Published 4 September 02
We survived August! For a couple of weeks mid-month, I felt like we were spinning! But, in retrospect, it was lots of fun.
We were amazed how quickly the beaches filled up....how many
restaurants there actually ARE here in Aliki (some sprung open literally
overnight!), and how the shutters on the houses were all flung open,
lots of Greek music and people having late night suppers on their balconies!
Quite festive! Paros is one of the destinations of Athenians
escaping the mainland heat.
Aliki has their own little festival on the 6th of August
celebrated with fireworks, live music, fish and local wine--all free.
This party goes on until the wee hours of the morning...and though we
live about 500 metres from the village, we could still hear the music in the
distance.
Most villages around the island have similar festivals
throughout the month, so our guests could chose others to go to as well.
For those wanting cultural events, Parikia has many to choose from...a
piano concert by the Paros Philharmonic Orchestra; a concert by a music
group called ELTA who sing Greek songs; Classical guitar and mandolin
concert; a painting exhibition and auction; an author presenting her book
about folklore; even a shadow theatre presented by a Shadow Theatre Group.
And last but not least, the biggie of all time, the National Holiday
which is celebrated on 15th August.
This is Greece's biggest and busiest event of the year outside
of Easter. The day commemorates the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and
has been observed at the Ekatontapiliani Church here on Paros for almost 1500
years. After a lengthy service, there is a long procession through the
streets accompanied by a naval band. During the day market stalls are
set up and in the evening there are fireworks, flare-lit boat parades, and
Greek dancing. Pariokia is alive with excitement, but another word for
it might be "crawling with people"! This is the night that you
might find "no room at the inn". I actually heard of a man
putting mattresses on roofs (which are flat here on Paros) to accommodate
people without reservations!
I must admit that August is a month when you cannot
imagine this island having so many people. The ferries just keep
bringing them in, you must just go with the flow. It means lots of work
for us with guest houses or hotels, but then that is how we make our living.
And when you can see that the guests are having lots of fun, then it makes it
all worthwhile. I continued cooking dinners throughout
August...mostly on Monday nights and Friday nights. These events really
brought people of many nationalities together, and will leave Michael and I
with lots of satisfying memories.
On the other hand, August gave us some terribly
hot humid days and nights...which is unusual. Even the Greeks were
gasping. Our guests were very good at taking the hot nights
in stride, and we tried to help by buying some fans. Most just
spent more time on the beach or ate late night suppers. Then
we got the Meltemi winds which make life interesting....trying to keep the
food on the plate is one - but the plus side of them is that you feel cooler
and they also keep away the mosquitoes and flies.
However, after a week of the wind roaring nearly non-stop, it was a
relief when it went away. The Meltemi's are a seasonal wind that comes
and the Cycladic get them full force.
As September arrives, we notice a big change
at the port...the crowds are leaving, not arriving! This is due of
course to families having to return home for their children to start school
and young adults going back to universities. We will now see a greater
influx of senior citizens...who want peace and quiet, which of course
they can find in Aliki. The days now are like Indian Summer, the
nights are cooling down, which makes sleeping more pleasant. As we eat
our dinner on our balcony each night, we are noticing how much
earlier the sunsets are. Fall is upon us.
In our back garden, we have a very unusual cactus called
"Queen of the Night". The owner of the building pointed out to
us that this cactus should be blooming shortly, and to think we did not even
notice that it had buds on it! Probably because it is slightly hidden in
a mass of bushes and a tree trunk. What makes this cactus so unusual is
the fact that it is nocturnal blooming one night only! So for a few
nights, after dark we would creep out and turn the flashlight on it to see if
it was giving birth yet! Then low and behold! last night the tight buds
released themselves about 9:00 PM! Wow! what a flower! It was
large and yellowish-whitish. We had some guests upstairs whom we invited
to come down to see it, and they took photos...We all had the feeling that we
were observing a true wonder of nature. This morning they closed tightly
back up...so I will be watching to see what happens next. If you care to
see this flower, I found a site on the internet: http://www.worldisround.com/articles/6858/photo1.html
We celebrated the first few days in September by exploring the
interior of Paros which is mountainous. That was a great day....scooter
rides up sides of steep mountain roads which should be classified as river
beds! Finding a few monasteries hidden among the valleys with heavenly
views of the entire Cycladic Islands. We finally ended up on the highest
peak, called Mt. Elias. (Elijah). Incidentally most tall peaks in
Greece have this name. Since OTE, the telephone company, owns the conglomeration
of towers on the very top, we were not actually allowed inside the gates,
but it really did not matter...after a long and arduous trip, we
felt good about being where we were! As we coasted down, we stopped at
every turn to look down into valleys we never knew existed. We now know a
well kept secret...the numerous vineyards tucked away that supply
Paros with it's wine. We always wondered how Paros could produce so much
wine when we saw so few vineyards on the lowlands.
Isn't it amazing...we have spent two summers here, this
being our third, and we are STILL discovering new sights...for such a tiny
island that is remarkable. Each time I bring out the map, I can just
feel Michael wondering what exhausting adventure I am going to ask him to
accompany me on yet again! I keep seeing new
roads....and they all have to go somewhere with new things to be discovered!
I think it will be sometime yet before I can say we have seen all there is to
see....so till then...
Karin
We have been seeing a lot of comments on the Internet about
prices in Greece as well as a few newspaper articles. So I thought I
would give my editorial slant on the subject.
One comment was that since business is down the hotels are
charging more to make it up. My experience is that it does not work that
way. Hotels are a very competitive business--empty rooms are immediately
worthless--so the hotelier drops prices to whatever is necessary to get heads
on beds. That has been the case here on Paros--high season rooms have
been cheaper this year, mainly because the high season has shrunk by a couple
weeks.
Grocery store prices do seem to be substantially higher this
year than previously. Three years ago I believed that only imported and
frozen items were more than in Ireland, local meat and vegetables were less.
Now that is no longer the case. The consensus blames this on two
factors, rounding up due to the Euro introduction and bad weather for fruits
and vegetables. I would also add that the Greek economy gets stronger
each year.
Official figures that I have seen indicate an inflation rate
between 5 and 6%(the government is required by the EU to get it below 3%) and
tourism down 10 to 15%. The anecdotal evidence says Paros has 25 to 50%
less non-Greek visitors. I can visually see the difference in the mix by
just watching the people walk by the cafe. Last year you could
frequently spot Americans and Brits; this year they are rare.
So my advice is to ignore those wild reports of prices doubling
and always shop around. If you are the bold type, throw up your hands
and say that's too much. If you are shy, just say "Can you do any
better?" Nearly always the price will come down.
Michael
