Oh I don't mind Heimdall, you are never harsh, darling, I just type carelessly sometimes .... it may be that after a long career that required daily eagle-eye proofreading, I just let it go. I know I'm forgiven because of the forebearance I have shown in NOT correcting people who are apparently college graduates but seemingly cannot spell intinery, itirneray, itrinery, itniry.

You are very generous, too in your assessment of the 2 islands ... I would agree totally. I do not have a driver's license at this point (long story,involving 35 yrs living in Manhattan) ... and I do find it a bit harder to get around Paros... Though you can see a LOT on public busses if you have the time. The trick is, most NOrth Americans just have 3-4 days max on Paros. You lucky Old WOrlders can come more often, stay longer... she said enviously.

BTW, the Fatal Hyphen Flaw re Antiparos I can see can be politically touchy, but not as much as the place called FYROM (that wants to be Macedonia), and the whoa! there! political impact way back when of changing Trans-Jordan to Jordan. BUt I digress.

Pardon. Grant me forbearance for forebearance.

LOL! If you are a foreigner in Greece, never get involved in local politics! I wouldn't touch FYROM with a ten foot pole! Island politics can be equally controversial, a fact of which most visitors are unaware. In the summer islanders are busy catering for tourists, but in off season they have time to feud. :-D

Yes, I know many New Yorkers don't have the need to drive. Many years ago a friend of mine from the Bronx, named John, entered pilot training in the USAF. In those days the first aircraft they flew was a T-37 'Tweet' twin-engined jet trainer. My friend was so uncoordinated that one day his instructor exclaimed "I don't know how you can even drive a car!" John replied "I have never driven a car." To make a long story short, he left pilot training and became a navigator. :-))

Jan, I urge you to find a place in Greece you really love (maybe Naxos) and spend more time there. Many of us, including Lee, Erik, and Bill have done that, and have become almost part of the community. There is nothing better than coming back to 'your' island, and getting hugs and kisses from all your friends. :-)

BTW, I am not an 'Old Worlder'. I am an American, and very proud of it, but lucky enough to have retired from the USAF in England, which is an excellent base for travel. Greece is my 'local' holiday, and I have travelled several times to Africa, Australia, India, and SE Asia, since my retirement. I was last in Greece in June, and hope to visit Norway and the USA later this year. :-)

Vanessa21: We stayed at Kavos (Naxos) in 2006 and found it to be a most charming, friendly, well kept small resort. Accommodations are detached bungalow-type units with plenty of room for an extended stay. The beach that you can see from their pool, grounds and website is extremely swimmable, very clean with chairs and umbrellas for daily rent. Yes, it is approx a 8-10 walk (about 2 minutes by car, which we rented). There is only one restaurant at the beach which was quite good for lunch and dinner. We did go into town every night though, but no big deal. For us, the accommodations, the extremely friendly, helpful staff and delicious meals were worth the short ride.

If you decide to stay in Paros, look at the Paliomylos Hotel in Naoussa. We were there in June of 2010 and had a wonderful stay. We rented ATV's and visited several beaches, and were able to walk into town at night from the hotel. Naxos and Paros are both magical islands and you cannot go wrong with either choice if you have to make one.

Heimdall,

When we were in Paros, we saw brochures for day trips to Antiparos which spelled the island, "Andiparos." I didn't have too much local wine those days, did I?? Was wondering if this is the "correct" Greek spelling?

All English spellings are just phonetic representations. I believe "Andiparos" is closest to the actual Greek pronunciation.

Heimdall, would that I could, would that I could!

I would LOVE to spend considerable time in one place, Like Naxos and Nafplio, and come more than once a year. You guys must have 'caught the brass ring' —or are major business types like Erik, who just stepped down from a Big Honcho post in a Huuuge Int'l firm. I'm retired too ... on a pension that would make you laugh heartily (a lifetime in journalism & PR but lots of it for nonprofits, and had to raise & educate my 2 on my own alas) ... I own no car, no house, no jewelry or furs and my TV set is old enough to vote (actually, older =25 yrs). My only 'luxury' is Greece. And like Lee, I have to pay a whole lot more in airfare to Greece than u Europeans.

I do manage to go to Greece once a year by taking along 4-5 "travel pals" and doing all the planning & acting as "trip mama" and they pitch in a little bit apiece to defray my costs. Maybe you've seen my website: http://www.techforecast.com/janet.htm Right now, I'm looking around for 4-5 singles or couples for a May-June 2011 trip... It does mean that I go to a number of places each time, since newcomers want to see a lot. Happily, these usually are places I enjoy seeing again and again, and I always make new discoveries.

All in all, I feel very fortunate. By now, I've made wonderful friends through the internet whom I meet up with in Athens and elsewhere, and hotel folks who hug & kiss me on arrival. My doctor says I'm disgustingly healthy and will live to be 100, and I do feel pretty darn peppy every day (except during this AMAZING heat wave), so I expect to keep coming back and back and back to Greece. I even buy a lottery ticket once in awhile (tho Quakers frown on it), and who knows? I may yet "summer in Greece." Anyway, thanks for your kind wishes!

Thanks, brotherleelove2004. Wow, I am tired. I meant to ask why Antiparos was spelled "Andiparos" in the English brochures. Of course that can't be the Greek spelling of the name!!

Mostly English spellings are phonetic, Corfu being an exception amongst others (Kerkira in Greek)

T is pronounced D as in Andiparos, meaning opposite Paros (antitheta Paros).

Hi Weadles,

Many letters in the Greek alphabet (alpha is also spelled alfa) have no exact equivalent in ours. Andiparos is also correct, and you see it that way in Rough Guides and some other publications. This is probably because ντ (nt) is also the diphthong in Greek for the d sound. My real name is Don, and to get my Greek friends with little English to pronounce it correctly I had to spell it 'Ντον'. Using Δ as the equivalent of D, my name came out of their mouths sort of like 'dthon'. Antiparos is the usual spelling on the island, so I spell it that way myself. Look on the websites of Antiparos hotels, and it is almost always spelled with a 't'. :-)

Another more useful diphthong is μπ for the English sound b. Look for signs with the word μπιρα (mpira) and you will get a tasty ((b))

P.S. Sorry if I bored you with the spelling lesson! I'm not really a Greek speaker either, but have tried to learn a little over the years. ;-)

Hi Jan,

Although retired, I am still supplementing my pension with part time work. Soon I will stop working, though, and some serious belt-tightening will be in order. :-(

Good luck on that tight belt, H! And about the spelling, I do enjoy Lamp Chops!! he he.

I have one puzzle tho. I have a treasured photo of a menu board at a harborside taverna in Serifos. It proudly advertised "ARROGANT SHRIMPS" .... I have never encountered shrimp with attitude, so I was very afraid. What do you suppose was meant? Tarragon??

LOL! I love lamp chops! At first I thought it was one restaurant's misspelling, but since then I have seen it in many other places. As for "arrogant shrimps", that's something I'll have to look out for. :-D If you get to Antiparos next summer, look for a sign on the hut on Psaraliki Beach. There you can rent 'serf boards' and 'petal boats'.

A thread on 'Greek spelling' would be lots of fun! There are many other howlers, but right now my memory fails me. ;-)