Maybe this will fix Greece

The island of Poros with water taxis connecting from the mainland town of Galatas. Poros is a more well to do and more manicured island than my Aegina. I frequently get my laundry done there.........all you can pack into a suitcase for 10 euros. They know me well . "cold water only for the wash". That is the ext ent of his English. One Euro each way for the water taxi.........they rarely sink

This is our friend Nektarios the Potter. He lives in Mesagros on the island of Aegina.........this is his

story

http://www.aeginagreece.com/aegina/pages/articles/culture/pottery_food_mesagros.html

I had made arrangements to have my wife take some pottery lessons with Nektarios.

He speaks no English and she speaks no Greek.

I was not sure if my mom and pop household Greek would be adequate for any technicalities so I hired a translator .

Later found out that our translator was a local woman to us........self taught in Greek from Cypress St

in Millburn. As it turned out we did not need her but I did not mind helping out the local economy at all

My wife, in the middle and barely seen next to Nektarios

Since they did not need me I went out to the back yard and was chased incessantly by his roosters.

That night I got my revenge at the supper table.

The harbor for the island of Hydra. Hydra is one of the "cool" islands. The Hollywood set discovered it in the 90's. Richard Gere and Julia Roberts have homes here. No motor vehicles allowed..........only horses and donkeys carry everything.

This is a fascinating thread -- thank you for these glimpses into Greek life and culture. It's such valuable context for the increasingly grim headlines in the business news...

beppolina........glad you are enjoying it. Yes life can be grim but every once in a while you meet a Zorba like character and I do have a few in the family. The sense of humor is infectious and the realization that so much in life is absurd. It is a most difficult time over there right now.........but I know the Greek people well.

We will persevere. Come visit when you may...........the hospitality is famous and both visitor and guest are better for it.

The main street of Aya Marina on Aegina Island. Aya Marina was a prosperous Jersey Shore like little village. It was also the "swinging place to go for night life".

Things changed when the new airport was built. The Germans insisted that no charter flights use the airport. That cut way back on visitors taking the economy route. It also cut way back on charter cruises coming into their small harbor. No tourists.......not much business.

My friend Dimitri has his small hotel here and this is where I met my friend Giota

Giota was forced to leave the country for Austria and Germany to work in Greek restaurants for three years She is just back and with her savings bought a coffee house, what else, in her native Piraeus.

I will post more on that if I can....................

Greek pizza is terrible if you are from Jersey

The best pizza in Greece comes from my friend Vassily who owns Mythos , a restaurant

He worked in Lyndhurst NJ for 15 years at the diner. A year before returning home he had a friend teach him how to make Jersey Pizza..............it is right down the road you see about a half mile and on the right side. Exquisite.

My colleagues come from Kos, just a spit from Turkey. Some of my clients were born in villages and on islands that were Greek but now belong to Turkey. A couple are from Greek Romania and Greek Egypt (Alexandria, Cairo, another town I can't remember now). Then we have the usual smattering of Kriti, Salonika, Athens, Lesbos, Cyprus, etc. so the music gets all jumbled, the language mixed, arguments over how to adjust the spices for traditional dishes...

We have 3 birthdays this week, two on the same day. We'll be drowning in chocolate! Chronia polla! (I need a Greek keyboard)

Library lady must have one as she sends messages containing the language in the language. I took a 20 minute cab ride one time. It was the drivers name day and his phone never stopped.

He almost forgot I was in the car.

The Arch of Hadrian in Athens. Dedicated by the Roman Emperor Hadrian in about 131 BC. You can practically touch the stone if you will. It is a short walk to the magnificent Columns of the Temple of Olympian Zeus. The Acropolis is visitable in the top left.

This monument is a short walk, maybe 10 minutes from the Greek Parliament building on busy Amalias St.

The Hotel Grand Betagne in Athens. Directly across from the Parliament building. It is the place to see and be seen. Strictly white glove treatment from the time you arrive.

Built in 1874 it has housed Presidents and Kings. It was the Hotel of choice for Mr. Churchill . This lonesome traveler has never stayed there. Will give two recomendations later.

One of the restaurants on the beach across from our room at the Plaza Hotel in Aegina. Don't let the name of the Hotel fool you . There are 8 rooms 4 with a water view. The owner is Soterius and he is sort of the go to guy for the police. Frequently visitors arrive after midnight and have nowhere to stay. They call Soterious and Greek hospitality shines through. There is no crime on Aegina by the way . Sleep soundly. As a matter of fact there is very little crime in all of Greece

Jutting out of the blue waters you can easily be fooled by what you see. The mountains which seem to rise from the ocean are really far away on the Peloponnese. One exception here. The island on the right is Angistri. It was settled by Albanian immigrants about a hundred years ago. They retained their culture, foods etc and language till recently. It is a pleasant little island with good beaches. Shuttles go back and forth all day.

On the left side of the photo and better seen from the fishing village of Perdika is Marathon. Marathon where vastly outnumbered free Greeks met the Persian invaders and let them know they were not welcome.

Souzana Raphael who I hired to help translate our friend Nektarios.

She is a story in herself. After college she went out to our West Coast and practiced organic farming for over 20 years. She became interested in Bulgarian Folk Music and played on the original old instruments.

Well she needed more activity so segued into Greek Folk Music. She taught her self Greek......no mean feat and eventually immigrated. She felt the government raised the bar in handing out her requirements to stay. Eventually she had a paper marriage with a 89 year old Brit. Despite it all she lives near Nektarios offers excellent translation services as well as editing and still performs her music.

