I’m back on flickr! http://www.flickr.com/photos/corinnemartin/

East Balcony looking to the Acropolis.
Originally uploaded by Carcura

Spent most of the day playing “house”. Had our usual morning…nescafe, OJ, and a croissant on the balcony facing the neighborhood. I noticed that there were a few loose leaves floating around that needed sweeping. The plants here have so much personality. There are jasmins, boganvilleas, olive trees, lemon trees, gardenias, a rose bush that fotis and I bought together, and a magnolia tree at the end of the balcony. The two jasmins on the railing needed some taming and after cleaning the dead leaves I guided the branches around the rail. A few hours later, I was still grooming the plants and when I reached a stopping point I got the hose out and cleaned the balcony. Then went inside and swept the hallway and mopped the floor. There was something about the mundaneness of chores that was very comforting. I did catch myself getting a little OCD on that floor and immediately stopped…ewhhhhhh!!

Athens Balcony.
Originally uploaded by Carcura

Meanwhile, Paul was on the computer, copying our vacation photos and exchanging music. He cleaned up my computer and got CS3 installed. He got his daily dose of technology and was feeling calm. For lunch we had pizza leftovers, then went for a nap around 3.
We toyed with the idea of staying in, but since it was peejay’s last night, we got ready and headed out just after sunset (nine-ish). We walked past the platia and down Gyzi Road (about a ten minute walk) where we found a whole area of cafes and restaurants around a park with benches packed with people. Sat down at an outdoor restaurant called Alexandria’s and ordered a Stella and a Bitburger, then a chicken pasta dish with cream sauce and goat cheese stuffed chicken breast and ravioli. For 36 euros, it was absolutely delicious. On the walk back, we found a 24 hour automated video rental kiosk that I will need to revisit, then stopped at Data Internet Cafe, checked our emails, read the news while sipping on Heinekens. Got back to the house, watched Lost, the two-hour finale, from Paul’s iTunes onto the HDTV, then went to bed, knowing that we managed to fit as much as we possibly could in the time we had together.

We must have walked at least 8 kilometers today…not one cab all day! Went down Ippokratus into Kolonaki where we stopped for lunch at a very cute cafe called Bird’s Eye just past the Taschen bookstore in between the boutiques. The owner of the cafe was a very sweet lady who really took the time to translate the “greek only” menu for us and made us feel very comfortable. Paul had a bunless burger, which seems the way most people serve their burgers here, and I had a grilled chicken salad with peanut sauce. The design of the place was modern black and white, jazz photographs, and a bold red wall. It was the middle of the day, and the place was packed with people chatting away, sipping on iced coffees, cold beers, and chain smoking.

We headed towards Syndagma and fifteen minutes later we were at the Virgin store. In comparison to the Beirut virgin store, the store in Athens was a little disappointing. None of the preview headphones were working, so one couldn’t hear any of the music. The new music selection was limited to a few racks. We did manage to find a few chill house cds. The big purchase was “Urban Deluxe” which has a wicked remix of “She’s Gone” and “Love to Love You Baby”. After we got our dose of audio purchases, we headed into plaka to check our email at the internet cafe, then down Ermou to Syndagma for an espresso freddo break.

On the way back we stopped by some bookstores in Kolonaki in which Paul spent quite some time studying the “The Big Boob Book”. Picked up groceries, including lots of water, sprite, and yogurt, then stopped by the fruit and veggie store, then up three flights of stairs, up the elevator and finally we were home! I made us an awesome refreshing fruit salad with watermelon, peach, pear, and grapes with yogurt, and honey!! so yummmy!! The sunset from the balcony was so beautiful.
A few hours later, we ordered pizza, drank Mythos, and talked the night away.

We finally slept in this morning. I really could have slept all day, but wanted to spend as much time together as possible. Got out of bed and Paul started a pile of laundry. We spent the day cleaning, and getting organized from being away at the islands. Following several processes of washing, hanging, folding, and putting our clothes away, we got ready for dinner and walked to the center where we had dinner at Supper Club, a very cute restaurant across the street from The Academy where Elie had taken me for lunch. The walls seemed so much more red at night and the music was incredible…smooth funky house remixes that we’ve never heard before. Our waiter was very sweet…he got us apple pie with mastiha ice cream and didn’t charge us for it.
After dinner, we walked down Ermou to the internet cafe. Paul was amazed at the amount of people walking around so late at night. Everybody hiding out from the sun during the day was out to play.

Took a taxi to Herodotus Atticus Theatre at The Acropolis to watch Norah Jones! Our Greek cab driver knew all about Houston, tequilas, margharitas, fajitas and the ride there was quite entertaining. When we arrived, Paul was in awe. The place itself is quite surreal. To think of how many generations have experienced it and how much history has taken place on its grounds is quite something. And for us to be there together watching one of our favorite artists was very special.

