The Nightingale’s Song," the author Robert Timberg writes that McCain, then a Senate aide, was a fun guy and "much in demand for overseas escort duty," adding: "In an Athens taverna, he danced on a table with Senator Joseph Biden’s wife, Jill, a red bandana clenched in his teeth."

I don't have any photos of table dancing so here is my favourite video from the Aliki Festival:

Greek Island Autumn Photos

2008-09-26T18:30:00.004+03:00

Sorry for no posts recently. I have been distracted by other projects, personal guests, laziness, what have you.

So here are a couple photos to ease back into the normal routine of autumn.

Of course I cannot do this scene or my quality camera justice. This is the island of Sikinos from our veranda--just floating in the mist over the still sea.

As I was seeing off my friends on the Blue Star ferry I noticed bubbles in the air. Looking up I saw this guy toasting adieu to our island.

I also noticed that are a great many more people leaving the island than arriving.

High Season Beaches

2008-08-24T14:37:00.004+03:00

I have not published high season Paros beaches before because I do not think they are representative of our island. Remote coves are more our style.

BUT here are a couple photos that I took in early August on my way home from work. Work being checking guests into their private villa.

The first is taken from the road above Farangas beach near Aliki.

The second is from the parking lot at Golden Beach, aka Christi Akti.

Please click on the photos to see the detail. Comments and questions are welcome.

Paros Photo Journalism

2008-08-12T17:57:00.003+03:00

With the ease of Picasa web albums Karin has become quite a photo journalist. Do click the link below to see her latest endeavor. She turns a pleasant Sunday afternoon drive into a memorable experience.

A Sunday Afternoon on Paros

Please come back here to comment and thus encourage her to do more.

Parosporos Beach Wedding

2008-08-05T17:14:00.004+03:00

We were invited to the wedding of Will and Laura held at Parosporos Beach.

The lovely bride, traditional English wedding speeches, Greek food and the location all contributed to a great occasion that will rate high on our list of memorable Greek island events.

We also posted a video showing part of the ceremony with the waves crashing in the background. See it and other Paros videos at
http://www.youtube.com/paroshep

July Activities

2008-08-02T15:45:00.007+03:00

Well, I have not been blogging because I have been consumed in a project that has nothing to do with the Greek islands.

But we did manage to have a beach barbecue to send off our Amsterdam friends.

The Club Med cruise ship was there and we could hear music and clapping from their party.
This photo convinces me I need to buy a tri-pod for night photos.

The next day we went to a wedding at Parosporos Beach, photos to follow.

Greece Bits and Pieces

2008-07-20T13:47:00.008+03:00

Time to break my writer’s block by posting a few bits and pieces.

This photo is of a painting hanging at Lavantis Restaurant in Parikia, Paros. It includes a quote from a Pablo Neruda poem loosely translated as:

I want to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees.

_____

Escorting some guests through the gauntlet at the port reminded me of this quote from last year:
“There are so many people waiting for you at the dock and trying to get you to come to their place to stay. It is like being a rock star and having reporters screaming at you for a photo.”
From a Travelpod blog.

_____

Another year of awards for Greek olive oil including First Prize in the medium green fruitiness category for the Kritsa Agricultural Cooperative in Lasithi, Crete.

Contestants in this year's awards included 76 olive oil producers from
the 10 member-states of the International Olive Council (Egypt, France,
Greece, Iran, Israel, Italy, Morocco, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, and
Spain)

Read more at his old post.

_____

I have also written before about Greece’s slow absorption of EU integration rules. The latest report says they are only 1.4% not in compliance. This is their best score yet. On average the rest of the EU, including the new members, have only 1.0% of Internal Market Directives for which the implementation deadline has passed that are not currently written into national law,

EU-wide in terms of open infringement procedures, environmental rules are the source of the highest number of cases (23 percent),taxation and customs union rules (18 percent)are second.

Yachts at Krios, Paros

2008-07-12T18:29:00.005+03:00

No time for posting due to problems with reinstalling my computer's operating system.

So here are some photos taken today in the Krios area near the Panorama Village villa that we rent out.

The masts behind the large boat to the left belong to the Med II. More about it in previous posts.

More Dutch Artists on Paros

2008-07-06T15:28:00.004+03:00

I have written several times, e.g. Taste the Place, extolling the virtues of enjoying Greek food and wine at its source. Now I can say unequivocally that same applies to art.

