MY EASTER SMELLS OF …

Easter for me has very specific smells that bring back memories from my childhood.

All that being said, I can confide in you that Easter smells of violets – understandable! -ammonia, that my mom used in Easter cookies to help them raise -NOT pleasant- and sour orange tree blossoms that bloomed in every neighbourhood,and still do.

That’s about my Easters in Athens as a child.

Now let’s talk about YOUR Easter in Greece, or better, what we think your Easter in Greece should be like and what you should not miss.

CORFU is famous for having a very artistic and …musical Easter.

On Good Thursday and Good Friday you can attend the mass at the Cathedral – with an organ -, the bands go around the streets playing mournful music, and the procession of Epitafios through the little streets of the old town late in the evening give an air of mysticissm and sanctity. The hymns of Good Friday are my personal favourites!

All that until Saturday morning at 11, when people break pottery by throwing them from the windows, in an attempt to chase THE evil-which is not intimidated at all, as we can all see!!!!

CHIOS island and a lot more, like Kalymnos, are famous for the “rocket war”, a very fierce and loud firework throwing and battle between neighbourhoods.

Very spectacular, very loud!

HYDRA, this very special island of Argosaronikos, is famous for putting the Epitafios into the sea in order to bless the sea water. Considering that Hydra was a naval society that depended on sea fares and trade, that makes perfect sense.

In the CYCLADES I have my personal favourites:

Paros, and more specifically the Epitafios in Marpissa and Santorini in Pyrgos, one of the most beautiful villages of the island, with the little lanterns on the slope of the rock that light up the whole place.

CRETE.

What I like about Easter in Crete is -except for the food and the music and dancing that I adore – is the burning of Judas after the resurrection. One big dummy that represents Judas is placed on a bonfire-with a whistle in his…well, backside, and is burned after church with everyone celebrating and the whistle blowing.

Mmmmmm, interesting habit!

LEONIDIO IN ARKADIA , PELOPONNISOS

.A sweet place, quite near Athens, with small pebble beaches and mountain villages, with a very particular habit:

On Saturday, as soon as the priest announces the resurrection of Jesus -that’s midnight – the sky is filled with paper balloons of various colours that are made by the local people or neighbourhoods. Very spectacular!

The other areas celebrate Easter in their own ways, all very particular and all related to the local habits, customs and traditions. I cannot recommend only one place, there are too many! Remember that Easter is our most important Christian holiday.

So, find your own favourite place, go, enjoy, come back and tell us:

WHAT DOES YOUR EASTER SMELL LIKE?

17/04/201902/06/2019

EASTER SHOPPING HOURS 2019

Easter holiday shopping hours begin on Thursday 18/04/19

THURSDAY 18/04 & FRIDAY 19/04

All shops will be open from 9:00 to 21:00

SATURDAY 20/04, from 9:00 to 18:00

PALM SUNDAY 21/04, from 11:00 to 18:00

HOLY WEEK:

*

Holy MONDAY 22/04 to Holy THURSDAY 25/04/2019

from 9:00 to 21:00

GOOD FRIDAY : 26/04: from 13:00 to 19:00

Holy SATURDAY: 27/04 from 09:00 to 15:00

EASTER SUNDAY 28/04: CLOSED

&

MONDAY (after Easter) 29/04: CLOSED

&

from TUESDAY 30/04:

regular shopping hours

30/03/201919/04/2019

It’s time WE “SPRING FORWARD”

31 Mar 2019 – Daylight Saving Time Starts.

Sunday, 31 March 2019, 03:00 clocks are turned forward 1 hour to
Sunday, 31 March 2019, 04:00:00 local daylight time instead. Most countries in Europe and a total of 64 nations across the world will forward their clocks by one hour at 01:00 UTC. Local time for the change is different in each time zone. From 2021 EU member states will have to decide whether they will keep the winter or the spring time, and whether they will “spring forward” one last time.

10/02/201910/02/2019

ΧΙΛΙΑ ΚΑΛΩΣ ΟΡΙΣΑΤΕ , ΧΙΛΙΑ ΚΑΙ ΤΡΕΙΣ ΧΙΛΙΑΔΕΣ (*) !

(*)Welcome 1000 times !!!

