Paros Island, Greece - A Windy Paradise

The seasons are changing in Greece. Its hard to drive my scooter around the island without fear of being blown into the bamboo stocks that hug the gravel roads. But i manage ;)

I have been in Greece for over one month now. Zakenthos was my home for one week. I lived in the "cockroach motel" - this horrible one bedroom apartment for the first three nights. i am not exaggerating either...i had one crawl onto my hand ....eww. Luckily for me, i met some really nice English people; they offered me a place to stay for free at their 4 star resort with a pool. There was a group of about 6 of us. We explored the lush island of zante on 4 wheelers, and took a boat cruise to remote beaches. There is a beach with a shipwreck in the sand...story goes, that the captain and his crew were all doped up and crashed into land...............i can believe it..haha.

I have my own apartment on the island of Paros. I have been here two weeks and i will be staying for another 3. I spend all my time at Tao's Centre for Meditation. My days consist of studying yoga, tai chi, hangin out with friends, going to the beach, walking in the little town of Naoussa...It is a very peaceful time that i am thoroughly enjoying. The practice room has a majestic feel - a sacred space that we honor each time we step foot in to practice. Its a peaceful paradise that I call home.

This island is full of life and rich with culture. Its quite an amazing experience spending my time at Tao's. It is owned and operated by 3 families from Israel. I can loosely claim I have been to Israel, living with them, experiencing the way they live, their food, culture and interactions - I am fully immersed.

Greek island, Israelie people, Thai food, Indian influence, Zen, Buddhism, and infusion of wonder...truly unique.

I miss Toronto and everyone at home. But life is good, happy, and healthy.

Great story...i was at my place the other day just doing stuff in my apartment with the door open...and in come a pigeon...he swoops right in! The little black bird was just hanging out, walking around my place, going under the bed and table. It was too funny, he didn't want to leave. I finally got him out, then he strolls in again! haha. I guess he knew he was safe with me...he sensed that i have a love for birds...and i miss my own little birdies so much.

Have a great weekend.

Peace and love

Ashley

on "running with the bulls" in spain

PAMPLONA, Spain

"PAMOLONA is the last legal drug...a delirium that doesn´t stop, a communion with absurdity"
"you give yourself when you run with the bulls...you let it all go...your time, your money, your belief, your life, your self, into the wild forms of joy and fiesta!"

"Pamplona´s fiesta is the last remaining stop on the romantic road. Those who gather here each year dance to their own drummer. The drumbeat they hear is not so different as it is distant. It is a faint rhythm which the romantic hears all year long; a soft, strong sound which is never heard by others, much like the heartbeat of a lover long asleep in your arms.
This ancient city in the foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains with its high stone ramparts and walled citadel transforms each July to a place where the nights are never ending and the mornings majestic, as noble creatures, beasts of mythology made by a patient God, race through the streets for a brief moment ordering the whole universe, creating an energy field unlike any other on earth.

Fiesta has accurately been described as one of the most exhilarating experiences on earth. The sun rises over Pamplona gently, lighting this northern corner of Spain with a fragile first light. Dawn approaches Pamplona subtly and slowly. In summer, on the seventh day of the seventh month, early sunlight is shielded by the Pyrenees Mountains which divide Spain from France. This, seventh day of the seventh month, is the day of the Saint. Pamplona is home to approximately a quarter-million residents, and that number will more then triple during Fiesta.
Well i survived my first running with the bulls...tomorrow awaits, after another night camping out under the stars.
all my love.

Ashley