Last week Karin and I drove our scooters up a long, narrow, rough road several miles into the central hills of Paros to an abandoned village. A few of the houses have been upgraded and re-occupied but there are still no electricity lines. My words cannot describe the beauty of the setting that our Dutch sculptress friend, Reina Ramakers, creates in. Hopefully these pictures will convey the quality of the experience.

Likewise my photos just hint at the quality of the work produced by the two artists who were exhibiting. I was very impressed with the photo galleries on their web sites. They are in Dutch so just browse around and you will find them.

Reina Ramakers

Jessy Boelen

The two artists

Paros Scuba Dive Centre

2008-07-04T15:03:00.003+03:00

Congratulations to Stuart, Alex, Marie and Alexandra!

They just successfully navigated the Greece bureaucracy to obtain the license for their scuba diving centre: Paros Dive

Only three months late!

So, from yesterday on you can get PADI instruction and recreational dives with the most modern equipment from three transplanted Brits and one Greek.

They are located in the Paros Kiteboarding Resort at Pounda, but take a look at their web site. It has a lot of detail and photos and if you are lucky you will find their web cam of the beach. That link again: http://www.parosdive.com/

Greek island Romance & Music: Abba Style

2008-07-02T14:31:00.004+03:00

July 1 marked the world premier in London of the film version of the popular musical, Mamma Mia. The film is expected to inspire movie goers to book a trip to the Greek islands. It is a romance featuring the songs of Abba and stars Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan.

While shot last year on the Sporades islands of Skiathos and Skopelos, these islands are unnamed in the story.

I would appreciate a comment from anyone who has seen the stage or film version.

Kite Boarding -- Kite Surfing

2008-06-29T10:24:00.004+03:00

Learning by doing: Here is my latest attempt to take short videos and combine them with photos to tell a story. Any comments are appreciated but I know I can do better, so watch for the next one. Cheers

New fix for shopaholics

2008-06-27T17:06:00.005+03:00

This post is a little off topic. One of the things that Karin misses on our little island is a second hand shop or charity shop as they are known in the U.K. One of our usual stops when we go to Athens is the extensive flea market at Monistiraki.

The best shops in the USA for used merchandise are called Goodwill. They now have extensive new and used products that you can browse online. Unfortunately they only ship within the USA, but shipping costs are a flat rate, so quite reasonable if you choose more than one item.
Take a look; its fun!

Fire Jumping Success

2008-06-24T17:57:00.004+03:00

I may have mentioned before that I bought a new camera a few weeks ago. I really like it but I am slow in learning to use it. Last night it came into its own; I managed to get several shots of lads leaping after several years of unsuccessful trying with my old digital camera.

The first photo shows the fire jumping circle in the middle and the free food and drink in the back.

Read previous descriptions of this annual event starting with last year's post or go the the Paros Festivals page on our web site.

Dance Festival

2008-06-19T19:14:00.005+03:00

Through the season the two major traditional dance and music groups give countless demonstrations of the skills and costumes. On Whit Monday we happened to catch one in the main square of Parikia. It was unusual to see so many people in one place on Paros.

Whenever people gather there are vendors selling either balloons or the latest cheap toy--usually something that lights up and moves. They always seem to do a brisk business.

Read about the Greek calendar year of events, festivals and celebrations.

Argo: Rowing around Greece

2008-06-16T18:28:00.003+03:00

Ancient slavery brought back for boat trip from Athens to Venice: A reconstruction of the ship of legend, the Argo, left the western Greece town of Volos on Saturday and is due to arrive in Venice on 12 August. The crew rowing on the 50 oars are volunteers, however, and will be well feted at each of 37 stops along the way. Their departure was serenaded by the local symphony orchestra for instance. Hellenic Seaways is sponsoring an escort boat.

It is built along the line of prehistoric ships of the Greek mainland in the 14th century B.C. and belongs to the same family as Homer's long ships and the later ram-bearing warships of antiquity. It is called a penteconter and has 25 oars on each side plus a simple sail.

Photo lifted from this site about ancient ships: http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Ships/Ships.htm

George Bush Returns

2008-06-12T11:15:00.006+03:00

My conversation with George Bush:

Me: Welcome to Aliki, Mr. Bush. (I know the correct address is Mr. President, but that is not what came out of my mouth.)
GB: Thank You. I am glad to be back.
Me: (As I shook his outreached hand) I am an American living here.
GB: I thought I detected a touch of accent there.

He smiled and walked on.

Karin greeting him as he walked along the road to our Piso Aliki beach.

So yesterday I read in the news that George and Barbara Bush were received in the Maximos Mansion (Greece equivalent of the White House) by Prime Minister Karamanlis at the start of their almost annual visit to the Greek islands. Today a big yacht sales past our beach and anchors off the Aliki harbour. The rest is history--which I will document sometime later with the other photos and videos I took.

