Athens this Month – June 2016

Guards at the Parliament. Syntagma.

Graffiti every where!

Athens Street Style. The Plaka.

Waiting for customers at the Taverna. Kukuki District.

The Observatory. Near Fillopappas Hill.

Sprawling Athens, looking South to Aegina Island.

Colorful Brettos. In the Plaka.

Street musician near the Acropolis.

Hot hot hot!
Hotels fully booked with tourists and conventioneers.
But few signs of refugees.
Glad to see the Posidonia shipping crowd leave town at the end of their biennial bacchanal bash!
The Niarchos Cultural Center in Kallithea is rising! Sure to be a beautiful spot bringing life to Kallithea. Athens needs a new trendy area!
Streets are full of traffic. Especially when protesters take over the Center!
Made it to the kick-off event of the Athens-Epidaurus Festival. Big out-door concert by 10+vocalists and brass and bouzoukia and accordion! And Mr. Cheimerinoi Kolymvites was the highlight of the evening!  O φίλος μου  Γιώργος ξέρει καλή μουσική!
Kukaki, just south of the Acropolis Museum. My new favorite part of town.
Mani Mani is still serving great food. At a great price with great service! Meanwhile, Indian restaurants seem to be on the rise!
People are still smoking like it isn’t 2016 and we don’t know better! Oh the cost…to family friends co-workers and self!
Taxis are still cheap and plentiful. But watch out for the jalopies!
Be sure to strike up a conversation with a local. Greeks love to talk…and you might end up with a friend for life!
And so Athens, my dusty old friend. I will be gone and back again…before you know it!

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Refugee Children in Greece

A photo exhibit by GMB Akash at the Benaki Museum of Athens. 21 May 2016

This exhibit brings the refugee crisis to life. My compliments to Mr. GMB Akash for his efforts in documenting the people caught in this struggle. The work is artfully presented, using only the photo roll paper set low to the ground, which is so often our vantage point when looking at children.

http://www.benaki.gr/index.asp?lang=en&id=202010001&sid=1939

Tulips in Manhattan

 

Tulips in Manhattan – April 2016

I can’t think of a nicer Tulip Garden than this one in the West Side Community Garden on W89th Street in Manhattan. This 40 year old garden is a triumph of community action and is supported solely by volunteers. It is a wonderful spot for relaxation not to mention enjoying the flora.

Visit their website to learn more and find out about upcoming events. http://www.westsidecommunitygarden.org/about/

Enjoy my tulip photos.

 

 

A Walk through 2 Boroughs – 29 August 2015

Photos from a stroll from Manhattan to The Bronx, across the High Bridge at 170th Street.

The Apollo Theater on 125th Street

The High Bridge, seen from Manhattan.

Looking North from the High Bridge.

One of many commemorative plaques on the High Bridge.

Strolling West on the High Bridge, towards Manhattan

Enjoying the morning air – Bronx Style!

Saturday Morning in the Bronx.

Fun on a hot day at Nelson Playground in the Bronx.

Under the El on Jerome Avenue.

Shop Workers – waiting for Yankee Fans.

McCombs Dam Park on the edge of Yankee Stadium.

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My Island – Poros

Most Greeks have either “My Island” or “My Village”. For us Poros has become ‘My Island”, probably because it is close enough to our family roots in the Peloponnese, but mostly because we have been welcomed there for many years by some very close friends. They have taken us into their family and included us in many events. We are so fortunate!

Poros is a short ferry ride from Piraeus. Close enough for a day-trip. And it is just a stone’s throw from Galatas in the Peloponnese. A day-trip to Epidaurus, or Mycenae is entirely possible.

Like everywhere in Greece, people like to sit for hours over a cup of coffee, or drink ouzo and eat grilled octopus and other mezes at a very leisurely pace! Everything starts later. There is no such thing as 7:00 in the morning, and meeting in the afternoon usually means at 5:00 or 6:00. Ask a friend where you will meet for coffee tomorrow and they will say at the port…or at the corner…and “I will look for you”. Ask them what time and they’ll say “in the morning”. Plans are rarely more firm than that! The summertime routine will include swimming, followed by a nap…then coffee in the afternoon! And a light dinner about when you should really be going to bed!

In Poros one must enjoy the simple routines that are common around Greece. But to enjoy them on Poros…now that is something different indeed!

Early morning ferry to Poros – on a brilliant day!

In town on Easter Sunday – our last night. Galatas is just opposite…a few hundred meters away.

Kids at the beach in Askeli.

High up in the village – Poros.

 

 

Want to visit Amsterdam?

I recently had a 3 day weekend in Amsterdam and stayed at the wonderful Andaz Hotel in the Prinzengracht Area of Amsterdam. Located in a beautiful area – perfect for walking and bicycling along the canals, and visiting the museums and so many wonderful small shops. Small shops with unique items and many of them handmade!

But the Andaz! It was amazing, with wonderful rooms; art in the rooms and throughout the hotel, great service, and great food. Usually hotels have a fault or two, but none were evident at the Andaz! The room was an open plan with the sink in the room, along with the shower, and only the toilet and the walk-in closet were separate from the room.

Too bad it was a weekend of all day meetings and too bad it rains cats’n’dogs in March in Amsterdam! Still lots of fun!

Andaz Lobby with tulip chairs.

Andaz Hotel Room – Open Plan

Nearby Coffee Shop

Courtyard at the Andaz.

Andaz courtyard at night – 1

Andaz courtyard at night – 2

View from the Andaz Hotel entrance.

HANAMI – A Flower Show

Preview of Spring 2015 – A Garden Club of America Major Flower Show

Hanami is an age-old Japanese celebration of Spring. People throughout Japan authoring under the flowering cherry and plum trees with food, drink and friends to appreciate the fleeting nature of the spring blossoms. Hanami is essentially the Japanese ‘preview of spring’. This theme invites us to be present in the moment, aware of the temporal beauty of nature and its diverse expression in the plant life of the natural world.

I had the pleasure of seeing this show on February 28th, in Greenwich CT. Presented by the Green Fingers Garden Club, the show is a Major Flower Show of the Garden Club of America.