Giorgos of Korae Square

The other day I saw Mr Giorgos again. He was in Korae Square, on the same corner I first saw him.

Actually, that time was a day after the violent riots of February 12/2012 and I interviewed him for the radio I work for.

"Athens was burning, everything around was on fire but I was not afraid" he told me. "In contrast, I was wishing for my end. What worse could possibly happen to me? I'm homeless since 1991. I come from Thessaloniki but to me home is all places I stand on."

"The other day I went to the police station to get an ID card and they asked for my electricity bill! I'm homeless. How can I possibly have an electricity bill? One does not exist without money. I don't exist".

Today, five months later, nothing's changed for him. Only this time I met him, it was under 43C.

Under 44 degrees of Celsius

While all Greek media keep on warning people to avoid being outside, Georgia Athanassiades had to go to work.

She sells lottery tickets, sitting everyday on the same corner, in Syntagma, since 1973!

" I was a young girl when I first came to Athens and I grew old on this very same corner. Now I'm a grandmother" she says smiling.

To her, it doesn't matter if the temperature is up to 44C or below zero 'cause, as she explains, she has to earn her living.

" Bills are running and everything's getting more expensive. What else am I supposed to do? But it's OK. It doesn't seem that hard to me. I'm used to it now. Besides, I like meeting people".

By the time I met her it was three after noon. She had been there since eight o'clock in the morning and wasn't going to leave before six.

" I've sold nothing yet" she tells me.

" Who trusts his luck now days in Athens? I hear no one saying that everything is or will be fine soon.

Recently, I cut orders by half and still I never sell all of them."

She was about to tell me more but I really had to go. I couldn't bear the sun burning my skin anymore though it was less than 15 minutes that I was standing there.

Anna Wich: with love from Germany

The truth is that I had never heard of Anna Wich before last evening but thanks to my friend Esther I got to know this great photographer's work that was recently exhibited at the Goethe Institute.

Her images are clear and totally honest with intensive lines and forms, illustrating the unseen -to the common eye - magic of Athens daily life.

Anna Wich visited Greece in 1975, a little after the fall of the military junta and before the beginning of the abrupt modernization that followed. It's a short mid-time that Greece tries to balance between the old and the new.

As everyone was leaving the past behind, looking to the future , Anna Wich turned her lens onto this time being focusing on neglected faces, places, spaces that probably no one else cared about.

" Artists should not be after the success" she used say. "Photography has to set reality and people free".

Anna Wich was German. She was born in 1949 and grew up in Frankfurt. She then moved to Paris and finally chose to live in Athens where she worked as a photographer for both magazines and the greek film industry and also as a monteur.

Anna Wich died from cancer in 1998.

The laterna player

"Greece belongs to the Greeks" was the first thing Nikos told me when I asked him about his view on the current situation in Greece.

It was about two thirty after noon when I met him on the Gotzia Square. He was coming from Monastiraki playing his laterna all way long under 35 degrees of Celsius. He was sunburned and sweaty.

"I used to say that it gets worse every year and now I say it's getting worse from day to day.

I don't know what is going to happen but that's not going to last long.

Greece will finally collapse. That's the plan and that's what's all about. They want to buy the country for no money. They'll make us sell everything. Don't you get it?" he asks me.

Nikos plays the laterna on the streets of Athens since he was 18 years old.

He plays the very same laterna, his father did back in the 1950s. At that time the sound of laterna was still heard all over the town.

Laterna is a variant of the barrel piano. Although it is not a Greek musical instrument, as it is widely believed ,laterna is deeply connected to the old Athens.
It became popular in the latest decades of the 19th century and for many decades, it was nearly the only music heard in most poor neighborhoods .

Today, there are less than five people playing the laterna on the streets of Athens.

Kyveli

Kyveli is definitely a woman who got it all in life; looks, love, honors, fame, wealth and a long living to enjoy all of that.

Her name soon became synonymous with Greek theater while the way of her living played out in print in the newspapers of her time.

