Lunch Originally uploaded by briannaorg. Saturday started late, after a night out on the town for St. Patrick’s Day. That is not a big Greek holiday, so we largely had the bars to ourselves. We started off with wee Irish car bombs at Karen’s, and ended up at Rengas for some traditional Greek music and Read more >>

Earth palette still life Originally uploaded by briannaorg. A few photos up at Flickr of what’s happening in my painting studio.

There were two things I wanted to write about – the concert on Sunday and a late night drink with Kathryn at Pirate, where we got tipsy on Samos and stopped at a dark chapel on the way home. The next morning, there was a coffin lid exhibited outside that chapel and the bells rung Read more >>

Courtyard Vines Originally uploaded by briannaorg. It stormed on the island all weekend, vicious winds driving the rain into the cracks in the plaster. The wind was from the south, and warm, so I wore flipflops in the flooded streets. The Wellington-clad locals stared. Sunday, I did not rise at six, or rather, when I Read more >>

Here’s a little legend to some basic Greek that comes in handy on the island: Kalimera/kalispera – Good morning, good evening To be polite to anyone older than you or whom you don’t know very well, say “Kalimera sas” or “yia sas”. Little old ladies love this. Singnomi – Sorry/excuse me. This is important to Read more >>

At exactly twilight I was restless and looking toward the evening, wondering what to do with it. For some reason I decided, firmly, that dinner tonight would be comprised of rice pudding. I don’t know why humans fixate on these things; we just do. Neither souvlaki nor revithia or even spanakopita would do, so I Read more >>

This little island is chilly this time of year. Even though the sun is bright and high and clear, the marble is cold and the breezes from the sea slice through you with damp clarity. I sleep under rough wool blankets, my space heater located as close to my bed as the cord will reach. Read more >>

It is stormy and wild on the island tonight. Everyone just left my flat, after we stuffed ourselves on revithia and xorta and Pook’s magnificent eggplant pilaf. And cheap red wine. It’s been a cozy-up kind of day, I woke up early and headed to the computer lab for some early phone calls and then Read more >>

It is the end of Carnival week on Paros, tomorrow is Clean Monday. The shops are closed, and the people strolling the streets casually are sometimes in costume, sometimes tarted up a bit with paint and feathers. There was live music today in one of the cafes out on the paralia seafront. I opted out Read more >>

I’ve uploaded a whole slough of photos to my Flickr account, including photos of my apartment (all for you, Jenn) and many photos from our hike yesterday. It was beautiful. I was a diligent photographer up until the point when John suggested that we stop at Flora’s for lunch, then I put my camera away Read more >>