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Family Monuments

25 July, 2011 in Places

I suspect we all have different views regarding the importance of family monuments… and we may ask whether they are a celebration of life or death. Personally I don’t want to be buried, nor do I want any kind of monument erected after my demise; I’d rather my family and friends enjoyed a fine day at sea and a bloody good party, dumping my remains somewhere en-route. Of course my personal preferences wouldn’t suit everyone… even some family members may disagree… or the authorities might have some objections… who can tell? 

I can, and do, appreciate the beauty of memorials though :yes:

Family Monuments

Family Monuments

This is the cemetery serving the little mountain town of Panagia on Thassos; an outstandingly beautiful small town with a very pretty cemetery.

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When it rains, it rains!

18 July, 2011 in Places

I was talking here the other day about our arrival on Thassos and how the rain arrived  during our first meal on the island… but bizarrely I didn’t show you any images of the rain or the cowering diners hiding under cover. That was remiss of me and I’d like to correct the omission right now. :yes:

And yes, Usky got his pants wet!

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How time flies…

17 July, 2011 in Places

Time and tide wait for no man or so they say. Just a couple of weeks ago I was waking up to this amazing view from my balcony:

View from my Balcony

View from my Balcony

The last two days however I’ve woken up to this:

British Summertime

British Summertime?

I guess it is a case of taking the rough with the smooth! 

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Evening skies on Golden Beach

16 July, 2011 in Places

Arrived on Thassos in brilliant sunshine, got to the apartment, unpacked, showered, wandered to the bar for a cold beer then made our way down into the town to find a taverna for dinner… the skies started to cloud up a little as we walked down the hill. To make a long story short we choose a taverna beside the beach for our first meal and sat in the mild evening air watching the skies and wondering whether we’d made a mistake choosing a table out on the terrace…

Evening Skies Over Thassos

Evening Skies Over Thassos

The rain rolled in about 10 minutes after this image was taken… but it was okay because the restaurant owner whipped everyone off the terrace and inside his covered area where we sat eating our dinner and watching the lightening flash across the sea: an interesting way to start the holiday without doubt.

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It’s just another day for you and me in paradise

9 July, 2011 in Places

There’s a naturist beach on Thassos known as Paradise Beach and indeed spending time there is a heavenly experience… no, not because of all the nubile young lovelies displaying their bits (‘though that’s certainly pleasing enough)… no, it’s not because of the sensation of the warm Aegean water lapping at your tender parts either (oooooh that’s really wonderful that is)… the beach is simply quite stunning. :yes:

Paradise Beach

Paradise Beach

It is possibly because of the beauty of the bay that none of the naturist users complain about the number of textileswho appear on the beach. It has to be said, unlike being in the UK where public nudity is seen as something out of the ordinary, something erotic to ogle or something bizarre to make fun of, being naked on a Greek beach is accepted as the norm and there a very few stupid comments, jeers or furtive looks from the people sporting swimwear.

Paradise Beach

Paradise Beach

Given the choice I’d be back on Paradise Beach right now, enjoying the sun and the sea… I think I’ll just grab some sun-cream and my book

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Sex on the (Golden) Beach

8 July, 2011 in Places

One of the selling points for the Golden Beach resort on Thassos is its 3.5Km of beautiful sand and having walked the beach end to end on more than one occasion I can verify just how lovely the beach is. In truth though the whole 3.5Km doesn’t belong to Golden Beach, which sits at one end of the strand, because Skala Potamias occupies the other end and therefore also lays a claim.

Golden Beach to Skala Potamias

Golden Beach to Skala Potamias

I’ve heard Golden Beach/Skala Potamias referred to as ‘Blackpool in the sun’ and as far as the island of Thassos goes the analogy may be true, but it’s a poor one; there are no lights, little noise, few people and not a Kiss me Quick hat to be seen. Come to think of it, I did see a donkey one morning… but no, not a bit like to Blackpool as far as I’m concerned. Of the two resorts Skala Potamias is the more built up and commercial, but Golden Beach is the better known.

However you look at it the beach is lovely and has the amazing backdrop of the mountains that form the backbone of Thassos.

Skala Potamias to Golden Beach

Skala Potamias to Golden Beach

So where does the sex bit come in? Oh that was just something I couldn’t help noticing one day when I went for an early morning skinny-dip… the lovers were making use of a couple of sunbeds propped on their sides for cover, but the noise emanating from under the bed-sheet covering was unmistakable!

  I gave the impromptu tent as wide a berth as was possible as I walked along the beach and whistled as I walked, but they didn’t miss a beat… too wrapped up in their passion to notice the likes of me I guess.

The images above are stitched panoramas I created and are quite large – you may want to click them, view at 100% and pan through from left to right.

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Old ruins, a bit like me…

7 July, 2011 in Places

The second most important/interesting site on the island of Thassos, archaeologically speaking, is Aliki. There’s nothing there now except two beautiful beaches, three or four tavernas, a very small ‘supermarket’ and a tiny hamlet of holiday homes, but back in the mists of time Aliki was a vibrant port and a centre of the marble exporting industry.

Looking around the site it is easy to see where rock has been worked locally, although marble of much higher quality was transported to Aliki from inland before being shipped. Amazingly, huge blocks of rough cut marble still lay alongside what was once the quay.

Should you make the trip to Thassos be sure to spend a little time at Aliki; you won’t be disappointed if you do, believe me.

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Blooming vandals!

6 July, 2011 in Art, Places

Athena

Athena Not being Amused

For some reason best known to themselves, the morons had been out and about around Golden Beach with their spray cans… such a shame when idiots spoil things for other people. You can bet your life that Athena, like Victoria, was not amused!

I know the damage to Athena here is not exactly devastating, but I simply can’t see why anyone would just deface a work of art for the sake of it.

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And you thought you had parking problems

5 July, 2011 in Places, Transport

I thought this might amuse the drivers out there…

Parking, Greek style

Parking, Greek style

I captured this image one evening  walking through Skala Potomia on Thassos. This is the parking area for the Hotel Anna and as you can see it’s a bit of a tight squeeze to say the least. I guess there’s not much chance of getting your car out if you happen to have parked in the front row (left side of the image). In a strange way it reminded me of a bad day on the M25!

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It’s all Greek to me…

4 July, 2011 in Places

Funnily enough I don’t read Greek, but wish I did. It’s not uncommon to find inscribed tablets in pillars or walls when visiting ancient sites in Greece and it would be so cool to be able to make complete sense of them, don’t you think? Take this one for instance found at the ancient quarry and port of Aliki on Thassos.

How's Your Greek?

How's Your Greek?

Clicking the image will offer a larger view… so come on then, what does it say?

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