The conservative Greek society of early 20th century got shocked when she left her husband and two kids to follow a young, rich theatrical businessman to Paris. They got married and divorced after having one daughter together.

Her third husband was the historical figure of contemporary Greek political scene, Georgios Papandreou. He was three times Prime Minister of Greece while his son Andreas and grandson George Papandreou both became Prime Ministers of the country later.

"I got married to all three men of my life" she used to say proudly until the end of her life in 1978.

No one can say exactly when Kyveli was born but that's got to be either in 1884 or 1888.

According to the folklore she was born in Smyrna. Rumors also say that she was the illegitimate daughter of King George I of Greece.

Actually, she was found abandoned when she was a baby with a necklace around her neck and the name Kyveli engraved on the locket

Maria, the woman who found her, adopted her and raised her as her own child. Although, Maria was poor, Kyveli spared nothing. She grew up in a beautiful house in Plaka where her mother worked as a maid and attended a distinguished school for girls.
Her mother wanted her to become a hatmaker but as she herself said once "Kyveli had the devil inside for theater".

By September 1901, she was already a protagonist in life and theater while she stayed one for many decades. Today, more than a century after her debut on stage, she's still remembered and considered as one of the most important Greek actresses.

The Poet- Sandalmaker

Do you know what's the Greek thing that connects Prince Charles with Sarah- Jessica Parker and Maria Callas with John Lennon and Jeremy Irons?

The window and walls of the "Poet-Sandalmaker" shop are tiled with autographed headshots of all famous people who visited the store since it opened in early 1950s.

In fact, the Poet-Sandalmaker, as everyone called Stavros Melissinos, was the first to introduce ancient Greek sandals as everyday footwear. By then sandals were only used in the theater and cinema.

Six decades later Stavros Melissinos' son continues the family tradition. His artistic touch is everywhere.

Pantelis Melissinos lived and worked in New York after he got a BA and MA degree in Fine Arts from Parson's. "I couldn't bear the thought though that someday all that would be gone along with my father and I decided to come back" he says as he's comfortably seated in an armchair he made recently.

"Everything's full of memories here. I grew up in my father's workshop.

I was a little boy when the Beatles came for the first time. Girls were screaming and pushing on the window" he remembers.

" These are Jackie Onassis' favorite sandals. My father named them after her ".

Sandals hang all over the place like bunches of grapes. They are handmade of high quality leather.

Pantelis learned the art of sandalmaking by the side of his father. Today he is one of the last sandalmakers in Greece.

"Things have changed dramatically during the last couple of years. Though it is more difficult now, I haven't regretted coming back. I believe crisis can be an opportunity for Greeks. We may become better people" he says.

He's looks so calm. In fact he's the first businessman I've met lately that does not complain about the situation. " I'm happy with what I do and to me that's enough " he explains.

As I was listening to him I wished I thought like that but that didn't last enough. While scratching upon the dozens of different sandal styles I got face to face with my real me. I just couldn't choose between the sandals below. The ones above are named by the ancient Greek philosopher Platon.

"The Poet-Sandalmaker" is located in Psyri which is right next to Monastiraki and it's definitely the best place in Athens to get a pair of handmade sandals. Prices start from 13 euros and go up to 30 depending on the style and size. You can check out more on his website: www.melissinos-art.com

little poor rich girl

Rumors say that in 2008 Athina Roussel de Miranda and her Brazilian husband Alvaro de Miranda Netta were seriously considering of moving to Greece.

Among their plans was to built a beautiful house in the land Athina inherited by her grandfather Aristotelis Onassis in the south of Athens and invest money on horse-riding. All they asked was the greek nationality for Alvaro.

The greek part though was negative. The law says that, before getting the nationality, one should either already be living in Greece for a certain time period or have honored the country in anyway. Alvaro's connection to Greece was only his rich French-Greek wife.

