From Athens with Love

Friday, April 8, 2011

Red eggs and church visits

In the Greek heritage and traditions Easter is the greatest time for foods, feasting and celebration to people in the Greek Orthodox faith. Holy Week is the most important time of the year for many people in Greece.

Holy Thursday

On Holy Thursday boiled eggs dyed red are prepared to celebrate the Resurrection of Christ and life. They are seen in most of the Greek families as part of the Easter Sunday Resurrection Table. People are also either making or buying butter twist cookies and traditional sweet bread (tsoureki) for the weekend to come.

Good Friday

On Good Friday, flags at government buildings are set at half mast to mark the mournful day of Christ. It is a day of mourning, not of work. The people go to the churches to see how the priests take down the icon of Christ off the cross, wrap it in linen and put it in a great casket covered with flowers symbolizing the tomb of Christ. It is carried on the shoulders of the faithful around the church area and back. Members of the congregation follow, carrying brown candles.

Holy Saturday

On Holy Saturday, the Eternal Flame is brought to Greece by military jet. It is distributed to priests who carry it to their local churches. The event is televised but many people start to gather in the churches by 11.00 p.m. for the Easter services with white unlit candles. At midnight the church bells toll, the priests announce Christ to be risen and everyone light their candles of the Holy Flame taken from Christ's nativity cave in Jerusalem. At that time fireworks are set off and people say to each other Truly He is risen (Alithos Anesti).

The candles are placed to homes and burned through the night as a symbol of the light returned to the world. Red eggs are cracked between friends and relatives as a symbol of Christ breaking from the Tomb. The person whose egg lasts longest is guaranteed to have a good luck for the whole year. The people gather around traditional food. On the Resurrection Table one can found smoke salted pork, variety of cheeses, Easter breads and special soup (magritsa). That is accompanied with wine, retsina and ouzo.

Easter Sunday and Monday

The very next day people are visiting each others and greeted with, what else but, a plate of food. On the Easter Sunday the table is set again but this time more with greens, seafood, grilled vegetables, rice, breads and cakes. Maybe the most waited dish being spiced lamb traditionally roasted over charcoal fire.

Easter Monday is the day of relaxation and, well, some heartburn. Everyone gets ready to return to their everyday lives.

Greek Orthodox Easter 2011

This year a modified Julian calendar and the Gregorian calendar collide. In 2011 Greek Orthodox Easter is celebrated on the same day as Easter in the Western church, Sunday 24th of April.

Kaló pásha ...Happy Greek Easter!

Thursday, March 24, 2011

When the almond tree blossoms

You can see small almond trees blossoming all over the city now. It is the sure sign of spring in Athens but like everything in Greece the tree holds its hidden story.

In Greek mythology there is the Queen of Thrace, Phyllis, who thinks her lover will never return again. They had arranged to be married, but before the marriage ceremony could take place, Demophon was recalled to Athens for the funeral of his father. She waits for her fiancée to arrive over promised time and finally in despair commits suicide.

The Gods are so moved by her love, that they transform her into an almond tree. Eventually her lover returns and finds only a little tree. He embraces it and it starts to blossom beautifully, and becomes an ageless symbol for constancy in love and eternal hope.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Mr. Papandreou, I assume?

Me talking with (and posing with him to photographers) Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou when he arrived at the Acropolis Museum in Athens today. He is a very warm, pleasent and nice man in person.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Everyday life in Greece

Even Greek austerity measures planned by the Greek government have been met with wild protests in Athens, still everyday life continues at the heart of the families.

Greeks have seen bigger horrors in they history than this. They will survive - ones again.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Spotting signs is free fun

If there is one form of advertising that everyone understands it is the sign. Athens is full of funny, quirky, lovable or even sometimes questionable signs.

Spotting them is free fun for everyone. How about some of these for starters?

After a hard day or especially a night out in Athens wouldn´t you want to have one of these?

Lack of available parking spots makes people to do crazy parking moves in Athens...

and you can always win this sign glued on your windshield.

But don´t you worry a thing. You can always gather your strength and continue shopping and pampering yourself in thousands of great little shops of Athens.

Have a fun day out there! :D

Five continents of animals

The Attica Zoological Park has four sections: Zoological Park, Dolphinarium, Dinosavropolis and Okeanopolis. It extends to a total area of 20 hectares and is designed as a miniature of five continents of the world with more than 2 000 animals from 350 species.

It is very clean, fun and animals are very well kept. Nice day in the park is not only about watching the animals but learning valuable lessons, experiencing the world and the environment in which we live in and even walking amongst some of the animals. Visiting the zoo is a celebration of senses and offers a great feeling of relaxation.

The most impressive part of the zoo is the third largest bird collection in the world followed by recently opened, the first and only, Dolphinarium in Greece. The Attica zoological Park truly reaches its goal to raise awareness of the animal kingdom and gives an good effort to preserve endangered species for all of us. Somewhere round 60% of the zoo's animals are rare or even threatened by extinction.

Ticket fare for adults is 15 € (in addition to zoo ticket 3 € for the Dolphinarium). Reduced prices are for persons over the age of 65, below the age of 12, students and for different groups. Children under the age of three and disabled individuals have free entry. Remember to check the offers for example of family passes!

Open Mon-Sun from 9.00 until sunset. At Yaloy, Spata. Information 0030 210 663 4724 210.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Controversial art

The streets of Athens are covered with paint by local “artists”.

It is no wonder because that has been the case since the ancient times and has been a part of the city since its birth.

There are some works that are without a meaning, lack of talent and done out of a pure boredom. On the other hand there is also a large amount of art out there that has a message. They are also skillfully done and emotive.

At least emotions are awakened by the property owners, who call this kind of art Greek tragedy or vandalism and who have an ongoing battle with these kinds of artists. Little do they care that the opposite troops says they have just transformed boring walls to a street gallery of beautiful art.

Anyway, while street art is there, here are some of the thrilling and mouthwatering pieces from the streets of Athens. Try to find them out or sit back and enjoy!

Areas popular with street art are the Exarchion, Plaka, Psiri, Gazi. Comment here if you think you know where a peace of street art in the picture is taken. Anyone, anyone? :D