Hey why are we stopping here? I thought we were going to Syvota??
Parga-the population of this little village on the northwestern shore of Greece is 3,097. With its ruined castle perched above a sand bay, Parga has spectacular views that sets it apart from other northern beach towns. Lots of citrus trees, olive oils and sea breezes emanates throughout this sweet little town. Oh and don't forget the many scooters. The former Venetian possession is an excellent place to visit if you are all about the beach. Venetian rule was taken over by the Ottomans, then the Brits then to the Greeks- quite a history for this tiny town, right down the road from Albania.
Quite a nice view to go with my morning coffee Boca.
Yes, it's decaf. Dr. Hughes would approve.
You've got that right Bubs. Beautiful mountains right down to the shore.
We anchor the ship in the beautiful Ionian Sea and the tenders take us back and forth to the town. A much lovelier view than docking up in the town, really puts the stunning Greece coastline in perspective. Lacy shores and luscious green islets and long sheltered beaches loaded with secret coves.
Pristine clear water.
Did I say clear water? So very picturesque.
And the Pleepster uses his allowance to go up up and away with a pal from the ship...
Way to go Pleep! Those flying monkeys from the Wizard of Oz have nothing on you.
The layout for casual dinning in the Colonnade is superb...sitting out on the back deck of the boat is the bonus.
Bubs really enjoys the salad bar ...
Shouldn't the elephant be red?
All that para sailing pooped out the Pleepmeister and his Pop.
Always on time for cocktail hour at the Observation Bar...4 guys and 4 pink Cosmopolitans?
And the bartender couldn't resist pouring one for the laughing Bubba.
Entertainment- The Seabourn Singers and Dancers
We decided to check out the entertainment and Wow we were pleasantly surprised by the high quality performers and performance. Per Bubs- best he's seen on a ship. Better than Silverseas? Yup. Bubba the theater critic. Who knew? But oddly the theater has a funky design with pillars scattered through out, obviously blocking the view for some seats. Duh? Loving the design of this new ship but they blew it with the pillar placement in the Grand Theater.
UPDATE ON GREEK ORTHODOX SISTER NEKTARIA AND THE ORPHANAGE IN CALCUTTA, INDIA
Received this picture today from my friend Cleo, who with her team at St. Basil's in San Jose, do much of the fundraising for Sister here in the states. Sister Nektaria looks thrilled at the construction site of the soon to be built high school. She helped start this orphanage-school in 1999 and has relentlessly worked daily to grow it. Check out this short clip about the work she does- the Mother Teresa of the Orthodox World!
http://www.theluckygirlsmovie.com
And I understand that a dentist from LA who volunteers annually at the orphanage is in the process of helping make a new updated movie as well- can't wait.
See the web site for a bit of an overview of Sister's work and feel free to make a small donation, heck, feel free to make a large donation ! http://thepsoc.org/our-history/
Here is a recent article about Sister and the Orphanage.
The Theotokos Greek Orthodox Girl’s Orphanage was started in 1999 by Ignatios, the Bishop of Madagascar, and Sister Nektaria Paradisi, the orphanage’s current director. The orphanage provides food, shelter, love and education for over 100 Indian girls. In just the past year, it has adopted many girls, sent four to college and also opened a boy’s orphanage.
How did a Greek nun end up in India in the first place?
Sister Nektaria says, “I never thought about India.I was always wanting to help poor people. I was thinking of going to Africa, because my my second language is French. But I was sent to South Korea.In 1991 one priest from there came to Kolkata reopen the Greek Church in Kolkata.It belongs to the Greek State. It has been declared a Heritage building by the Kolkata Municipality. It was closed for 20 years because there was no Greek community anymore. It was in a pitiable state almost abandoned. I was told to help the Greek priest who came from Korea to help him with the renovation work.” She adds, “I never had an intention to stay here, in fact I didn’t pay any attention to learning the language. By end of 1992 I left back for Greece as I felt sick. Later on in 1997 I came back to India just to meet people with whom I met here during festivals.Once you come to India you never forget. You always want to come back!!.In 1998 the orphanage was established and I was asked to take care of the orphan children. I thought I would stay here for a couple of years and then return. When you have an orphan baby who has no one in his life, you raise her up, you are touched by them. You can’t abandon them. So I stayed back.”
