Athens Travel Blog

Another Easter come and gone. Athenians are using this last night of the official Easter holiday to digest generous portions of lamb and finish the last of their “Chronia Pola” phone calls. It’s sad to say goodbye to Pascha but visitors are surely going to enjoy the refreshing sight...

The weather is gray and dreary in Athens of late, almost as though the cumulative preparation for Good Friday is setting the stage for a mournful weekend leading to the burst of sunshine, Easter Sunday, or Pascha. Starting tomorrow most businesses will start shutting down in preparation for a rolling...

In Athens, the road to Pascha is lined with candle-filled windows. Lambadas are traditional Easter gifts for children to be used on Holy Great Saturday to receive the Holy Light from Jerusalem. The modern lambada is sometimes beautiful, oft-times a tacky amalgam of tulle and Happy Meal toys that appeal...

This morning the bell towers of the city churches are clanging like wind chimes in a hurricane; the welcomed sun is warming the flat roofs and countless balconies of Athens. Independence day in Greece is a day of deep national pride. In spite of the bitter winter, with hostile exchange between citizens...

The Greek Revolution from the Ottomans started with a series of insurgence fighting, mostly from wild-eyed mountain men with the handlebar mustaches called “Kleftes.” The official, legendary start date is March 25, 1821, when Bishop Germanos of Patras raised a flag on Agia Lavra in Kalavryta...

It’s the second Sunday of the Great Fast here in Athens; we’re still trucking along down the highway of penitence called sarakosti, forty days of blood free meals until 12am Easter morning. It’s true that practicing a perfect lenten diet is waning with modern times, but everyone...

There’s a cumulative sigh of relief coming from cows, sheep, goats, chickens and fish all over Greece. The period of Carnival is over; this week started with Καθαρή Δευτέρα, Clean Monday, when all of the Orthodox-approved foods were rolled out onto long banquet tables and shared with...

The picture below might have you suspecting that Athens has been burned to the ground. No, no… it’s just the Olympiakos fans of legendary Thira 7, or Gate 7, doing their primeval war dance before a game against their hated rivals, Panathinaikos, the football club of Athens. The “Red...

Welcome to Athens Chocolate 101, a course covering all things chocolate and delicious in Athens. Lesson one: deliciousness for the masses. Athens is home to not one, but two domestic chocolate makers: Ion and Pavlidis. Bitter The Pavlidis (Pah-VLEE‘-this) Chocolate Factory was started in 1861...

Nippy outside! Good thing kitchens in Athens are focusing on heavier dishes designed to keep you warm and fluffy through the winter; one of my favorites is Beri meze which, roughly translated, means the plate of the drunkard. It’s prepared according to the individualistic interpretation of the...