Welcome to the world of the Greek tradition

Dear friends

this time you will have the chance to literally “live” in the world of the most important elements of Greek tradition and culture: the traditional Music, songs, costumes and dances.

We are going to visit Idryma Zisi (Zisis foundation), founded in 1975, which is one of the most important foundations working hard all these years to restore, preserve and spread the Greek traditional and Byzantine music, traditional songs, costumes, dances and instruments from all over the country.

Its aim is to give an overall insight into Greek culture and tradition.

Our visit will start with the history of the foundation and an introduction to the significance of the Greek tradition.Then the foundation people will show us their rich collection of 1200 costumes and give us info about them, and then, the people who would like to, will have the chance to dress up with some of them and take photos!

Following the “theoretical part” of our visit, we have two surprises prepared for you !

Not only will you practice your first steps of a few Greek traditional dances with one of their teachers,

but also will have a lesson with one of their most talented traditional song teachers !

This whole event will take place in Halandri, at 5 Kolokotroni str. right after Dourou square – platia Dourou- (Google maps)on Sunday February 17, will last for approx 3 hours – 1 hour costumes and photos, 1 hour dancing lesson and 1 hour singing lesson – from 11:00 to 14:00, and, needless to say, afterwards we will all go eating at a nearby taverna. Bear in mind that we changed the date from the 10th since some of you told us you couldn’t make it ! Since the event is on a Sunday, it won’t

be difficult to park on the side streets near the foundation. Alternatively, there are parking lots nearby.

Details will follow.

Date: Sunday February 17

Time: 11:00 to 14:00

Place: 5 Kolokotroni str. Halandri (after Dourou square)

If the group is large, then we will have to form two separate groups which will work at the same time, and we will need more teachers and a translator.

Please apply by February 15,

More details and applications by

email tsitsipi@gmail.com (Katerina Tsitsipi)

land line: (+0030) 210 – 8077073

Cell, Whats App, Viber (+0030) 6988 607866

Do not miss this event !!!

08/02/201910/02/2019

A Walking Tour for the whole Family

Dear Katerina & Aris,

“I wanted to sincerely thank you for a very special day today. Katerina, you were so generous with your knowledge, time and energy – it was an AMAZING introduction to Athens. We both loved every minute. We were so lucky with the day, and while I know you would make everyone feel fabulous, we really felt that we made a friend today & I look forward to crossing paths again.
Your efforts to engage and tech Stella were fabulous & she really enjoyed it – thank you, it took our adventure to a new level !
I also wanted to thank you very much for guidance & information ”
Penny & Stella

***

Katerina has immense knowledge of Athens. Although I thought I knew Athens well already, she still found new information to fill a 4-hour tour of the Plaka. From the first instance that I spoke with her on the phone, she made me feel like I was already a very good friend. She was a true professional throughout the entire process of booking and leading our tour. You will get a guide with supreme integrity who will think only of your best interests.

Her stories make her tours stand out from others. Buildings and monuments come to life as she tells you their tales. I’d seen one monument a hundred times, yet I saw it in a whole new light because of her tour. How did it get there? How did they use it? Why were they important? And why is it still there when everything around it disappeared long ago?

Katerina knows the ins and outs of Athens. Just ask her. She will take you to her favorite museums, but if she thinks that someone else knows your interests better, she will bring them in to guide you. Her vast network includes the best certified guides in Athens and throughout Greece.

Whatever your interests are – food, religion, art, dancing, theater, archaeology, architecture – and wherever you want to go, she will design a custom tour just for you. Most importantly, you will be pleasantly shocked by her reasonable charges. It would be a mistake not to include Livin’ Lovin’ in your Greece trip planning.

Marisa Feyen, Athens resident and travel blogger at With One Single Step

Let us plan your own tailor made experience !
Contact us at info@livinlovin.gr
#makingAdifference #walkingtours #citytours #foodtours

#familywithkids #guidedtours #tailormade #sharingtheathenswelove

#thematicwalks #expats #expatliving #expatlife #livingabroad

***

19/12/201810/02/2019

“Kalin imeran archondes” (“good day Lords”)

