Delphic Cats

In the archaeological site of Delphi, there are cats. Delphic cats. These young ones looked like brothers/sisters.



But, then...



This one was friendly.



We had a good time playing.

Where Did the Money Go?

Πού πήγαν τα λεφτά? (Where did the money go?)

This is a phrase coined out of the Prime Minister Papandreou's speech and now we are using in a different context. Evidently many Greeks cannot even afford bread.

The bread used to be 0.80€ a piece (the normal Greek bread pretends to weigh 'half a kilo' at bakery, but actually is 350-400g) and now some bakeries selling it for 0.60€.



When I saw the news first on tv, it sounded like in a far world, but now I found the situation at just out of our door. I wonder if this cause domino-effect to the bread price in my neighbourhood.

The same night we went to Gazi.



It was Friday evening and was busy, but wasn't as busy as it should be. Cafeterias were full, but restaurants generally were struggling.

I would be surprised that there wasn't any change. I am afraid the majority of the Greeks are earning less than in the same time last year. A part might getting the same amount, but because of the recent inflation cased by increase on fuel tax and by higher VAT, they have less purchase power.

Where did the money go and where we are going?

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Cats photos from Gazi.



This one below was sleeping in front of a club/cafe. When I saw it, I thought it might be dead, as the club was quite noisy and busy. On being touched, he woke up and looked around surprised, but still sleepy.



How could he?

Aegina Day Trip 2

We arrived at Aegina Port.



This was the my third visit to Aegina, the first one dates back to 2002.

Foreign tourists tend to think Aegina as a convenient but least attractive choice of Greek islands. I, however, love its liveliness and loveliness and think well worth repeated visit.

Aegina town is very lovely with its neo-classic, pastel-coloured buildings.



This is a statue of Ioannis Kapodistrias, the first Prime Minister of Greece.



During the war of Indipendence, the provisory - yet to be recovnised officially - government of Greece was established here. Aegina, therefore, is the first capital city of modern Greece, while the first OFFICIAL capital being Nafplio.

We strolled along the seaside looking for cafeteria, as Hubby wanted his second breakfast.

And we found a beach cat.



Closer.



For seome reason she loved Hubby and wanted to use him as her bed.



It seems that cats get sleepy when they see him. Also when we visited Mystras in January, two cats crawled up his knees and fell asleep.

And we found a cafeteria near the cat.



Hubby had a frappé and I had a milk tea (the bright sunlight might give you an illusion of summer-like hot day, but it was just warm and breezy by the sea).

'Milk' part of milk tea materialised as 'Nounou' and was accompanied by, besides sugar and a biscuit, a pot of honey as sweetner. I have never seen tea served with honey in Athens, where maybe you have to request if you want it.



And we had a chocolate crepe, which was beautifully presented and tasted satisfactorily good.



All of these cost €9. Things are slightly cheeper on islands, we thought (of course, so far as you don't go to Mykonos, probably).

After the elevence, we continued the exploration.

Black Cats

Near our flat, there is a mini-supermarket that keeps many cats.

On that day, there were three black cats.



I suppose they are mum and her kids.

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Garbage men's strike has been over for some time now, but Piraeus is still full of garbage. Yesterday I read on Metro free newspaper that a part of Piraeus garbage men is stopping (it did not say how) 10 of 50 garbage collecting vehicles in protest to the city that installed GPS to the vehicles. There was also a comment by the Mayer saying that, as the vehicles are the city's possession, it has every right to know which vehicles are where and when.

Weird world...


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I went to the taverna Psaras (Ταβέρνα του Ψαρρά) in Plaka yesterday and wrote a review.

http://www.mesogeia.net/athens/estiatoria/psaras_en.html

All in all, it wasn't bad.

Shopkeeping Cat

She was shop-keeping. But it wasn't a busy day and she started to sleep.



Then a human came. She said "Welcome".




Instead, this is a Theatre-of-Dionysos Cat.



Very friendly. Some of the cats here were castrated males; I wondered if some animal protection people did it. Anyone who it might have been, "Good work"! I do love cats, but we cannot sustain all of them, if they start to multiplicate seriously.

A Kitty on Lunch

Lunch consists in Greek BBQ.



He is being spoilt!

Kyria Rita's Cat @ Plaka

Walking down Adrianou Street in Plaka, I saw this cat sleeping. Again.



I saw the same cat sleeping at the same stop last summer. See these photos.

It was no wonder, in fact. It is because the cat belong to the lady who has the shop on Adrianou Street.



If you are familiar with this area, you should be able to recognise the small tapestry hanging on the wall. It is Kyria Rita's shop "Roka". She makes these tapestries in a workshop just below her shop in Adrianou; you cannot find anything more local than her tapestries!

I remember to have bought a small thing from her more than 10 years ago. I don't have it any more, as it was a gift; I might buy one for myself to decorate our rather sober flat.

Some Cats and a Dog

I have accumulated some photos of cats recently, so I publish them.

I met this cat in Upper Plaka, Athens. She was eating herbs (if I don't used the word 'weed').