This is the Latsis family yacht on which the Bushes and some of their grandchildren are island hopping.

Update: More photos and a short video at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ParosShepherd/GeorgeHWBushVisitsAliki

Dolphins from a Greek island ferry

2008-06-06T21:45:00.004+03:00

I don't believe in long teasers, but I still don't have the photos from Delphi processed.

However, the highlight of our return journey was several dolphin sitings from the ferry deck. I managed to capture the longest one on video. Sorry for bad photography; I still haven't mastered the camera.

Paros for Artists

2008-06-05T17:31:00.004+03:00

Several of our friends on Paros are from The Netherlands and several of our friends on Paros are artists. They both came together this week at an Exhibition by Five Dutch Artists on Paros.

The exhibition catalog included this excerpt by H.J.A. Hofland, Dutch journalist:

Referring to artist centres such as Monmartre, Paris he writes:
“It seems possible now that Paros will develop in a similar way. This small island possesses the indefinable atmosphere necessary to an artist to start work and to continue working. During several decades an international community of painters and writers has settled here, people who know they feel at home here as the continuity of their production shows. This has nothing to do with the usual tourism. Nowadays Paros has become a centre of artistic revival. And it keeps on growing.

‘What are the reasons for this growth? In the first place it is about freedom. Of course there are tourists here during the summer, but compared to other Greek islands they don’t form an occupation force in the season. There is no tourist industry. Moreover Paros is situated in a crossroads of maritime routes. Parikia cannot be called a city, but neither is it a village. Since centuries it has maintained itself as an international settlement. Inevitably this has influenced the inhabitants’ mentality. The people are open, hospitable, curious.

‘Artists need galleries to show their work, bars to talk to their fellow-artists, though not necessarily about their profession, an inspiring landscape where one can breathe freely. Paros possesses all this, and in addition: the sea.”

Competition and Prizes: Blogging

2008-06-04T15:19:00.002+03:00

I am about ready to organize my photos from a recent trip to Delphi.

In the mean time you should check out this free Cowpetition on the John Cow site. Not only does he have over $27,000 in listed prizes--tools and services for internet marketing--you can win by receiving an informative demonstration of how to set up and market a money earning blog.
You can't lose at http://www.johncow.com/cowpetition/

Expat life: Eurovision

2008-05-26T14:51:00.003+03:00

One of the highlights of our year is watching the Eurovision "Song" Contest. For those outside Europe it is an annual competition between countries that has been going on for eons and includes an expanded Europe such as Turkey and Israel. Each country has their own method of selecting who will represent them; some by popular telephone voting, some by TV executives. The final winner is now determined by votes from each country that are based upon telephone voting within each country; you cannot vote for your own entrant.

We first started watching when we moved to Ireland in 1996. At that time winners were determined by a panel of judges. Ireland was then a frequent winner. This year their entry was an embarrassment and probably a protest against what is politely called "tactical" voting. For instance Cyprus always gives their top points to Greece. This year Greece finished third despite a mediocre entry. The U.K. finished dead last despite a very good entry. The winner was Russia; there was no doubt it was a good song and sung by one of their top professional performers. The winning country hosts the extravaganza the next year. Which, by the way, always has very high ratings despite being considered blasé and kitsch.

This year we watched the first semi-finals on Tuesday night; missed the second on Thursday and watched the whole finals on Saturday--although I did fall asleep during the voting. We enjoyed the entertainment and appreciate that different people like different styles, also that our taste is not that of the young, music-buying market. Still, it is very disappointing to see that musical ability and quality is less a factor in winning than regional voting blocks.

I do wonder if this is a glimpse into the European future now that the EU has expanded by 10 eastern countries with more to come. There are many parallels if any one would like to comment.

Paros Choral Music

2008-05-24T18:04:00.006+03:00

Last week we had a very enjoyable evening in Parikia at a concert with six different choirs--with emphasis on different.

It started with very young children who managed to produce good harmony and then progressed to a youth choir who had recently won Second Place at a national competition in Athens. You could certainly tell they were good.

We also heard from two adult groups that sang traditional Greek folk songs and one from the Ekatontapiliani Church that made us feel like we were attending a service there.

These groups were all from Paros. The sixth group was from the Aegean Center for the Arts; it includes Parians and visiting students. They were very accomplished.

This photo is the only one that I could stand up to take. All the others were too full of the bald head sitting in front of me. It is of the five Greek choirs on stage for a grand finale.