Είχα κάποτε μια αγάπη



Είχα κάποτε μια αγάπη
που την ζήλευαν θεοί κι αγγέλοι
τώρα ξέρω πλέον ούτε θέλει
λέει ούτε να με δει
Είχα κάποτε μια αγάπη
που έσταζε φωτιά χαρά και μέλι
τώρα ξέρω πλέον ούτε θέλει
λέει ούτε να με δει

Στο ποτήρι μου που πίνω,  ωχ αμάν
στο μυαλό μου δυο λέξεις, γυρνάν
κι αν στο σπίτι σου απέξω,  με παν'
μην σκεφτείς να με μαζέψεις
Είχα κάποτε μια αγάπη
που την ζηλεύαν θεοί κι αγγέλοι
τώρα ξέρω πλέον ούτε θέλει
λέει ούτε να με δει
Είχα κάποτε μια αγάπη
σαν παλιό σμυρνέικο τσιφτετέλι
τώρα πλέον γίνομαι κουρέλι
με ζεϊμπέκικο βαρύ
Στο ποτήρι μου που πίνω,  ωχ αμάν
στο μυαλό μου δυο λέξεις, γυρνάν
κι αν στο σπίτι σου απέξω,  με παν'
μην σκεφτείς να με μαζέψεις

The Acropolis


The Acropolis of Athens 
(Greek: Ακρόπολη Αθηνών) 

is an ancient citadel located on a high rocky outcrop above the city of Athens and containing the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historic significance, the most famous being the Parthenon. 

The word acropolis comes from the Greek words ἄκρον (akron, "edge, extremity") andπόλις (polis, "city"). 

Although there are many other acropoleis in Greece, the significance of the Acropolis of Athens is such that it is commonly known as "The Acropolis" without qualification.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acropolis_of_Athens

Milos Camping - Achivadolimni, Milos


Milos Camping - Achivadolimni, Milos, Cyclades

http://wp.me/p3MwYT-1rd

Alternagreece.

Milos 
(in Greek, Μήλος, older spelling Μῆλος Melos), 
is a volcanic Greek island in the Aegean Sea, just north of the Sea of Crete. Milos is the southwesternmost island in theCyclades group.

The island is famous for the statue of Aphrodite (the "Venus de Milo", now in the Louvre), 
and also for statues of the Greek god Asclepius (now in the British Museum[2]) 
and the Poseidon and an archaic Apollo in Athens. 
The Municipality of Milos also includes the uninhabited offshore islands of Antimilos and Akradies. 
The combined land area is 160.147 square kilometres (61.833 sq mi) and the 2001 census population was 4,977 inhabitants.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milos

Πάω με ...


Suvlaki (Σουβλάκι)


In Greece and Cyprus, the meat is typically pork or occasionally chicken, with veal gyros, occasionally found, referred to as "doner" (ντονέρ). In Athens, and most of Greece, a "pita gyro" will contain tzatziki, tomato, onion and fried potatoes in addition to the meat. However some places offer different alternatives to the classic ingredients. tzatziki sauce as a dressing, whereas the chicken dressings vary from shop to shop but are most often a variant on mayonnaise mixed with mustard, called "σως" (sauce) in Greek.
Pitas are available in at least three types: 'plain', 'Cypriot', and 'Arabic' in some chain restaurants, however in most places only 'Plain' is offered. 'Plain' pita is around 20 cm in diameter and the thickest of the three. 'Cypriot' pita is crisp and has larger size, and is split like pocket bread. 'Arabic' pitas are crisp, and the flattest and largest. Gyros are also served in sandwich-type bread in northern Greece.
It is said that it is in Thessaloniki that one will find the biggest pita and gyros;[by whom?] there, an order will typically include tomato, onion, fried potatoes, mustard and/or ketchup and an optional sauce, most commonly tzatziki or ktipití (a feta cheese and hot pepper dip), in addition to the meat. "Russian salad" (a mixture of diced pickles and mayonnaise) and "Hungarian salad" (a mixture of mayonnaise and diced bacon) are also popular.

Chania - Venetian Harbor


Always the first thing you hear about Chania is 
the Venetian Harbor, the old port! 

Photo by Panagiotis Dionisopoulos

OdIsseas ElItis



'Because I love those people who love life.
Those whose their sorrow is their power.
Those whose eyes are looking without guile and guiltiness,

even if the passage of time was relentless to them.
Those who know that they do not know eveything,
because everything is not learned.
Those who drain from nothing, eveything.
For themselves and all the other people they love.
And they do not get tired, seeking out each day's beauty,
in people's smiles, in hugging animals,
in a black and white photo, in a colourful laundry.'


Odysseas Elytis - Greek Poet

Music of Epirus



The music of Epirus (Greek: Μουσική της Ηπείρου), in the northwest of Greece (present to varying degree in the rest of Greece and the islands[1] ) contains folk songs that are mostly pentatonic and polyphonic, sung by both male and female singers. Distinctive songs[2] include lament songs (mirolóyia), shepherd's songs (skáros) and drinking songs (tis távlas). The clarinet is the most prominent folk instrument in Epirus, used to accompany dances, mostly slow and heavy, like the menousis, fisouni, podhia, sta dio, sta tria, zagorisios, kentimeni, koftos, yiatros and tsamikos.