For instance Debi who came to sister when she was 9 months old. She was on her lap all the time.She slept in her arms. Sister used to sing in Greek to make her sleep.
The first word she spoke was a Greek word!
But the financial situation in Greece has prevented the flowing of donations from Greece to India . The Greeks in Greece used to be a main donor for this philanthropic effort in India.Sister Nektaria says, “As it is not like before. I am not unhappy. I believe God will provide, it is His children, His work. He will provide. I want to build a wall close to our backyard. But I have stopped it due to lack of funds.We have five schools and five dispensaries in the remote villages. Everything is free of cost. We have to pay teachers. We have to pay teachers and staffs. We have to pay taxes.” If things improve she has many plans. “One is a new building to for high school.Another is to reduce expense, to start farming inside, grow fish in our pond, have cows for milk, rear poultry and grow vegetables so that we don’t need to buy it from outside. But for this one need to have capital. But right now it isn’t possible” says Sister Nektaria with a lot of hope and excitement. “My happiness is to see these orphans grow up and be capable to stand on their own feet.I think love. If you love you forget yourself.” sighs of Sister Nektaria.
BOCA AND BUBS FONDLY REMEMBER OUR VISIT TO THE ORPHANAGE aka Hostel...2012
THE BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN-Bubs and Pleep wanted to bring all of them home with us.
SISTER IS SO BOCA'S TWIN- Matching threads, matching love and YES WERE WERE BORN JUST HOURS APART! HOW'S THAT FOR COINCIDENCE? 2 fierce Scorpios!
Pleep wants to go back to help Sister....yes a next visit is WAAAAAY OVERDUE! He promises to behave this time.
And since we are on the subject of Church and the upcoming nuptials...many of you guests are not Orthodox. I thought I would send along a little clip of a tour and explanation of the inside of an Orthodox Church.
Parga-the population of this little village on the northwestern shore of Greece is 3,097. With its ruined castle perched above a sand bay, Parga has spectacular views that sets it apart from other northern beach towns. Lots of citrus trees, olive oils and sea breezes emanates throughout this sweet little town. Oh and don't forget the many scooters. The former Venetian possession is an excellent place to visit if you are all about the beach. Venetian rule was taken over by the Ottomans, then the Brits then to the Greeks- quite a history for this tiny town, right down the road from Albania.
Quite a nice view to go with my morning coffee Boca.
Yes, it's decaf. Dr. Hughes would approve.
You've got that right Bubs. Beautiful mountains right down to the shore.
We anchor the ship in the beautiful Ionian Sea and the tenders take us back and forth to the town. A much lovelier view than docking up in the town, really puts the stunning Greece coastline in perspective. Lacy shores and luscious green islets and long sheltered beaches loaded with secret coves.
Pristine clear water.
Did I say clear water? So very picturesque.
And the Pleepster uses his allowance to go up up and away with a pal from the ship...
Way to go Pleep! Those flying monkeys from the Wizard of Oz have nothing on you.
The layout for casual dinning in the Colonnade is superb...sitting out on the back deck of the boat is the bonus.
Bubs really enjoys the salad bar ...
Shouldn't the elephant be red?
All that para sailing pooped out the Pleepmeister and his Pop.
Always on time for cocktail hour at the Observation Bar...4 guys and 4 pink Cosmopolitans?
And the bartender couldn't resist pouring one for the laughing Bubba.
Entertainment- The Seabourn Singers and Dancers
We decided to check out the entertainment and Wow we were pleasantly surprised by the high quality performers and performance. Per Bubs- best he's seen on a ship. Better than Silverseas? Yup. Bubba the theater critic. Who knew? But oddly the theater has a funky design with pillars scattered through out, obviously blocking the view for some seats. Duh? Loving the design of this new ship but they blew it with the pillar placement in the Grand Theater.
