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Published: June 13th 2010
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I know most of you have been anxious for me to blog, so I thank you for your patience! When all you can think of is “Is the wind up?” and “Hmmm, what size kite do I need today?” its honestly hard to find the time to sit with your computer and relax. And, what a wonderful thing it is to have this problem. Lucky for all of you, 9 days of travel in Greece could give you a long novel of a blog and tons of pix... we’ll see.
Let’s start from the beginning. I arrived in Athens on the 3rd of June with a lovely case of jetlag and entirely too much luggage for one person to carry. When I got off the plane unfortunately all of the buses and metro trains to the city were on strike. My first experience with the Greek economic crisis. Thanks to a suburban train around the city for part of the way and a nice Greek man from Australia who negotiated a taxi ride to my destination in Greek for only 5 euros, I was on my way to Athens Backpackers without a 60 euro taxi ride. It was nothing special, but
situated near the Acropolis and Plaka districts and at this point, I would have gone anywhere I could set my luggage down for more than 5 minutes. I love kiting, but wow, you more than earn every minute of it.
My first couple of hours were spent wandering around the Acropolis (the "Sacred Rock" of Athens, the most important site of the city and one of the most recognizable monuments in the world) with thousands of other tourists, gazing at the spectacular ancient architecture surrounding the Parthenon and taking in the fact that I was finally in Greece. GREECE!! My dream for as long as I can remember was finally happening... if only I wasn’t such a zombie. Can I just lay on this bench and take a quick nap? This one right here... No? Darn.
Chronic neck pain that is worse when I fly and don’t get enough sleep had me to one of the only chiropractors in Athens that night. I was thankful he was open, available and relieved some pain... I was not thankful for an hour taxi ride each way. There went my savings from the airport. You win some, you lose some. 😊
I could
have stayed in Athens for one more day for some more exploring, but I was so anxious to get to the islands and kite that I took a ferry out the next morning at 7:15 am. I’ll spare you the story of the trip there... just think morning commute, lots of luggage, everything written or spoken in Greek and the wrong train. I will never make fun of my mom again for accidentally taking a train from the NYC World Trade Center to Brooklyn instead of Time Square. I now completely understand!
But, I made it with time to spare and boarded the ferry for a 4 hour trip to Paros in the Cyclades... famous for kitesurfing and the home of the 2008 PKRA World Championships. Because of this, I was really hoping there would be other kiters on the ferry with as much gear as me so I wouldn’t stick out like a sore thumb. My wish was not granted. I had to chuckle at the looks I got. Here I was with a HUGE bag that reads “Golf” on the side. For those of you who don’t know, we travel with golf bags to avoid airline fees. I
With Lilly from Canada... sweet girl!
We roomed together and had dinner out a couple of nights. could see their puzzled faces and whispers amongst each other. I’m sure they were wondering what in the heck the blonde girl is doing with golf clubs on Paros... “does she know there is no golfing here?” or maybe the opposite, they thought, “wonderful! I can get a few rounds in while my wife is at the beach.” 😊 A few people did speak up and ask and when I said kitesurfing, they said “oh yes, kitesurfing is very good on Paros.” Feeeuuuw! I am in the right place.
As you can imagine, when I arrived in Paros and could feel the wind on my face when I stepped off the ferry, all I could think of was “kite, kite, kite.” I quickly got settled in my stay, rented a scooter and set off to Pounda Beach, about 7 km away. As I arrived, everyone was putting away their gear... aw, such is the trouble with kiting sometimes. I just missed it! Darn. But, the few instructors that were at the kite center (Paros Kite Pro Center) welcomed me into their conversation as they sat around and chilled out. Babsi and David from Austria, Paulo from Brazil and Olivier from
France. Everyone was super inviting and I could tell it was the start of a great stay on Paros. Over the next 9 days, the wind was up for 5 of them and when it was, it blew alllllll day for upwards of 10-12 hours at about 20-25 knots. The spot reminds me a bit of South Padre, Texas, but not quite as big... flat water with a little chop when it nukes and pretty shallow. Couldn’t ask for more than that! Some days I was on the water for 5-6 hours with a few breaks in between. This gave me plenty of time to practice new tricks and watch the full array of very talented kiters in Paros. Landed my first front roll and back roll to toe side! Progression is a beautiful thing, even when its slow... and even when I am in the water half the time after a monster fall with my kite down and my board 20 meters up wind. Even then, its still beautiful. 😊
Besides kitesurfing as much as possible, there have been some non-wind and even rainy days on Paros in the last nine days. I have mostly spent them exploring this
beautiful place by scooter. It only takes a little over an hour to scooter the whole island or you can take a 5-minute ferry to Antiparos for 1 euro for another dose of relaxation and beauty. I have gotten so used to scootering while traveling and I love it! I love the freedom to just go when I please and to go anywhere, even if I am only going 35 mph. And figuring out how to carry two kites, a board and a harness has made scootering that much more handy!
Paros is a little chilled out island in the middle of the Aegean Sea. There are 5 or so villages filled with white square buildings with blue trim, blue doors and pink flowers strewn by arches overhead. Each one of them are similar, but different in their own way and will make you think, “my goodness, this place is the cutest place on Earth.” And it is. Most villages are near the sea with the bluest clearest water you have ever seen. There are wooden boat harbors with perfectly painted boats, each with a Greek flag on the bow. As with in many countries, the Greek people are a
White Marble on Paros
Used to build Napoleons Tomb & part of the Acropolis very proud bunch. They are proud of their country, their food, their culture and their homes. As I strolled through a tiny inland village called Lefkes one afternoon, I stopped in for coffee and water at a little cafe on the corner of cute and cuter. The man working there (Constantinos) sat down at my table, offered me some fresh apricots from his garden and told me a little about himself. He said (in a thick Greek accent) that he is very happy and proud of his cafe and to do what he does, even when there are no customers. He said that Greeks believe that if you are not proud of what is yours and the home you own and think it is the best no matter what, then it will collapse. A simple and good lesson to live by and definitely one I will not forget.
All in all, Paros has been so lovely that its hard to leave. The kiting, the scenery and mostly the friends I have made. The kite friends as well as a couple of roomates in Parikia (the port town I am staying in). I am off to Naxos tomorrow and Santorini to
follow. I am very excited to see new things, but I cannot say I won’t be back to Paros someday, maybe sooner rather than later. There are more friends to meet and more adventures to be had... after all this is only my first stop! At this rate, I might be home by Christmas. 😉 😉
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Gail Smith
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All I can say is Incredible!!!
Wow, what an amazing place and experience. You are going to have a hard time getting back to a "normal" life!!! I think you need to find a job that combines your passion for kiting and traveling. Maybe you could become a "reporter" for a kiting magazine and travel the world and critique different kiting spots!!! Now that would be perfect, kind of like Samantha Brown on the travel channel. Hey, now that is a good idea. Maybe you should contact them and put a bug in their ear about another show. I know it would be a hit and you would be the perfect host. Something to think about!!! Love you. Have a great time on the rest of your trip and keep on blogging for the rest of us "junkies." Gail