Japan at Santorini

Yesterday, my good friend Maiko informed me she and her bf booked the flights fron Tokyo to Athens. They will visit Greece for their honneymoon in May.Programme arranged. Santorini and then Athens. They will stay to our flat for a couple of days. Maiko is a classical japanish woman and we're looking forward to seeing her husband, Masayuki! We trust Maiko's instinct.

In fact i've had invited them along time ago. For them, Greece, greek islands and especially Santorini is the best place to live their honneymoon. I think they're right, aren't they? I will try to make their staying in Athens as much better as i can. There are a few ideas for places they have to see. It's not the first time they come to Greece so they have seen most of the touristic attractions.

If you'd like to propose some interesting places to show them, please tell your opinion. All welcome...

Mass entairtenment

Saturday night we went to see the play "Mysteries or where is the joke" at "Under the bridge "theater. A friend of us, Vaggelis liodakis plays the main role and it was a good chance to see him. The play was good, young actors, women and men work together in a theatrical team. I liked the story, messages passed and i could say was a 2 hours enjoyable performance. Must be seen...that's the nice part of our saturday night.

Then we decided to go at Psiri area,(a place full od bars and clubs) to get in a bar for a drink. It's carnacal period and we wanted to have some fun. As an idea was nice as an act difficult to happen. All main city roads were full of cars, the traffic unbelievable and after 1 hour about 12.30 we were at Psiri area. A new problem arised: the game of parking the car. I tried, i tried alot, making the cycling way, passing and passing again from same roads and places, following other cars, which their drivers tried to park as well. We had the same idea. But was just an idea...

Psiri was too crowded and unforunatelly(?) i didn't manage to park the car. Time was about 1.30am. I left, went back to home and i think was the best i did.

I usually don't like visiting such a busy places. I prefer places where are uknown for most of the people, places out of fashion. I'm not trendy!But last Saturday i made a mistake. I tried to be in fashion and as a result i "failed".Well, I'm not too old i'm not too young. But, where all these thousands of people go at Psiri?
The place is awful, dirty and there is nothing to see.Only bars and bars. No colour, no feeling. Before, Psirri become a place for nightlife was a traditional area at Athens center. Nothing important but a least it had a colour. Now what? All the are is full of bars. Althoug some of them are nice, are so crowded you can't enjoy them.

I want the development of an area but not in such a way. Unless, development means making the whole area, all the old buildings bars and bars. That's another story.

I also get wondered about people's reaction. How well advertisiment work and make people go at mass entairtenment places.I'm trying to react in such attemptions but it's not easy. Propaganda always work well.

i don't want become another mass distraction victim. I try...besides mass means no uniqueness and each people is somenthing unique.

Prague

I like traveling and discovering new places and new locations. I have travelled in some places in Europe, and i have seen how people live there. I won't talk about England whereby i've had a great time. That's will be another topic, needs more analysis. My travel today is Prague.

I've read a lot about Prague and the ex-communist society. Seen many films about this city, read Kafka's stories and was impressed about the whole atmosphaire. A romantic, mysterious, beautiful city. I traveled to Prague 3 years ago, with eleni, and i can say the trip, the experience was unique. All i've seen was all i wanted and dreamed to see. I could feel the ex-communist part and at the same time the modern way of life. Nice people, pretty women, beautiful places, green around city, and the feeling that i was in a city come from a nouvel.For me Prague is a very erotic city. The magnificient view from St'Karolos castle, walking across the opera building late in the night with a fog covering the river and bridges. That evening walk with Eleni was one of my best ever... In Prague you can live, yet, and travel back to the past. The best for this is to get on a tram. The classic prague tram. The red tram, is not something special, but it's so romantic. We stayed in a nice hotel, Hilton but in fact we stayed alittle inside. All the time was out in the city and seeing all the interesting parts of the town. I was a little bit superlative and this is something i Have to change, as my friends tell me.

We stayed in Prague 4 days, and i can say...i could stay 4 more more. I confess that i like traveling in central Europe. Budapest and Vienna is close and its time to go...guess soon. But, i think that Prague is a must for everybody to go and live the illusion of being in old ages, the romantic ages.

TsiknoPempti

This Thursday in called 'Tsikno-Pempti", means in free translation "Thursday, where people eat barbeque meat".

It is traditional,Thursday before end of carnaval (greek "triodio")period people eat grilled meat.All restaurants and tavernas are full of people, most of them have made a reservation if not it's difficult to find a table. For me,the best, is to stay in home tonight and going out some other day. Thus, we grill some pork steak and sausages doing our duty as a traditional greek family.Maybe some friends visit us but in fact i have no idea who else will be in our home tonight. Eleni, just told me its not my buissnes to deal in. My duty is just to open the fire place and grill the meat!!! Men's duty...

Something nice smells...mmm...and barbeque smoke is over the town. That's the only day i like "smoke".

Cameras' passed by

Taking photos is one of my favourite hobbies. In fact, sometimes it's not simple a hobby but an obsession. I have thousands of photos, printed photos taken by several photo cameras.

I remember, when i was a child, in my family we had a simple photo camera a Kodak. It was very simple, just one click camera, cheap but too good for an amateur. All my family members had a passion with photos and as a result there photos for almost every moment of the family history. Especially photos from holidays, celebrites, birthdays, trips etc. After some years the Kodak camera was broken and ther was no any camera in the family. The next camera i remeber was Kodak again, a popular one those years end of '80s; Kodak 400. Small, reliable without many capabilities. Just one button.

