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.

Lycabettus: a big deep breath

No matter how difficult is living in Athens, there are still some things that make life beautiful. Such one is a long walk to Lycabettus area.

In fact, Mount Lycabettus is only a three minutes walk and a... few steps away from where I live.

Don't panic! This walk deserves every step you take.

It's like I'm not in Athens anymore.

The beautiful district of Neapolis (New-city) is the second oldest of Athens, after Plaka. It started to be built in 1865 and the first residents were mainly students and artists.

We're almost there...

This is Mount Lycabettus which is surrounded by the city of Athens.

I'm standing on Sarantapichou street, above the church of Saint Nicholas, looking down on the side of Exarchia district.

Another three minute walk and I'm in Kolonaki.

On my way back home, as usually I took the Hersonos street.
This beautiful old house is always an attraction to me.

Unfortunately it is empty as hundreds other old houses in Athens.

The Greek Success Story: shortcuts #1

Recently, the Prime Minister of Greece Antonis Samaras in his statements to Reuters said:

"Despite the difficult times,
we will prove the
greek success story».

I really want to be hopeful.
I want to believe that this nightmare is about to be over but just listening to the news about the coming taxes or walking down-town is enough to take me back down on earth .

While more people are expected to lose their jobs and houses, thousands of homeless are already begging for some help on the streets of Athens.
Maybe Mr Samaras and his ministers should also take a walk down-town...

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

Ithaca, by Constantinos Kavafis

As you set out on the way to Ithaca
hope that the road is a long one,
filled with adventures,
filled with understanding.

The Laestrygonians and the Cyclopes,
Poseidon in his anger: do not fear them,
you’ll never come across them on your way
as long as your mind stays aloft, and a choice
emotion touches your spirit and your body.
The Laestrygonians and the Cyclopes,
savage Poseidon; you’ll not encounter them
unless you carry them within your soul,
unless your soul sets them up before you.

Hope that the road is a long one.
Many may the summer mornings be
when—with what pleasure, with what joy—
you first put in to harbors new to your eyes;
may you stop at Phoenician trading posts
and there acquire fine goods:
mother-of-pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
and heady perfumes of every kind:
as many heady perfumes as you can.
To many Egyptian cities may you go
so you may learn, and go on learning, from their sages.

Always keep Ithaca in your mind;
to reach her is your destiny.
But do not rush your journey in the least.
Better that it last for many years;
that you drop anchor at the island an old man,
rich with all you’ve gotten on the way,
not expecting Ithaca to make you rich.

Ithaca gave to you the beautiful journey;
without her you’d not have set upon the road.
But she has nothing left to give you any more.

And if you find her poor, Ithaca did not deceive you.
As wise as you’ll have become, with so much experience,
you’ll have understood, by then, what these Ithacas mean.

The Free Thinking Zone

One of the things I'll miss when I move out is the Free Thinking Zone which is right opposite to where I live. Though it's been less than two years since its opening, I have the feeling that it's been in the basement of that 1950's building forever.

Free Thinking Zone's opening came as a surprise to the neighborhood since only a few take the risk to start a business now days how much less to open a bookstore!

Areti really took her chances when she decided to move on with her plans. As she says, she wanted to create not just another bookstore in town but mostly a warm living-room where readers could share ideas and thoughts as well. So she created this beautiful space !

Free Thinking Zone is a conceptual bookstore that works based on a concept similar to the one of museums. It hosts both permanent book collections and periodic ones which are created upon a hot topic. Though economic crisis and its different sides and side effects tend to dominate the interest, presently the topic presented for some free thinking is even hotter!

Nonetheless Greeks still don't read that much. In fact, according to the latest relevant research, Greeks read less than six books per year. Especially as recession goes deeper, book sales go lower. It is estimated that since the beginning of the recession, book sales reduced around 30%.

The Crying Square

Tomorrow, public sector workers will demonstrate in the center of Athens against the agreement of the greek government with troika for 180.000 layoffs by 2015.

Their protest will start from the National Reconciliation Square where since 1989 stands the hononym statue of the Greek sculptor Vassilis Doropoulos.

The 8-meter-tall statue is made of copper and shows three men holding up each other's hand symbolizing the official end of the greek civil war.

From 1884 to 1989, this square was called the 25th of March but until today most Greeks know it as Klathmonos Square which means the Crying Square.

That's a nickname stuck on the square by a chronograph-er of the 19th century.

At that time the public sector workers were not permanent. Their jobs depended on the election result. Every time the government changed, public assistants were getting fired and the voters of the new government took their jobs.

Public sector workers used to gather up and wait for the results on this square. Their crying after losing the elections- and ,of course, their jobs- was not an uncommon picture of this part of the city at that time.

In 1878, the chronographer Dimitris Kamporoglou, making a pun, named the square the "Crying Square" in a chronograph published in "Estia" paper.

Currently, greek politicians lead Greece back to the 19th century. It seems they look forward to destroying more lives in order to put their voters in the public sector.

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.