More ink done!

I’m now certain there is nothing more satisfying for me than getting a tattoo. The sad part is that it took me 50 years to discover this. Last year I had my first tattoo and I was forever transformed. I crossed the threshold into a new phase of life—pre-tattoo to post-tattoo. And I’m never looking back. And I definitely plan on getting more ink done!

It’s been years and years that I was considering getting a tattoo, but now I know that I just wasn’t ready because when I was ready, I didn’t “consider” it, I just got it!

I don’t feel like I base my identity around having tattoos. I have no profound literature to explain why I got my tats, or their deeper meaning. There is nothing “rebellious” about them, they’re just decoration, like permanent jewelry – they’re pretty, they’re fun. You just gotta take things lightly in life!

And about the “problem” of what they are going to look like in a few years on my aging, droopy skin – as opposed to what? To the glory of an un-tattooed aging, droopy skin? Who is going to care anyway when I’m eighty?

For me, tattoos are like a time machine. With them, I send messages to my older self. With them, I will never forget the day I got them, the things I want more in my life - love, passion, wealth, joy, belly laughs, high vibrations, creativity, security, closeness…

Harvest the sun!

The eternal bright light of Attica!

It is almost a century ago that 24-year-old Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, the future Le Corbusier, visited Athens for the first time. Three weeks in Athens under the unmatchable Attica sun left a lasting impression on the father of modernism. For Le Corbusier, the essentials were space, order and light: the three things that men need just as much as they need bread or a place to sleep. For him, the light in Attica differs from the light in any other place in the entire world. The daylight in Athens really differs from light in London, Berlin, Paris or New York…

Here, more than any in other place in the world, the light emphasizes the beauty and pureness of everything! Lines become more graceful, colors are clean and mellow, the Attica light brings out the harmonious diversity of shapes and figures.

It is no wonder that every year, many tourists visiting the Acropolis, or sitting at the temple of Poseidon in Cape Sounion, respectfully observe the alterations of the colors and the shades during daytime and even more during sundown.

An ordinary and indifferent neighborhood in Athens with all the TV antennas, the impersonal and boring apartment buildings, all the concrete around, becomes fascinating thanks to the unique Attica light.

I guess that all this led Bernanrd Tschumi to decide to expose the findings of the Acropolis under the natural Attica light streaming through the museum’s walls of glass.

Pita gyro ap'ola

Souvlaki “pita, gyro, ap’ola”: the quintessential Greek dish!

The power of the souvlaki is strong!

I’m really picky when it comes to souvlaki.

I never eat it at home, when we order, because by the time the delivery boy knocks on our door, this delicious meaty and crunchy treat has become all soft, soggy and squelchy. I prefer enjoying it on the spot right next to the scent of the sizzling meat. I know that my clothes and my hair, all of me smells like I actually was smoked, so I just make sure I have nothing planned for after dinner, or else I’d show up with this revolting smell like I had been sitting in a smokehouse all day. This being said, trust me, it’s really worth it.

Picture this : The large fatty gyro spatter turning in front of the fire, the whole is jumbled like a spool of kite string after it’s been wrapped by a six-year old. Juicy and greasy slices of gyro are shaved off as it becomes done directly onto the grilled pita… Of course, the pita has been brushed with olive oil before it is thrown on the grill. On top come the ruby, succulent mouth-watering tomatoes, slices of strong hot onions, a spoonful or two of creamy spicy tzatziki, all this sprinkled with lots of sweet paprika.

It all comes wrapped in wax paper which keeps it all together and you eat it like you are peeling a banana. Then just take a big meaty and juicy bite! It can be messy, but who cares?

Sometimes chicken is used instead of gyros, a heretic variation to make the  souvlaki healthier. When health consciousness and dietary restrictions hit the Greek menu, there can only be trouble… Souvlaki is pork, period. It’s not chicken. What’s next? Turkey? Others put the oddest things in the pita: French fries. What is that? The effect is totally ruined by throwing in hot oily fried potatoes. Not only does the souvlaki suffer, but think about the French fries themselves in the steamy envelope of the pita, all together becoming an ugly and soggy ensemble…

Lets stay true to the good old greasy, crunchy, meaty original version and then spend the rest of the evening with garlic breath!

I know it’s not exactly diet food, but who cares?

A colorful obsession!

Macarons can inspire an obsession that cannot easily be shaken. Obviously I am hooked! Parisian macarons… I love these airy meringue sandwiches with a smooth domed top and bottom and a light filling, mildly moist, that easily melt in the mouth. They’re crunchy on the outside with chewiness on the inside. Cute as can be, they capture the elegance of Paris.

They’re stylish, they’re fun – a combination of textures and flavors that has no equal – the selection is mind blowing! A gazilion of dazzling colors and flavors of perfection! They’re ethereal, indulgent and highly addictive.

I adore Parisian macarons because they explode with flavor (jasmine, vanilla, cassis, lemon, chocolate, green tea…). Each and every one has different characteristics, sweet and floral, bittersweet, salty, sweet and sour.