“Pavi” loving Norah.
Originally uploaded by Carcura

People filling up their seats was very entertaining. The crowd was very diverse, from twenties to fifties, and from glamour to bohemian. Some women wore floor-length designer dresses and others comfortable summer linen. Time seemed to go by very slowly, building up to her performance.

Just after nine, she goes up on stage wearing a white knee-length dress with bright red shoes and matching wide red belt. Her hair was pulled away from her face in a pony tail, revealing her shy expressions as she did her usual giggles and thank yous. The show was very light, and breezy, and she pleasantly guided our sways the entire performance. The show put us in a great mood. For dinner we stopped at a cafe in monesteraki looking out at the acropolis, eating drinking, talking, and thinking to ourselves, what a special place this city really is and how lucky we really are to be there.

Today is the last day of being part of this incredible energy on this island. Spent the day at Santa Maria Beach under umbrella 22. Said our goodbyes to Theo and headed back to Lefkes. Hung out by the pool for a while, got ready, and went down to Parikia for our last sunset. Ate ham and cheese, and chocolate banana crepes as the sun slowly went down. Our last sunset in Paros. What a special time we had in this place.

G-stringin it at Santa Maria Beach.
Originally uploaded by Carcura

Straight Chillin.
Originally uploaded by Carcura

Swimming Pool in Lefkes.
Originally uploaded by Carcura

Parikia for Chocolate.
Originally uploaded by Carcura

Beautiful Sunset.
Originally uploaded by Carcura

Dinner at Livantis.
Originally uploaded by Carcura

Breakfast.
Originally uploaded by Carcura

Santa Maria Beach.
Originally uploaded by Carcura

Lady window shopping.
Originally uploaded by Carcura
Naoussa for dinner…had really good ham and cheese crepes and greek beer.

Drinks at R.E.D. with Theo and girlfriend.
Originally uploaded by Carcura

Me and Peejay.
Originally uploaded by Carcura
then another bar…out pretty late…pretty tipsy

Hotel Argonauto gets a major thumbs down. We needed some peace and quite for the few days we were together and were definitely not getting it, so we decided to head to Lefkes. We rented a cute yellow fiat, picked up our suitcases, and fifteen minutes later we were exactly where we needed to be.

The view west from Lefkes Village.
Originally uploaded by Carcura

The view east from Lefkes Village, towards where Santa Maria Beach.
Originally uploaded by Carcura

Lefkes. . .beautiful midieval town church.
Originally uploaded by Carcura

Lobby and pool.
Originally uploaded by Carcura

Lefkes is a beautiful midieval village in the middle of Paros at the top of a hill that overlooks the east coast of the island. The hotel is surrounded with trees, small churches, and a whole lot of quite space. Even has a huge swimming pool where we can swim and see the town around us.

The side of the beach were the surfers hang out.
Originally uploaded by Carcura

It’s so clear, you can see your feet!
Originally uploaded by Carcura

Although it was hard to leave all of this quiet, Paul was craving the beach, so we grabbed our swimsuits and headed to Santa Maria. We arrived, got a spot in the shade, and had the biggest grins on our faces. It can’t possibly get any better than this. The water was aqua blue and as it got deeper, it became a beautiful rich deep blue. In the distance, one can see the mountains of Naxos, and east of the beach were a bunch of people windsurfing. The breeze was perfect, the water was perfect, the music was incredible…we found our beach!

Me, just before dinner in Naoussa.
Originally uploaded by Carcura

“Fire boy”, our dinner entertainment.
Originally uploaded by Carcura

We didn’t want to leave the heaven we were in, but it was getting dark, so we went back to Lefkes and got ready for dinner. Arrived in Naoussa, which was bustling with people. Walked around, did some window shopping, and after exhausting our search for the perfect restaurant, we found one near the water, just outside a small Greek Orthodox Church. Had some grilled octopus, some pasta, and some really good ouzo. So glad we found a room in Lefkes, and life couldn’t get much better than Santa Maria Beach.

Paul doodling away on the English version of the Greek Paper (Katermini)
Originally uploaded by Carcura

“Let me see you drop them pants boy!” (really bad Deliverance reference)
Originally uploaded by Carcura

Me fishing out some crumbs from my tank top, I know. . .very classy.
Originally uploaded by Carcura

After almost missing the bus to the port because we just had to have a last minute gyro in town, we caught the boat from Santorini to Paros at just after 3 and were in Parikia 4 hours later, at 7. Hotel Argaunoto was a few minutes walk away. We got checked in and went to our room to find a bottle of wine waiting for us, which was very sweet The place was very charming, but our room faced the square, which had a little more action going on than what we wanted, so we switched to a room on the opposite side, facing the inside of the town. We quickly got settled in and were out in just enough time to catch the sunset at an italian cafe right on the water. The vibe was so chilled out and was just what we needed. It was soooooo good to be back in Paros!