Loved This Class!!

What a fabulous class on a memorable day - I wish all my university classes could be this awesome!
Many thanks to all these special souls for making this class so special!

Beautiful Spring in Athens

The Byzantine Art Museum

This museum features a grand collection of unusual and fantastic Byzantine art

this is an incredible iconostasis - gilded, carved wood, amazing iconography

and real gold thread in those antique vestments - not unlike today

and our class! 

A Wonderful Lunch at Despina's

My Orthodox Church class was invited to our prof's home for a wonderful lunch - 

we all love her and the class. Those are all real smiles of happiness!

L to R: (top row) Sarah, Chris, Nicolette, Dr. Despina Iosif, Bianca, Dillon,
(bottom row) yours truly, Sarah, Catherine, Samantha

The First Cemetery of Athens - WOW!

You have never visited a cemetery like this one. It is truly amazing.

The First Cemetery of Athens (Greek: Πρώτο Νεκροταφείο Αθηνών) is the official cemetery of the City of Athens and the first to be built. It opened in 1837 and soon became a luxurious cemetery for famous Greek people and foreigners. The cemetery is located behind the Temple of Olympian Zeus and the Panathinaiko Stadium in central Athens. It is large green space including pines and cypresses.

In the cemetery there are three churches. The main is the Church of Saint Theodores and there is also a smaller of Saint Lazarus. The third church is a Catholic church. The cemetery includes the tomb of Heinrich Schliemann, designed by Ernst Ziller, the tomb of Ioannis Pesmazoglou, that of Georgios Averoff, and one named I Koimomeni (the Sleeping Girl), by the sculptor Yannoulis Chalepas, from the island Tinos. There are also separate burial places for Protestants and Jews. The cemetery is under the Municipality of Athens and it is declared as an historical monument. ~wiki

my favorite statue - isn't it great?

We wandered for a long time, amazed at the memorials and crypts. We wondered about the cost, and the families attached. We never did find the Jewish section, but did come across the Protestant section. When we saw the map, we realized it was huge! (Fotki album for all the pics.)

the front plaza

Hangin' in the Plaka

What do you do in the Plaka?

You shop at the new Hard Rock Cafe shop...

you check out the local church...

you watch your step...

you overhear tourists wondering if the lamb is dog... 

(it's not.)

you buy wonderful jewelry made in Greece...

try to read the signs...
(it says, "Easter in Athens")

and you take loads of photos!

Spreading the Light of Christ...all the way from Jerusalem!

the crowd gathered right before midnight...
 and the light collected from Jerusalem made its way through the faithful

and, then they took their Light and made their way home, sharing with  those who had none

The Funeral Bier of Christ

from our apartment balcony - the crowd starts to gather with  candles lit

and then the choir goes by...

next the priests in their finery

then the bier of Christ

as the church bells rang long and slow

and the faithful followed

and then came back to wait for the bier to return to the church

Friday Walk-About - Spring Break Edition

We had planned on checking out a museum or two today on our last weekday of Spring Break, but no luck - they were all closed for Easter, apparently. So we had a nice walk about in the sunshine. Don't be fooled, though...there was snow in the mountains and a bitter cold wind was whipping through Athens this morning.

we discovered this interesting statue of sorts by the National Art Gallery

and this most interesting modern art by the plethora of embassies near Kolonaki (oh, and we found the TGI Fridays!)

Then we wandered back towards our favorite neighborhood, walked around, found some excellent gyros, and walked some more.

we sat and enjoyed the scenery and sunshine in the Thissio neighborhood - Chuck snapped a few pics

After a brief conversation with an older gentleman who wanted to tell us that he remembered the time when it was free to get onto the Acropolis, we decided to walk some more. It was getting warmer, so we headed back into the Plaka, and sat in the sun enjoying cocktails. Finally giving up our table, we ventured into some clothing stores despite the cling-on sales people and found a couple of fun additions to my limited wardrobe. Then we made our way into a wonderful art gallery and found this:

a wonderful painting of the Plaka neighborhood right off the ancient Roman Agora;
the church is one we have visited several times

Then we decided to try a new taverna - the sign stated it was the "most traditional taverna," and they weren't lying! We didn't order from a menu, but the server brought a bunch of dishes for us to choose from on a large tray. We chose meatballs in a delish tomato sauce, gigantic beans, salad (of course), and spicy cheese spread for our bread. Bring on the wine!

now, THIS is good, authentic Greek food!

this was the view from the second floor of our restaurant - the bells were ringing...

and people were coming and gathering - a lot of them, and they just kept coming!