My brother Iakovos, some years later in early '90s brought a new camera: a Yashika 35mm. I think that camera was the best one. Very good lenth and high quality of photos. Still we have this camera, and most of photos have been taken by this camera.The problem with this camera was, that user should be very carefull with the film placement. Once, i din't put the film correctly and as a result o lost importnant moments (a trip with my scholl in Corfu island). That period, we bought a very popular SLR camera, brought my father form a trip in Germany, the Canon EOS 800. Good photos and having that camera i thought was a photographer. It was the size, the little bag for keeping the camera safe made me believe was a good photographer. An illusion...

Some years later, Eleni bought a portable camera Olympus 35-105mm. Quite good, easy film loading (automatic), with good autofocus functions. We still have it but nowadays we don't use it. There is a new digital camera Canon Ixus 55. I follow the trends and bought this digital. I have been using it since Christam's and i'm satisfied. I take many pictures and this is one of the advantages of having digital camera. The problem is that i need a big hard disc in my PC to save all these photos. Wherever i go i have my new digital and taking photos.Some times i know become annoying and force friends and lovely persons to have a photo.But...its my hobby.

For me, taking a photo and seeing it after some years its very important. It's like going a trip back to past and making memories staying alive.

Food and taste

I've been thinking talking about food and taste since a long time ago. Now, this moment i think it's the right timing. My stomach is empty and i'm hungry.

First of all, let's see the topic historically. Since ancient ages or even since people "came" on earth food was the most important to their lives. I'm not talking about the nutrition side of food but also about the "things" follow or come together with lunch/dinner.Sociability, friendship, family happiness, laugh, and other nice feelings.People use to eat together or asking for a company to eat with. Joying a good meal with a special person, company is very important in order to enjoy the food better.

Food and sociability. It's common nowadays, people to meet each other in a restaurant and talking. They prefer to go in a restaurant and talk, discuss or even for updating their image in a popular restaurant, knowing they've been seen by other people. That's the side of phychological exaltation!Altough tavernas, always was a place for meeting lovely persons, nowadays this is a fashion and as we all know, when something is get mass and crowded lost its mission and beauty.

I can hear my stomach, makes some strange noices which can be heard by anybody in my office. I have to find a substitute, i will talk about favourite foods.
My top 3 is: 1) Chicken soup, 2) Boiled beef meat soup, with potatoes, carots and celery, eaten hot and 3) Pastitsio (see old topic). That's my lovely food dishes and i enjoy them alot every time, eleni cook them. Has i told how good cook eleni is?
Now talking about these, i feel my stomach better, much better. Chicken soup and boiled meat are similar but the taste differs. Of course for making a good chicken soup we need a chicken from village, if not the soup is not so tasty. I get wondered what might happen when the bird flu impact our daily life. About Meat soup, beef is prefered.

I don't think i can write more. The trick, talking about foods didn't work. I'm still hungry. In a hour i'll be home and know eleni has cooked something good, probaly meat in tomato sause with rice. I enjoy this moment!!!

4 troxoi

It's Saturday morning, med February and the weather is little sunny, little cold.
While Eleni was watching TV i was reading the "4troxoi" (4 wheels) magazine, my favourite one.
I'd like to talk about this.

First of all, for all those who don't know "4troxoi" is a popular magazine in Greece about auto, cars but above all is magazine about the culture and the way some people want to live.It "speaks" about this way and some times shows this way.

I read it almost every month and the purpose in not only to read the articles about the new cars, drive tests, rally reviews and etc but mainly for reading the basic article of the author and director of the maazine Mr Kostas Kavathas. This man has dedicated his life in something he loves most: the cars and the "things" they present. The first thing i do every time i buy the magazine is to read his article. The article which talks about the other "side of life", the life that some people want to liVe in. The article about the cars he's driven and drives and of course reading the experiences of a man that believe in a purpose. "To talk and offer something different than most of greeks want". I like being in this minority of people and the quality at the end beat the quandity.

Wheen i first read the "4troxoi", was very young, a child, and my brother gave this magazine to me. I liked, then, the photos of cars which never could touch or even see live. It was like a window in another world. Then, some years later i started reading on a monthly basis the articles of Kostas Kavathas and still do it. I enjoy them.Although he complains about things happen in our modern new greek reality, i agree with him and guess must really hard for him to live in this modern greek society (that is another big story, i have to talk another time).

This morning, "4troxoi" was a very good company to me and reading some of the articles and seeing some of the photos i dreamed, i travelled and lived in another "world". Thanks Kostas and God bless you with power and strenth.

Music at metro

Today i will talk about music hearing in public areas..such as metro-undergound in Athens.

Every body who lives in Athens knows that the metro system is very reliable, clean and something that bring us memories from other capital cities. Cities which have a metro net system since ages...Apart the convenience metro has brought to our everyday life, gave us the joy of listening good classical music waiting on platforms for the next train. That, for me was something unique and nice.Although, the classical music was something nice for the passengers i could say that most of them had some disagreement about this. Comments like "We're greeks and don't like classic music" or "I prefer greek folk music" were heard.

I liked being in the metro station and listeting to some good classical music, or even music from movies.Popular soundtracs and i was enjoying it alot. I could say, that music gave a feeling of something living in a "european style city". Made the train waiting easier...

But things change, especially in Greece change quite often.Thus, I've noticed, since a month or more ago the "Dj of the metro system" prefer greek music instead of classical. The true is that the music is very good (Theodorakis, Xatzidakis, etc classic greek composers) but the question is who decided for this change and although i like these composers for me is a matter of thinking. What does this change mean? Means that we all greeks do not like classical music? Are not familiar with this kind of music? Prefer the domestic products instead of abroad? Means something more? Accept or not the foreign music?

For me, the music of the greek composers is nice, easy listening and i guess most of the passengers know these songs. But, why not playing classic music as well? Besides the greek music is played from almost every radio station in Athens. Please, let us to enjoy at least, the minutes we're at metro station, the classic music.
Also, Mr Dj...don't play the same CD's again and again. There are plenty of them in the market.