UPDATE ON GREEK ORTHODOX SISTER NEKTARIA AND THE ORPHANAGE IN CALCUTTA, INDIA
Received this picture today from my friend Cleo, who with her team at St. Basil's in San Jose, do much of the fundraising for Sister here in the states. Sister Nektaria looks thrilled at the construction site of the soon to be built high school. She helped start this orphanage-school in 1999 and has relentlessly worked daily to grow it. Check out this short clip about the work she does- the Mother Teresa of the Orthodox World!http://www.theluckygirlsmovie.com
And I understand that a dentist from LA who volunteers annually at the orphanage is in the process of helping make a new updated movie as well- can't wait.
See the web site for a bit of an overview of Sister's work and feel free to make a small donation, heck, feel free to make a large donation ! http://thepsoc.org/our-history/
Here is a recent article about Sister and the Orphanage.
The Theotokos Greek Orthodox Girl’s Orphanage was started in 1999 by Ignatios, the Bishop of Madagascar, and Sister Nektaria Paradisi, the orphanage’s current director. The orphanage provides food, shelter, love and education for over 100 Indian girls. In just the past year, it has adopted many girls, sent four to college and also opened a boy’s orphanage.
How did a Greek nun end up in India in the first place?
Sister Nektaria says, “I never thought about India.I was always wanting to help poor people. I was thinking of going to Africa, because my my second language is French. But I was sent to South Korea.In 1991 one priest from there came to Kolkata reopen the Greek Church in Kolkata.It belongs to the Greek State. It has been declared a Heritage building by the Kolkata Municipality. It was closed for 20 years because there was no Greek community anymore. It was in a pitiable state almost abandoned. I was told to help the Greek priest who came from Korea to help him with the renovation work.” She adds, “I never had an intention to stay here, in fact I didn’t pay any attention to learning the language. By end of 1992 I left back for Greece as I felt sick. Later on in 1997 I came back to India just to meet people with whom I met here during festivals.Once you come to India you never forget. You always want to come back!!.In 1998 the orphanage was established and I was asked to take care of the orphan children. I thought I would stay here for a couple of years and then return. When you have an orphan baby who has no one in his life, you raise her up, you are touched by them. You can’t abandon them. So I stayed back.”
For instance Debi who came to sister when she was 9 months old. She was on her lap all the time.She slept in her arms. Sister used to sing in Greek to make her sleep.
The first word she spoke was a Greek word!
But the financial situation in Greece has prevented the flowing of donations from Greece to India . The Greeks in Greece used to be a main donor for this philanthropic effort in India.Sister Nektaria says, “As it is not like before. I am not unhappy. I believe God will provide, it is His children, His work. He will provide. I want to build a wall close to our backyard. But I have stopped it due to lack of funds.We have five schools and five dispensaries in the remote villages. Everything is free of cost. We have to pay teachers. We have to pay teachers and staffs. We have to pay taxes.” If things improve she has many plans. “One is a new building to for high school.Another is to reduce expense, to start farming inside, grow fish in our pond, have cows for milk, rear poultry and grow vegetables so that we don’t need to buy it from outside. But for this one need to have capital. But right now it isn’t possible” says Sister Nektaria with a lot of hope and excitement. “My happiness is to see these orphans grow up and be capable to stand on their own feet.I think love. If you love you forget yourself.” sighs of Sister Nektaria.
SISTER IS SO BOCA'S TWIN- Matching threads, matching love and YES WERE WERE BORN JUST HOURS APART! HOW'S THAT FOR COINCIDENCE? 2 fierce Scorpios!
Pleep wants to go back to help Sister....yes a next visit is WAAAAAY OVERDUE! He promises to behave this time.And since we are on the subject of Church and the upcoming nuptials...many of you guests are not Orthodox. I thought I would send along a little clip of a tour and explanation of the inside of an Orthodox Church.