After getting a negative answer that wouldn't allow Alvaro to participate to the Beijing Olympics with the greek national team, Athina sold her grandfather's land in Glyfada. She then tried to sell the Scorpios island to Turks businessmen for 500 million euros, despite the sensitive relations between Greece and Turkey.

Her attempts to sell the Skorpios island started in 2004. The price was 300 million euros and among the interested buyers it is rumored to be Madonna and Bill Gates. Athina recently succeeded to sell it despite her grandfather's will.

Ekaterina Rybolovleva, daughter of the Russian tycoon Dmitry Rybolovlev, is the new owner of one of the greatest symbols of status in the world after paying 130 million euros.

Athina finally got rid of what her grandfather and mother loved. Christina Onassis visited Scorpios every summer and her beach parties were famous. She preferred the East Beach, which was created by Onassis who brought sand from Salamis island for this purpose.

Aristotelis Onassis bought the island in 1963 for 3.5 million drachmas (about 10.000 euros) from Philippa family who lived in Chicago permanently. They had bought it six years earlier from the Mavroudis family whose members were the owners since the 17th century.

Scorpios has 800 acres that are heavily forested featuring a rich variety of trees and plants. Onassis also ordered the construction of a standalone water-system.

On the island there are three villas, a chapel, a small marina and a stone jetty.

For five whole years 200 builders, gardeners, mechanics etc worked every single day on the island where Aristotelis Onassis married Jackie Kennedy in 1968.

At the same chapel which stands in the middle of a 30-acres-land, there are the graves of Aristotelis, Alexandros and Christina Onassis.

In his will Aristotelis Onassis made clear his wish for his beloved private paradise: his inheritants couldn't sell it and in case they were not able to keep it they should give it to the greek public.

Even in this case though, the 30-acres-land where his and his children graves are, should never be given away.

Athina managed to find the way to break her grandfather's will and give away the place that he and her mother loved most.

Hopefully, Ekaterina will appreciate more what her father gave to her and respect the history of this legendary piece of land in the Ionian Sea more than Athina Roussel de Miranda.

original greek products

Is there anyone who still haven't tried greek olives?

If so, you really don't know what you're missing!
Especially when we talk about the Kalamon olives that Anna and Thania carefully choose and then, using an old greek recipe, turn into a unique aromatic product.

I tried it yesterday, at the 6th Annual Exhibition of Laconic Products that takes place these days in Syntagma Metro Station, and absolutely loved it!

Going against the economic crisis Anna (right) and her sister did exactly the opposite of what most people do: they both left their jobs and started their own business.

"We wanted to deal with something more natural, traditional and authentic" tells me Anna. "We established the "Selesia Green" company a year ago in order to promote laconic products we both love. We taste everything and use only the best olives, olive oil and honey".

Laconia is in Peloponnese and its capital is Sparta that gave birth to the brave 300 of Leonidas. "We borrowed the name of Selesia village which is close to Sparta. We visited this place once and fell in love with people, food and nature. Everything's still so pure" says Thania (below).

www.selesiagreen.gr/en/

" This vase of bulbs costs 10euros. It's very tiring getting them off the ground. My hands always hurt. Ι have to use a hoe. After picking them up, I put the bulbs in balsamic, add water and salt and they are ready. If you pure some oil it's delicious. Ι also sell chamomile, sage, tea and various spices I pick up myself from mountain Parnon". Eleni, Kalithea village, Sparta

Just beyond, Dimitris (in the middle) sells pasteli, a greek delicacy made of sesame and honey. "It's a recipe my family use for over a century. My great-great grand father started serving pasteli in the traditional coffee shop that my father runs today. I decided to introduce it to the market. Everyone loves it".
Dimitris Tritakis, Agios Nicolaos, Sparta
dtritakis@gmail.com

Handmade pasta and lalagia (crispy fried dough strips with cinnamon and cloves)

salt pork and sausages from Mani

handmade diples by Maria Kamarinou from beautiful Monemvasia