The final irony.........she is from Cypress St in Millburn

Some of the pottery produced by Nektarious. The clay he uses contain shards of fossils which are excellent in producing the proper balance needed for his finished product

The Museum of Bzyantine Culture..........truly a gem . It seems to get larger every time I am there.

I was forced to drink two ice cream sodas in their cafe while waiting for my wife to finish up.

The world forgets that from the fall of Rome in the 400's the only seat of light and learning in the Western World was Byzantium. It was a center of culture and commerce that preserved what we know of as our culture.

From our Canadian cousins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhDgpXWkFHE

delete

delete

(Sadly, one of my clients learnt of the murder of his brother and SIL in a home invasion in a small village via satellite news last year... The broadcast was delayed here about 12 or 24 hours, and no one had yet notified him as the police were still trying to find other family members. Truly tragic. )

Yes.........a rarity but no less sad. There are just so many things we never understand. We rage and we rage and we ask for comfort from one greater than us. As even more time passes may he be at peace.

author said:
The Hotel Grand Betagne in Athens. Directly across from the Parliament building. It is the place to see and be seen. Strictly white glove treatment from the time you arrive.
Built in 1874 it has housed Presidents and Kings. It was the Hotel of choice for Mr. Churchill . This lonesome traveler has never stayed there. Will give two recomendations later.

OMG. My parents' alumni association organized a trip to Greece with an island cruise in 1973, and my parents decided the price was right, so we went. We actually stayed at the Grand Bretagne, so I'm amazed to see this photo of it! I remember HUGE rooms, and giggled at the bidet in the gigantic bathroom (I was 15 at the time). I had no idea of the history of the hotel.

Yes the Grande Bretagne is the high water of the Hotel industry in Athens. It is as stately as any building this side of the Taj Mahal.

If you prefer to be closer to the Parthenon and Acropolis just a bit.......I recommend the Royal Olympic. My photos are still on film and not digital so I will borrow some of theirs. Maybe one more recommendation later

http://www.royalolympic.com/

Yes the Grande Bretagne is the high water of the Hotel industry in Athens. It is as stately as any building this side of the Taj Mahal.

If you prefer to be closer to the Parthenon and Acropolis just a bit.......I recommend the Royal Olympic. My photos are still on film and not digital so I will borrow some of theirs. Maybe one more recommendation later

http://www.royalolympic.com/

Meals in Greece................eating in Greece is a luxury to be enjoyed. Meals are not often gourmet, but the contents are good and fresh as possible. Beef is on the rare side and I think for the most part should be passed up. However the lamb is heavenly, chicken and everything else you could want is there for the taking. Seafoods are fresher than we are used to having here.

Probably three quarters of the meals are taken out doors. Breakfast on a crisp morning is a delight and the rest of the day follows most pleasantly.

This is the Exharia area of Athens. It is where I stay when I am alone. Your travel agent will call it the Bohemian Part of town. It is much more.

Delphi..........I am winging this. High in the central mountains of Greece for at least a thousand years was the shrine of the Oracle at Delphi.........Kings and the high born would come to ask her advice on matters of state. The Oracle was a young woman kept in a hallucinogenic state by the Priests. She would give vague answers that could be taken a number of ways. Generations after generations of young women were kept in this state. And all that time she would be sought out for her advice.

With the stately Mt. Parnassus towering over everything. These are just a small number of ruins and statuary available for all to see.

Fountain in Syntagma Square.........or Constitution Square. It is also called constipation square because of all the over priced coffee imbibed by tourists. An old retired architect killed himself a few feet from here.

He left a note saying he was forced to forage through dumpsters for food when his pension was severely reduced. It shook the nation and brought out the demonstrators.

The Greek Diaspora............we use the term over there. I am one of them. I am one of `10 grand children who understand the language. It never went further with any of them I made a concentrated effort and struggled with myself till I could finally put a few paragraphs together. From there I learn.

My sister has been back once. She cleverly talked our mom, who was fluent into making a trip. My mom found the house where her father was born and spent a pleasant day with the relatives.

The others...........well I would like to go but the car needs work, we really like the Jersey Shore...........and so . I have given up on them.

But the Greeks recognize and the guides say nice things about us to a bus load of tourists. And me and the few other look at each and smile and I get misty before I re turn to my hotel.

We are the Greeks of the Diaspora and we have returned home.

And now .........the other story. Those who must leave. This is my friend Grigorius. He left Greece four years ago because he could not find work. He has been in Austria and Germany all that time.

This has cost him his girl friend Giota.......I will feature her later. But a man has to work.

And one of my two closest friends.......Giota. We met the summer she was managing a coffee desert place similar to Village Coffee.....anyone notice a pattern there After my noon day siesta I wanted some ice cream. Memories........her coffee shop was only about 5 minutes from Dimitr's Hotel. My Greek with a Newark accent was a fascinating. for her. Her English is the best of my friends and we have a third common language. She serves as my language teacher.

She is from Piraeus and loves the town. Because the tourists would not arrive till noon we spent hours gossiping about cabbages and kings Frequently about what a jerk her boyfriend was but we covered many basis.

She also spent years out of the country working . Giota returned recently to Piraeus and opened her own coffee shop. Will try to post the menu

s/''''

A typical hotel bathroom. Notice no shower curtain. To shower in this one I had to raise one foot and rest in on the toilet seat . Great drains though