She was biting so enthusiastically, but did not mind my touching her.


Other two cats in Upper Plaka.



There was this strange icon in this garden.

Cats in my neighbourhood in Piraeus.



Two of the cats are tied to the flat, but two are free. They usually hang around together and might well be a family.



The kitten was attacking the monotone cat which was behaving very passively, probably because it was sleepy.


This dog was in a back street of Piraeus.



I have no idea why he was on the car. Is it his bed? I went close to him, but was totally ignored.

Gazi Cat

Lady cat I met in Gazi.



Although she wasn't very clean (I am afraid she likes to stay under cars, as many cats do), but she bears something noble about her.



Her highness gave me a friendly smile, while we were departing.

Sourdough Bread from Alimos

The other day, I had a thing to do in Alimos and went to Marina Alimos by tram for the first time.

I did not have time to see the Marina, but I found a bakery with a large billboard "Ψώμι με προζύμι - Psomi me prozimi" (sourdough bread) and could not resist buying one. Maybe because I am slightly crazy.

The prices are generally higher in this shop than in Piraeus bakeries and 1 normal bread cost 90 cents against 80 cents in Piraeus. And the sourdough bread was sold by weight. I don't remember exactly how much I paid, but it was close to 2 euros; although it looked small, it was very compact and much heavier than usual bread.

See the density of texture?

The bread was well made, but, unfortunately, it was too sour for my taste. But it is not their fault, as some people like sourdough bread to be sour. It had also cinnamon like smell as well.

Although it wasn't the type of bread I like, it was nice to see a different type of sourdough.

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And a random cat photo of the day.

I disturbed him during the lunch time.

One Afternoon in Glyfada

Hubby and I went to Glyfada last Sunday afternoon.

Glyfada is a distant suburb of Athens along the Attika coast. With is beach, harbour, clubs and restaurants, it is like a small resort for the Athenians.

This is Glyfada Harbour. The yellow building at the back in the centre is Saints Constantine and Helen Church. It is an eminent landmark of Glyfada.



I spotted a bronze bust and went close to see who he was, as I do always.

It was rather surprising to find the South American hero of independence, Simon Bolivar.

It is a gift from the Venezuelan Government and the Greek-Venezuelan citizens, but there was no mention of the tie between Bolivar and Glyfada or Greece. I thought, "periergo".

Being a resort, Glyfada is full of restaurants and cafes. This is one of the streets lined by restaurants. Here Mr. Dimitrakis - long-standing good friend of Hubby's dad - has his restaurant. We wanted to say hello, but did not find him. We will be back for a meal after Easter, as it is basically a meat restaurant.

Although we had already lunched at home, Hubby started to craving for something saying the sea opened his appetite. I have to keep him away from the sea.

As we needed to go back to Piraeus to meet up with friends, he stopped at Karaköy Güllüoglu - Istanbul based baklava shop that has branches in Sytagma and in Glyfada - and asked for something savoury.

By the way, the pistachio baklavadakia of Güllüoglu are heavenly, although they are more expensive than usual baklavadakia from average stores in Athens.

There were a choice between leek pie and cheese pie; Hubby picked up the latter. The nice lady of the shop offered us an explanation about it. It was hand-made according to the politiki (Constantinopolitan) recipe and really was called XXXXXXX (Turkish word that escaped my ear), Neropita in Greek translation, Water Pie in English.

The photo came up rather dark and I had to retouch it with Photoshop.

It contained feta cheese and phyllo pastry, but there was another unknown layer in between. It tasted like over-cooked buttery lasagna pasta. It should be some kind of a filling made with flour, milk and butter. It cost him €2, but we discovered something new.

There was a cat in front of the shop.

The was food left by the shop lady, but the cat was more keen on attracting her attention than to eat it. While she was attending us, it was gazing at her patiently.

Nervous Kitty

Random cat photo of the day: Nervous Kitty.



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Hubby fell asleep on the sofa. I post this before waking him up and taking to bed.

Good night.

Peiraiki cats

Cat photos.

In Peiraiki we found some cats wondering around. I guess they are fed by the nearby tavernes and might be useful to keep the mice away.

Boss like long-fur black cat.



He was young and very friendly.

Soutzouki

Walking around the Piraeus station, I encountered Mr. Suzuki. No. Soutzouki.



According to internet research, these are Greek sweets made of grape must, sugar and flour. I have never tried it before. Next time I find it, I will buy some and report.


And a random cat photo.



I was looking at it from the window of nearby coffee shop. I liked his/her colour.

Plaka and a Sleeping Cat

Usual stroll around Plaka (north east fringe of Athenian acropolis). I love Plaka. Not for the souvenir shops or for tourists, but here I can get the feel of old - not ancient - Athens. It is so full of atmosphere.


I never manage to come around here in the evening. I really have to, as it should show me another face.




Although the streets are busy and noisy, in an old town, there always a relaxed air.



Just hiding behind something, he was deeply asleep....



while tourists from all over the world were passing by.