Treat yourself to summer

June 20, 2010

Find bliss in the Cyclades Islands, overnight on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, go tubing down a lazy river in Tennessee. They are among the 15 summer sensations that await you this season:

BE NEIGHBORLY

Few summertime bashes rival a country’s birthday party in the national capital. But instead of heading south to Washington this year, journey north to celebrate Canada Day in Ottawa on July 1. The flag-waving and fireworks may be familiar, albeit maple-leafed, but the parading Mounties and Changing of the Guard are purely Canadian. Parliament Hill is the locale for the celebration with noontime and nighttime concerts featuring the Barenaked Ladies. Queen Elizabeth II will be a guest of honor. Stay nearby at the castle-like Fairmont Château Laurier, take a guided tour of Parliament the following day, and still be home for a star-spangled Fourth. www.canadascapital.gc.ca/canadadayCHRISTOPHER KLEIN

GREECE STILL RULES

Through good times and bad, Greek summers endure as the most beautiful in creation. My bliss is Sifnos, one of the Cyclades, under a burnished August sun, or in equally luminous September, when Europeans go home and prices plummet. Sifnos and its people are warm, grounded in their own social structure, and unspoiled by tourism. When the arriving hordes vaporize onto the many beaches, Sifnos is bathed in countryside quiet and lovingly preserved white villages, including the medieval walled Kastro. Dozens of stone-paved hiking trails lead you in the footfall of ancestral Sifnians and their mules from town to town, among small farms and olive groves. People here still make pottery in workshops at the water’s edge, and they are passionate about simple, savory food prepared with the ingredients of the earth and sea. After visiting Panagia Chrissopigi, an ancient monastery, order lamb and other traditional Sifnian dishes at taverna Lebesis, or almost anywhere. Don’t waste an extra minute on the slow ferry; hop a fast catamaran in Athens, enjoy the view with an espresso, and get to Sifnos in under three hours. A list on the Aegean Thesaurus website offers a starting point for lodgings. From over $300 a night for a modernist suite to under $80 a night for a simple, clean room, they’re all good. thesaurus.gr/sifnos

PATRICIA BORNS

AN OLYMPIAN WORLD