But what I love the most are the colors. The color palette is endless – all colors you could wish for, bright, pastel, delicate colors, from passionate red to tender pink, from quiet beige to cheery yellow, confident blue, royal purple, graceful lavender…. Each colorful little gem explodes with flavor.

My absolute favorite is lavender & mint – love the taste, adore the color!!!

The Aegean sculpture

About a month ago, I was for a few days in Mykonos, where one night, while walking around the Chora, I saw under the weak moonlight the most beautiful Aegean sculpture, Panagia Paraportiani! The little white church looked like something much more than a religious building, so I called it a sculpture, a work of art. Next morning, I went back to see the sculpture bathing in the morning sunlight.

The little church is adapted with wisdom to the residents’ daily needs and is included in a spectacular way in the simple beauty of the Cycladic landscape. The wisdom of the economy of materials limited in minimal internal space, ingenuity that was necessary for surviving under hard conditions, the exploitation of favorable orientation for the protection from the Aegean winds and the cold, match up architecture with its natural possessing landscape and thus make it part of nature itself.

The unique flowing curves of the whitewashed cubes, their smooth and asymmetrical shapes, this cleanliness of forms, under the blinding Aegean light, in dimensions near the scale of a person compose a fascinating movie set. Their smooth-edged corners give out a sense of space and freedom, as the air is delicately carving them year after year.

Unique and charming, every sculpture-church in the Cyclades seems to be designed by the hand of the same artist – works of art bound together in perfect harmony, with stunning simplicity but with a daring style!

Under the stars

One of my favorite summer evening activities is going to an open air cinema! An evening at the outdoor cinema isn’t merely about what’s showing on the screen. For us Greeks, going to the outdoor movies in summer is something of a cultural tradition – it’s a typical Greek phenomenon and it’s an integral part of our identity.

We, Greeks, really adore to spend the hot summer evenings in open air cinemas. We love the huge screen and the dark sky above.  We love to see occasionally a falling star and make a wish.

Some say that open air cinemas are a direct extension of the tradition of ancient Greek drama which was always staged in open air theaters…

Ritual elements like the floral decor of bougainvillea and jasmine, the gravel underfoot, the director's chairs, and the cold beer and potato chips are inextricably linked to the experience of the outdoor cinema and, besides that, there’s no denying that a moonlit summer night with a star-filled sky forming a second screen in the sky, is definitely an enchanting experience loved by everyone.

Open air cinemas are the trademark of Greek summer and we are all waiting for them to open with eagerness. The beginning of summer projections is the signal for us to leave our houses and fill the terraces and backyards enjoying a cool drink and a snack.

Nothing compares to a night out with friends to an open air cinema and under the stars, cooled by the summer breeze.

The plastic or director’s chairs, the little table in the middle, a refreshing drink, classic popcorns or nachos, and enjoy!

Summertime in Greece wouldn't be the same without the open air cinemas and there’s no better way to kick off a summer evening!

And for us, cigarette-loving Greeks, it's fine to smoke away during the movie…

To smile like a god!

To smile: To express amusement, pleasure, moderate joy, or love and kindness, by the features of the face; to laugh silently.

A mysterious smile: the archaic smile! The significance of this mysterious, thin lipped smile is not known. It is a smile which suggested a feeling of happiness, perhaps echoing the prosperity and relative peace of the time. Artists felt it represented that they were blessed by the gods in their actions.

The ancient Greek approach to life, where everything had a human measure and the passions of the gods did not differ from those of the mortals gave art a new dimension. For the first time in ancient Greek art the world of the gods is not different from that of the mortals, gods and mortals are presented in exactly the same way. Gods are approachable, almost friendly. The Greek ideal of beauty involved Gods looking like humans and humans looking like Gods!

The archaic smile could not have existed without this kind of ideological background.

The archaic smile, the main characteristic of the archaic art expresses the joy and exultation of man before the miracle of life.

The ancient Greek artist invented his own self and became the creator of god and man alike in a universe of perfect formal proportions, idealized aesthetic values and a newly found sense of freedom. This was a freedom from barbarism and tyranny and a transition towards self-determination. The sculptures of Greece, more than any other art form, are the pure expression of freedom, self-consciousness, and self-determination.

The journey of sculpture in ancient Greece begins with the kouroi (the majestic naked young men who represent eternal youth, beauty and power) and the korai (the clothed young maidens, obedient and immobile, representing feminine grace and humility). On their faces a mysterious smile bestowing a sense of abundant vivacity, both expressing the trust to the human power.

Archaic art is a silent witness to the extraordinary development western society was about to undertake. The Kouros and Kori statues stand before a cultural revolution, all muscles tense, like a spring about to burst with energy into an extraordinary wave of classical thought. They stand with meaningful smiles, as if they knew what was about to occur: the classical era and the Golden Age of Greek thought.

How far away are we from this approach?