Another Beautiful Church

this one is near Monastriki Square

it is the artwork that always attracts my attention with these beautiful churches

this little shrine was outside the church, but
it has incredible artwork

I think it is the eyes that get me...

A Little About Carnival in Greece

The Tradition of Apokries / Karnavali

(Apokries may also be spelled Apokreas, Apokrias)

In Greece the Carnival started in Ancient times, believed to be as a worship to Dionysos, the God of Wine and Feast.  In the Orthodox tradition Apokries is the preparation period before Lent. Apokries means literally saying goodbye to meat  - Apoxh apo kreas -  apo-kreas.  In Latin the roots of the word Carnival has the same meaning - 'carne' is meat and 'vale' goodbye.

Apokries runs for three weeks immediately preceding Lent.

First Week of Apokries 

Apokries starts with the opening of the book of the Triodion, the 3 holy sacraments.

Second Week- Meat week

Officially the last week of eating meat until after Lent.

Tsiknopempti - Thursday of meat week - Tsikna is the smell of burning meat. It was the custom on Tsikonpempti for everyone to charcoal grill meat and to melt fat over it so the smell of  'burning' meat permeated whole villages.

It is still the tradition to eat meat on Tsiknopempti, although nowadays it is usual to go to a taverna for the meat feast. You'll find that tavernas everywhere are packed and many have live music too.

Third Week -  Cheese Week

This week was also called 'White Week'  as  people ate mostly dairy products an
eggs. Meat was forbidden from Monday of cheese week  until after Lent. Many 
people still adhere to this.

Women never washed their hair during this week as it was said it would turn white 
if they did.

Carnival weekend
The final day of Apokries is also the last day until after Easter that church weddings  are allowed to take place. The Orthodox Church still follows the tradition that no weddings or celebrations can take place during the 50 days of Lent.

The old tradition says don't get married on this day; if you do it will be an unhappy marriage!

~taken from LivingCrete.net

Clean Monday:

Kathari Deftera is considered a very important feast all over Greece, It is the first day of the 7th week before the Orthodox Easter.

At a special service all present bow down before one another and ask for forgiveness. In this way we begin the Great Lent with a clean conscience, forgiveness and renewed Christian love.

Clean Mondayy puts an end to the preceding Carnival celebrations, inviting all Orthodox Christians to leave behind the sinful attitudes associated with Carnival festivities and non-fasting foods, which were largely consumed during the three weeks of the Carnival.

The feast, which is a public holiday in Greece and Cyprus, is celebrated with outdoor excursions, the consumption of shellfish, other sea food and other fasting foods, as well as the widespread custom of flying kites.

Big News for Greece

As reported in USA Today:

"Greece and its European creditors agreed Friday to a four-month extension on the country's bailout, but the 11th-hour deal only puts off a battle over controversial austerity measures that have weighed on the country's economy.

The deal, hammered out in talks in Brussels, hinges on Greece proposing reform measures by Monday and the country's creditors accepting the plan.

Until then, Greece, beset by 25% unemployment and a shrinking economy, won't receive the next installment of its 240 billion euro ($273 billion) rescue package.

Still, U.S. investors like the news: The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 154.67 at an all-time high of 18,40.44.

Greece's new government swept into office recently on pledges to roll back tax hikes, budget cuts and other reforms that have walloped its fragile economy. But eurozone creditors such as Germany have resisted efforts to ease the overhaul, which Greece agreed to implement as a condition of the bailout.

Under the pact reached Friday, Greece will propose modified reform measures Monday and the European Central Bank, European Commission and International Monetary Fund will say within days whether they provide "a valid starting point" for negotiations. A final agreement is expected to be reached by the end of April, according to a statement of the Council of the European Union.

"It sounds like they're just kicking the can down the road," says Wells Fargo global economist Jay Bryson. Still, he says he thinks the two sides can come to terms on a less onerous package of reforms.

In a note to clients, Barclays Capital wrote that Friday's deal "removes a significant uncertainty from the euro area and global outlook."

But it added that "the acrimony of the negotiations" raises doubts about efforts to further integrate eurozone economies and suggests European elections in coming months could revive battles over economic reforms.

The Council of the European Union, in announcing the deal, said, it appreciates the "remarkable adjustment efforts undertaken by Greece and the Greek people over the last years" for solving the crushing debt problem.

Still, Greece faces a systematic overhaul of its government.

"The authorities commit to implementing long-overdue reforms to tackle corruption and tax evasion, and improving the efficiency of the public sector," the EU statement said of Greek officials.""

Official Statement from the EU:

The Eurogroup reiterates its appreciation for the remarkable adjustment efforts undertaken by Greece and the Greek people over the last years. During the last few weeks, we have, together with the institutions, engaged in an intensive and constructive dialogue with the new Greek authorities and reached common ground today. 

The Eurogroup notes, in the framework of the existing arrangement, the request from the Greek authorities for an extension of the Master Financial Assistance Facility Agreement (MFFA), which is underpinned by a set of commitments. The purpose of the extension is the successful completion of the review on the basis of the conditions in the current arrangement, making best use of the given flexibility which will be considered jointly with the Greek authorities and the institutions. This extension would also bridge the time for discussions on a possible follow-up arrangement between the Eurogroup, the institutions and Greece. 

The Greek authorities will present a first list of reform measures, based on the current arrangement, by the end of Monday February 23. The institutions will provide a first view whether this is sufficiently comprehensive to be a valid starting point for a successful conclusion of the review. This list will be further specified and then agreed with the institutions by the end of April.  

