Month: December 2022

ΥΔΡΑ – ❤️My Love❤️

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Ydra is my weakness; I just love this little Greek island and everytime I set foot on it, I plan on coming back and staying for one year!

Ydra has everything I want (small villages, quiet life, slow pace, nice weather) and everything I need (quiet, slow, nice) – so what am I waiting for? I’m not sure, but I know, that one day, when I’m sick or old or both, and I haven’t lived on Ydra, this will be one regret. And I tend to live my life so there aren’t any regrets at the end. So far, so good!

View from our Airbnb window, 3m away from the water!

I was here in summer, in the fall, and now it’s winter, December, and many stores and restaurants are closed. And the few that are open are very welcoming; the people working there are talkative, interested, helpful and friendly. They have more time, the off-season has lots of advantages! 2500 people live here and there are 2 nursery schools, 2 public schools and 1 highschool. 164 churches (mostly temples) and 7 beautiful monasteries.

We found a really nice Airbnb right on the Westside of the harbor. It is a cool, airy space with an unusual floorplan and stunning views to the east side of the harbor!

Did I ever mention that I’m a big Leonard Cohen fan?

Leonard Cohen lived here for ~10 years in the 1960s, with his Norwegian girlfriend Marianne. He wrote his best songs while living here…

https://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/hydra2.html

Aside the garbage truck, there are no vehicles on Ydra. The preferred choices of transportation are 1. your feet, 2. the boat, or 3. the donkey. I like that. It makes life here very quiet!

And beside all the donkeys, there are many cats!

Another important aspect of every place we go is the food. We like to explore new things everywhere we go, but sometimes it is the good old classics that makes me happy. For example Tzatziki! Theoretically, I could eat Tsatsiki with everything (except icecream, but fortunately I’m not a big icecream fan anyway)!

https://www.loveandlemons.com/tzatziki-sauce/

Athens – Greek pride

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Since June 1st we have been to 15 countries and each of them has their distinguished pride. Is it the music, dancing, their history or the food; in each country it is deeply rooted and present! We had the honor to meet many people who shared this pride with us and who explained the traditions to us. For example Stefan, our tourguide at the western fjords in Iceland, or Chiara from Napoli, Alba from Valencia and many more. They all are deeply rooted and proud of their heritage. And here we are, in Athens, and there is Peter, the friend who welcomed us for this last week, showing us his pride to be Greek. He took us to a typical Greek restaurant where the tradition of music, dance and food were celebrated. It was fabulous!

Ted got lessons: how to dance like a Greek god. This was part 1

There was just so much to like about this evening and the later it got, the wilder it was!

Dagmar, showing her heart and soul – such a pleasure to watch her dancing!

And of course the food: we started eating right after we arrived around 9pm and we ate and ate and ate for hours. Dessert arrived just after 2am! Here are a few examples:

Dagmar and Jinny, BFF
Lamb chops – you have to eat them without using a knife
Jinny and Yanis

We eventually got home, more or less drunk, and the clock showed 4am. That was a great evening full with Greek pride!

Thank you, Peter (who almost danced on the table!)

Athens – Christmas

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Ever since we arrived in Greece, we were hit with the reality that Christmas is approaching quickly! In Morocco we saw an occasional “New Years” decoration (that looked exactly like Christmas), but nothing like here in Athens! It started with the taxi ride from the airport: Christmas music on the radio. And almost every store is decorated, public places are lit up and people are in Christmas shopping mode…

    But one thing I’m still looking forward to and haven’t seen here at all are Christkindlmarkets ❤️. You can’t have everything and the cold weather in Germany has to be rewarded with something, right? Why not with Christkindlmarkets? 🎄

    Athens – good news and bad news

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    The good news: my knee is still doing fine!

    The bad news started on this exact intersection 4 years ago (on Ted’s birthday!), when a pocket thief stole my wallet out of my zipped crossbody bag despite Ted standing right next to me, on my right side where the bag was facing. When crossing this intersection, we had to stop in the middle to wait for the green light. Once we were across the street, my wallet was gone; my bag zipper closed again.

    Damage: blue wallet, credit card, debit card, €300, my German drivers license (which cannot be replaced) 😖

    So today we took the tram to downtown Athens, when 5 or 6 big tall guys with black puffer jackets entered the tram together with us. You have to validate your ticket upon entering and they all created this commotion when I realized that my purse’s zipper was open and my notebook was missing. I immediately knew what was going on and shouted out that my notebook was stolen. I tried to shout to Ted that he should check his things, check his wallet, passport, everything, but those guys blocked me from Ted. I was furious and those guys all of a sudden “found” my notebook. Then Ted realized that his passport and his wallet were stolen out of the front pocket of his jeans and he started to make a fuzz and got loud as well. Suddenly those guys “found” the passport and the wallet on the floor as well. I told Ted to check his credit cards and those guys got all agitated and aggressive that we accused them of theft. Peter started to argue with them, and they got cold feet. They quickly got out at the next station and disappeared. Then Ted realized that his credit card was taken out of his wallet and was gone. Along with those guys. This whole thing took only a few minutes, a lot of emotions and accusations were exchanged and fortunately we got everything back except Ted’s credit card. One phone call later that problem was resolved. We were very lucky, but traumatized! I was so sure that the way I wear my bag was foolproof. But I was wrong! And Ted’s jeans pocket? His front jeans pocket?!?

    This is how I wear my bag, which is a Fanny pack with the zipper right at my chest.

    Damage: credit card 😵‍💫 and mentally traumatized!

    Athens – National Archeological Museum

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    So when you are in Greece, especially in Athens, you want to see old stuff, really old stuff, right? And if you don’t want to, don’t go to Athens then, because there is plenty of old stuff everywhere! Not only out in public, on the streets and underneath the surfaces, often displayed under glass floors or behind glass walls, but also in many different museums, one of which we visited: the National Archeological Museum

    Animal head with gold horns
    Weapons from a grave, 16th century BCE
    Duck shaped vessel – made from a single piece of rock crystal! Minoan craftsmanship excellence (Edith’s favorite piece)
    The Antikythera Mechanism – Ted’s favorite piece and the reason why we ended up at the National Archeological Museum (see separate post)
    In front of the National Archeological Museum