domenica 23 settembre 2012

My mediterranean summer. First part: The Greek bliss. Chapter 1 The discrete beauty of Antiparos

http://youtu.be/Q3WJvaEjAlU I chose Mediterraneo's trailer because it's a wonderful movie and gives you exactly the feeling of what a greek island is. Plus it's Italian and that is always a plus. If you have never seen it I say go rent it because you're missing something,no matter where you're from. Sorry for the lack of subtitles but that's the only trailer I found. Anyway I started my summer in a very bad way but as it turned out to be, it went very well. One of my closest friends rescued me from a very unpleasant situation which had lead to the destruction of my holiday plans and invited me to join her and her friends in the beautiful island of Antiparos in the Cyclades. What can I say ? I would define it as the perfect antidote to stress and negativity. A small island with gorgeous bays and wonderful sea, not too touristic yet quite populated. My days there passed slowly and relaxingly. In August the sun is very strong so the best time to go to the sea is after 3 p.m. My friend found this very peaceful and nice place 10 minutes away from the center of the village and close to the sea called Paradise Village. Although the website says it's a hotel it is more of a residence complex. Ours had two rooms a kitchen, a bathroom and a very nice patio. The owner and his wife are lovely and are cat lovers which is a plus for me. Every day I was playing with Boika a nice female cat with her four newborn kitties. Me and my friends Antiparos beaches My little furry friends Mustafa and Bagheera What can I say ? I explored almost all the little bays and beaches of the island with my friends in the picture and I really enjoyed being there. The picture was taken at Lucio so far the best place where we ate even if on my last night there. The other restaurants are good but not exceptional. There is one in particular called Zorba's which is always very crowded and it's quite good although the owner really got on my nerves when I saw he was hitting his (or his friend's)dog. Actually I stood up and shouted at him. He said nothing back but my friend took me away in order to avoid turnmoil. I saw the dog with another guy the next day and he was ok, but I simply can't stand when people hit animals. I could really hurt them I guess. Another place where to eat close to the port is Nikos : traditional homemade Greek cuisine, speaking of which one of the best food I have ever tasted there is not exactly in the island, in the little port of Parikia on Paros island where the barge like ship from Antiparos gets to in five minutes. That was homemade and delicious believe me . Unfortunately I can't remember the name but you can't go wrong. As soon as you get off the boat there it is: just in front of you. Monastiraki beach and view of the island The view from our patio . One piece of advice : if you can renta a car or a jeep and drive to discover the beauty of the island it would ve better. In most places you can go by motorbike but there are quite a few bays that require a car and better a four wheel drive. In other places you can easily get by bus like Agios Georgios where you can also stop for some seafood at well known restaurantCaptain Pipino's. As far as nightlife in the island I am not the best person to ask because I would always go to bed at around 2 a.m when the nightlife was basically starting. The most I have done is have a drink at sunset at the Sunset deseo a hip bar on the cliffs run by some fellow countrymen and drink a couple of Mythos beers in a bar called Remember where they had a very good music selection. My friends used to like Yanni's place for a drink before or after dinner like rakomelo a drink made with raki or Tsipouro brandy combined with honey, cardamom and cinnamom and served hot. Not only would it make you digest but also get very tipsy...After drinking that my friends and I went to see the stars but not on the beach like amateurs, oh no, we went to the Telescope experience: an former army soldier now astronomist shows you the magic of planets and stars on his terrace with a super huge telescope and explains to you all you need to know about galaxies and nebulosas. Believe me : when you see Saturn with his ring or the stars even if the dimension is very small is quite something,with or without rakomelo. Another night we went to the open air movie theatre which is in a garden with a bar and is lovely. Livadi beach Sunset from Agios Georgios Then the time came to leave this beautiful place, after ten days of bliss and to depart from a little bit of heaven which remains quite incontaminated. The only negative thing about this beautiful island is the quantity of cars and motorbikes which tend to spoil the atmosphere and that is really disappointing. Anyway I spent a wonderful time there. The night before I left the Meltemi wind started blowing and it was really strong...Thensea was really agitated and I really didn't want to leave but it was time to move across the Eagean...(to be continued) Rakomelo