Only approval of the conclusion of the review of the extended arrangement by the institutions in turn will allow for any disbursement of the outstanding tranche of the current EFSF programme and the transfer of the 2014 SMP profits. Both are again subject to approval by the Eurogroup. 

In view of the assessment of the institutions the Eurogroup agrees that the funds, so far available in the HFSF buffer, should be held by the EFSF, free of third party rights for the duration of the MFFA extension. The funds continue to be available for the duration of the MFFA extension and can only be used for bank recapitalisation and resolution costs. They will only be released on request by the ECB/SSM. 

In this light, we welcome the commitment by the Greek authorities to work in close agreement with European and international institutions and partners. Against this background we recall the independence of the European Central Bank. We also agreed that the IMF would continue to play its role. 

The Greek authorities have expressed their strong commitment to a broader and deeper structural reform process aimed at durably improving growth and employment prospects, ensuring stability and resilience of the financial sector and enhancing social fairness. The authorities commit to implementing long overdue reforms to tackle corruption and tax evasion, and improving the efficiency of the public sector. In this context, the Greek authorities undertake to make best use of the continued provision of technical assistance. 

The Greek authorities reiterate their unequivocal commitment to honour their financial obligations to all their creditors fully and timely. 

The Greek authorities have also committed to ensure the appropriate primary fiscal surpluses or financing proceeds required to guarantee debt sustainability in line with the November 2012 Eurogroup statement. The institutions will, for the 2015 primary surplus target, take the economic circumstances in 2015 into account. 

In light of these commitments, we welcome that in a number of areas the Greek policy priorities can contribute to a strengthening and better implementation of the current arrangement. The Greek authorities commit to refrain from any rollback of measures and unilateral changes to the policies and structural reforms that would negatively impact fiscal targets, economic recovery or financial stability, as assessed by the institutions. 

On the basis of the request, the commitments by the Greek authorities, the advice of the institutions, and today's agreement, we will launch the national procedures with a view to reaching a final decision on the extension of the current EFSF Master Financial Assistance Facility Agreement for up to four months by the EFSF Board of Directors. We also invite the institutions and the Greek authorities to resume immediately the work that would allow the successful conclusion of the review.

We remain committed to provide adequate support to Greece until it has regained full market access as long as it honours its commitments within the agreed framework.

Breakfast in our Athens Apartment

This a rather mundane post to capture a morning in our Athens apartment...

Chuck splurged on a non-stick pan to make our
breakfast preparations a little easier -
we discovered what the itty-bitty burner is for: Greek coffee!

no cutting boards needed on this marble counter;
the sink is all marble, as well

I love using our french press for coffee instead of
having instant coffee; also, we have been putting the
wonderful Greek honey in our coffee or raw sugar, which is
called brown sugar here

in the cupboard...our stash of mountain tea -
we have been enjoying it, but unfortunately you
can't seem to get it in the states (it is absolutely
everywhere here!)

we use the electric tea pot daily and love the little crocks from yogurt
for all types of catch all - this one is almost overflowing with our corks;
not much storage space in this kitchen, that is for sure! I would think that
if you lived here, you wouldn't cook much, as it seems cheaper to eat out

our itty-bitty fridge - we haven't purchased much
food, and yet it is pretty stufffed

this is almost less than a one-butt-kitchen! 

Demonstration @ Syntagma Square

Chuck took a couple of shots of the pro-government demonstration that was taking place this evening in Syntagma Square.

there was an amazing amount of people who both turned out for the demonstration and that were looky-loos, like us

Interestingly, during these demonstrations, a multitude of hot-dog/souvlaki vendors set up for business. There must have been at least 15 of them throughout the square ready to serve the hungry demonstrators.

I stopped to ask one of the vendors about the festivities, and he shoo'd us behind his hot-dog cart and grabbed my camera for pics...he didn't speak much  English, but he was more than friendly! Apparently, this is common practice during political rallies and demonstrations.

Our first demonstration! haha! Actually, after these pics, we made our way home...
we are kinda party-poopers!

The Sweetest City on Earth

you know you want some!
this is some incredible gelato - my favorite is the sweet cream in the back row;
this place also had continuously flowing 'faucets' of warm fudge and white chocolate for topping the gelato -
I have never seen that before!

Nai, parakalow - Yes please!

perhaps a fruity chocolate?

or maybe these pistachio-flavored donuts?

you have got to be kidding me - these sweets are the most photographed sweets in Athens...
I watched about a dozen people snapping pics while we ate at the taverna across the street

yes, that is chocolate covered challah. yeah, I know...who thinks of these things?
and various forms of baklavah and honey-soaked goodness

frosting!! You would think that everyone must weigh a ton here with all these sweets,
but truly, they don't. And, can I tell you that I don't see them feeling guilty for indulging, either?

"Go Be In Athens"

Time for some much needed down-time. 

We spent Friday walking about without any agenda.

a musical trio - the third man with the tambourine
was collecting 'donations'

a wonderful new hat!

another church...

and another opportunity for photos - here Chuck is in the nice church plaza

what a glorious entryway!

and the surrounding neighborhood with the reconstructed Stoa of Attalos in the foreground

one our favorite refreshments - a Greek version of Fanta

I absolutely love walking through the street vendors and all the hand-crafted wares they sell

there are many of these little streets we have yet to explore

had to capture one of the many gyro sellers - yum;
Greeks really do eat Greek food, not like us Americans
who have incorporated many types of food styles into
our standard American diet