(photo)”Children singing the Christmas carols”:

painting by Nikiforos Lytras

If someone rings your doorbell early in the morning of 24, 31 December or 5 January, don’t think it’s a naughty neighbor determined to wake you up, it will probably be children singing the “calanda”, the Greek Christmas carols. These are sung by groups of children or, at least two, accompanied by little triangles, accordions, or guitars. As you open the door, the children will ask you: “Na ta poume?” (Shall we say them?). Your line here is: “Na ta pite” (go ahead and say them). After 25 groups of carol singers you may say: No, thank you, or just not open. Now, you should know that our calanda are very cheerful and joyful songs, they go way back in history (like everything else here), you will absolutely love them, you won’t understand a word because the language is formal Greek with a touch of Ancient Greek. Therefore, open your purse and give the little ones some money, even if you hated them, just for the time they spent learning all these words! You know, in the past homeowners offered the children sweets and pastries, but now…you can’t really pay for your PLAYSTATION with melomakarona, can you?

We’ll be back with more about Christmas in Greece.

* “children singing the Christmas carols”: by Nikiforos Lytras

16/12/201810/02/2019

Christmas Customs in Greece

Christmas in Greece can be a lot of things: it can be White-unusual ! – or warm, or HOT ! But in any case, it’s celebrated all over the country, maybe not as gloriously as in the rest of the world-let’s not forget that Easter is our biggest holiday-but our customs are quite interesting and some of them date back into history. Let’s see some of them:

CALANDA (Greek Christmas carols):

If someone rings your doorbell early in the morning of 24, 31 December or 5 January, don’t think it’s a naughty neighbour determined to wake you up, it will probably be children singing the “calanda”, the Greek Christmas carols. These are sung by groups of children or at least two, accompanied by little triangles, accordions, or guitars. As you open the door, the children will ask you: “Na ta poume?” (Shall we say them?). Your line here is: “Na ta pite” (go ahead and say them). After 25 groups of carol singers you may say: No, thank you, or just not open. Now, you should know that our calanda are very cheerful and joyful songs, they go way back in history (like everything else here), you will absolutely love them, you won’t understand a word because the language is formal Greek with a touch of Ancient Greek. Therefore, open your purse and give the little ones some money, even if you hated them, just for the time they spent learning all these words!

Our personal favourite sweet and custom of the New Year is the VASILOPITA, the cake we cut and share on New Year’s Eve or Day. The vasilopita is usually a cake with a coin inside it. As we cut and share it, we cut the first pieces for Jesus, Saint Basil, the poor, the house, and then the members of the family and the friends. The “head” of the family — grand father or father — does the cutting and sharing, the rest of us search to find the coin, as whoever gets it will be the luckiest one throughout the year. Now the history behind this tradition is: In the 14th century Cappadokia, a Byzantine province in Asia Minor, suffered from famine but this fact did not stop the heartless eparch* of the town from demanding to get the taxes, threatening the town with destruction. St.Vasilios, the Bishop in Caesareia, urged the people to offer their valuables in order to rescue their town. The people obeyed and Saint Vasilios collected a pile of offerings to give the eparch*, but the last minute he managed to smooth his heart and change his mind. Now Saint Vasilios had a problem: he was left with a pile of valuables to give back to the people, without knowing who they belonged to! So, he got a brilliant idea: he asked the baker to bake one small cake for each family and he put one piece of jewellery inside. And the miracle happened: each family got what they had given!!! Ever since that time we celebrate this event by sharing the cake with the coin – only one coin, no more…

Eparch: in the Byzantine Empire, the governor of an eparchy

So, now that you know about these customs and habits, you can celebrate Christmas and the New Year in happiness and….more knowlegdable, until we get back from the holidays and find out about… KALIKANTZARI !

16/12/201810/02/2019

Mischievous creatures !

Now that Christmas is just around the corner, it’s time we learnt some things about Greek customs and traditions. Today’s story is about KALIKANTZARI.

They are the Greek elves; only not so benign. They are naughty and mischievous and they live in the center of the earth where they try to cut down the tree that holds the earth with axes and saws. When Christmas comes, as their job is nearly done, they leave the rest for New Year, and climb up onto the surface of the earth to tease people. They try to get into the houses through the fireplaces and stay there teasing people from the beginning of Christmas season until the 6^th of January, the Epiphany when the priest goes around all houses and sends them away with Holy water. Once they go back to the center of the earth, they find the tree whole and intact, so they start sawing all over again until the next Christmas.