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Month: May 2006

…From Paros, sun-kissed and honest…

10/05/2006 Johnnyboy

I left Mykonos with the sense of ‘mission accomplished’. While on Mykonos I accomplished my goal of viewing Delos, ate some good food (more about that) and met some nice folks. I was happy to leave, however for there is nothing really there for me. Paros, on the other hand is something completely different.

I left on a high speed catamaran, which cruised down to Paros at a brisk 45 mph. I was glad to see little Paros, which is still, in many ways, the island that Mykonos once was. This is not to say that there is no tourism on Paros, but the clientele is more sedate, family-oriented, and less apt to fall into the party scene. ‘Laid back’ is a good way to describe Paros. It is also a good deal less expensive, and for those same reasons. The population is about 20,000 year round, with a viable fishing and merchant community. There are not the plethora of gold and leather shops like Mykonos and the locals seem much more in line with Greece as a whole.

I arrived around noon and the temperature was a lovely 80*. The sun, on the other hand, was typically mediterranean and blistering hot. Thankfully my #45 sunscreen held out for a time, but by 3PM I had to go inside for little ‘ipnos’. My room is clean, comfortable, with a lovely little balcony overlooking the central plaza of the main town of Parika. At 25 Euro a night, quite a bargain. Like most of the country, this town is preparing for the summer which means construction and refurbishing. So what if the plaza was full of workmen with jack-hammers? After a few seconds I was snoozing away, competeing with the racket. After my rest, a shower and a chat with the hotel owner about the big football game (Athens vs. Piraeus), I set out for the evening.

I am only here for the night and my boat for Santorini (Thira) leaves at the main quay around noon. I’ll arrive in Santorini around 3PM, and spend the next hour or so finding a hotel for my 2 nights there. I’ll certainly update when I can before I leave for Crete (Kriti), but for now I think I’ll enjoy another espresso and search out a suitable restaurant for my supper. With the money I saved on lodging, I think I’ll splurge. There is a restaurant named ‘Dafni’ that is supposed to serve very good fish and traditional Greek dishes. I’ll try to find it, but if I can’t, there are plenty of other options to choose from.

Oh yes…The food on Mykonos is actually very good, not mediocre like P’town. It is, however, extremely pricey. After all, a captive audience must dine…

Kalispera!

Johnnyboy

Mykonos, the Provincetown of Greece…

08/05/2006 Johnnyboy

This is a true statement, and the only way I can describe this place. Aaside from all the buildings, which look like sugar cubes perched on the hillsides, this is a tourist center and not very indicative of Greece or the Cyclades (See-kla-dees) islands. Gold shops, leather goods, mediocre art galleries, mediocre restaurants, but oh, so pretty and whitewashed. Huge gay and lesbian scene, and of course famous for its mediocre beaches full of nekkid tourists from all over the world. Disco lives in Mykonos, as does all the risks associated with that lifestyle.

But that’s not why I am here. Mykonos is the only place that I can catch a boat for a day trip to Delos, the island where myth and legend say Appolo and his twin sister Artemis were born. There is an enormous archeological site to visit and many pictures to take. I’ll do that tomorrow morning and be home in time for a nap before dinner. So for the meantime, I have the afternoon and evening to myself in a tourist town that has yet to see the tourists arrive. That won’t happen until July and August, but there are people here. Thankfully not many.

Before I left Athens, I qualified for the Athens Parthenon Group on Saturday night. It was extremely refreshing to tell my story to a group of relative strangers and see there reactions. I actually felt more comfortable telling them some things that only my sponsor and a few others know. Readers of this blog know, so don’t get hung up about it folks.

This group is a really strong connection for me, and I think, that when I am able to leave the US for good in a few years, I’ll move to Greece. I am realizing more and more everyday, that aside from some family ties and some friendships in AA, there is not much for me in the US. Over there I am an ex-felon with limited possibilities. Over here, none of that exists and my EU citizenship allows me to live anywhere I wish. Open borders, open minds, open hearts.

Open World.

Next posting…Thira (Santorini)

Johnnyboy

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