Pirating Potent Parks

Sunday

Watched Harry Potter :)

Monday

Class in the morning then worked on my final report.

A few friends and I went to the village of Prodromos for dinner at a family-run restaurant. We had the most potent wine I've ever endured. It was 3 euro for a liter and tasted like souma.

Tuesday

Class in the morning.

Went to the environmental park in the north, near Naousa in the evening for a hike. We picked up some trash along the way as part of our service project, but seeing as it's an environmental park...it's pretty clean. We hiked up to a lighthouse and were rewarded with delicious cake from the environmental agency when we returned.

Wind blown rock formations, Environmental Park

Wednesday

Cleaned up a local park in the morning.

Free afternoon.

Evening class followed by a walk through The Church of 100 Doors. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera because I didn't think we would be able to take photos :( It was absolutely beautiful though. It is the oldest church in Europe still in use and is very important in Greek Orthodoxy. It was built under the instruction of Constantine in 313 AD, but only one part of the church today is from the original building. It burned down in the late 4th or 5th century and Emperor Justinian rebuilt it in the early 6th century. Renovations have been made since, but within the last few decades, those updates have been removed and it very closely resembles the church built by Justinian. It was beautiful. I'm sorry I don't have photographs to share...you'll just have to come see it for yourself!

Afterwards, we went to a thank you reception from the Municipality of Paros, held in the garden of the local library. The vice mayor was there as well as other municipality people who we were in contact with over the course of the past month. The food was delicious, the wine was great and I spent a majority of the night speaking with Allegra, the librarian. Not only is she Jewish, but she is an engaging and intelligent woman whose stories I enjoyed listening to. I actually ended up staying after the reception was over to help clean up so we could continue chatting, and then we went for a drink together.

Going to the cafe with her was a blast. For obvious reasons, she knows many people here, so I got to meet and talk with the waiter and owners of her favorite cafe in Paroikia. The owners both spent time in the States and speak English well. I'm a bit sad that it took me until the last few days here in Paros to actually start interacting with locals, but it's better late than never!

Lesson of the Day

Johnny Depp is in Paros! He is on his yacht in the harbor right near the environmental park!!!

The Count

Glasses of wine drinken: 148

Photos taken: 4749