Τι λάθος κάνω - Χαρούλης


Clean Monday (Καθαρή Δευτέρα)



Clean Monday is a public holiday in Greece and Cyprus, where it is celebrated with outdoor excursions, the consumption of shellfish and other fastingfood,[2] a special kind of azyme bread, baked only on that day, named "lagana" (Greek: λαγάνα) and the widespread custom of flying kites. Eating meat, eggs and dairy products is traditionally forbidden to Orthodox Christians throughout Lent, with fish being eaten only on major feast days, but shellfish is permitted in European denominations. This has created the tradition of eating elaborate dishes based on seafood (shellfish, molluscs, fish roe etc.).

Greek Christmas small honey cakes



This dessert is traditional for greece during christmas time. We call them "melomakarona" and they are absolutely delicious!!

Ingredients:
For the cakes
530 gr. sunflower oil
400 gr. orange juice
1.200 gr. flour
30 gr. confectioner's sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp grounded cinammon
1/6 tsp grounded cloves
50 gr. butter melted
zest of one orange
roughly smashed walnuts

For the syrup

500 gr. water
700 gr. sugar
1 orange cut in half
2 cinammon bars

100 gr. honey

Preparation:
We prepare the syrup first. We put the water, the sugar, the orange and the cinammon bars in a pot and let them boil for a minute. We withdraw, add the honey and let the syrup cool. 
Then we start making the honey cakes. In a deep bowl we add all the fluids and the butter. We add the sugar, the soda, the cinammon, the cloves and the zest. 


We mould and add the flour. We keep moulding lightly from the center towards outside. Be careful not to mould a lot because your mixture is going to tighten. We shape the cakes in little ovals and press one of their sides to a grater. 

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We put them on baking paper and  bake in preheated oven at 180 C for about 30 mins until they have a golden brown color. As soon as we take them out of the oven and while they are still hot we deepen them in the cold syrup. We turn them for almost 1 minute. We take them out and let them to a rail to drain. In a large plate we put some honey and a few walnuts. We add the cakes in a pile. Among each line we add honey and walnuts. 

Hope you enjoy them!!
Good luck!!

http://landoffairytales.blogspot.gr/2010_11_01_archive.html

Creamy Custard Pie (Γαλακτομπούρεκο)



For the cream
fine semolina1 cup
whole milk5 cups
egg yolks4
eggs2
sugar¾ cup
vanilla extract1 ½ teaspoons
orange rind½
clarified unslated butter1 cup
phyllo pastry sheets1 package (12 sheets)
For the syrup
water4 ½ cups
sugar2 ½ cups
greek honey3 tablespoons
cinnamon stick1
lemon½
How to cook
A. Preheat oven at 350F(175C).

B. For the Cream:
1. In a heavy pot, on a medium heat, add the milk and orange peel.
2. In a bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together.
3. Slowly add the fine semolina to the milk continually stirring with a wooden spoon until it thickens. 
4. Turn off the heat.  Stirring, slowly add the egg mixture into the cream.  Be careful that the eggs don’t cook. 
5. Add the vanilla and 1 tablespoon butter and stir.  Cover and set aside.
6. In a buttered glass baking dish, add 10 phyllo sheets, making sure to butter each one with a pastry brush. When laying each phyllo sheet, change the direction every time (crosswise).  Carefully press in the phyllo with your hands to fit all around the dish leaving the edges of the phyllo to hang over the sides of the dish.
7. Pour in the cream and spread evenly with a spatula.
8. Carefully fold over the hanging phyllo sheets, buttering each time.
9. Lay 3 phyllo sheets on the top, folding them in half and tucking in the sides.  Make sure to butter all the sheets.
10. With a sharp knife, carefully cut on the top the phyllo sheets vertically and horizontally making 3 columns by 5 rows.  Make sure to not cut all the way through to the cream, just the phyllo.
11. With a spoon, drizzle the remaining butter in the edges and within the cuts of the rows and columns.
12. With your hands, lightly sprinkle water all over the top of the phyllo, Bake, on the bottoms rack, for 1 hour or until golden brown.

C. For the syrup:
1. In a pot, add all the ingredients, except the honey, stir until it comes to a boil.  Then let it simmer for 5 minutes.  Turn of the heat, add the honey, stir and remove the cinnamon stick and lemon. Cool before pouring.
2. Once the cream custard is ready, let it cool for 10 minutes and then pour all over the top the warm/ room temperature syrup.
3. The Galaktobouriko needs to cool for 4-5 hours before cutting/serving.

Greek Bouzouki



The bouzouki (Greek: μπουζούκι; pronounced [buˈzuki]; plural: μπουζούκια) is a Greek musical instrument that was brought to Greece in the 1900s by immigrants from Asia Minor, and quickly became the central instrument to the rebetika genre and its music branches. [1] A mainstay of modern Greek music, the front of the body is flat and is usually heavily inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The instrument is played with a plectrum and has a sharp metallic sound, reminiscent of a mandolin but pitched lower. There are two main types of bouzouki. The trichordo (three-course) has three pairs of strings (known as courses), and the tetrachordo (four-course) has four pairs of strings.