Greek Easter

Easter in Greece is easily one of the most fun cultural events of the year. It is considered the most important holiday in the Greek Orthodox calendar, and, consequently, everyone takes part in the festivities. If you ever get the opportunity to spend Easter in Greece, then jump at the chance, because it’s a time you won’t forget!

Food

The significance of Easter for the Greek culture, and many cultures around the world, is that of “self-cleansing”, to take a moment to be grateful and realign your priorities. The more religious population takes part in lent for 40 days before Easter Sunday. This involves the giving up of various food groups each week, such as red meat, dairy, oil etc, which slowly build up to vegetable consumption in the final week. Fasting is broken on the night of Good Friday with a feast of fish, which comes after watching the march of the “Epitaph” at church (a box decorated in flowers that represents the death/coffin of Christ).

The following evening people attend church once again, but instead, at midnight, to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. That evening, the meal consists of a special soup called “Magiritsa” made-up of lamb and vegetables. 

Finally on Easter Sunday, an entire lamb is cooked on the spit, plates are smashed and you dance the afternoon away in true Greek fashion. This year our challenge was to cook a 16kg lamb, given that we had to feed over 30 people!

Candles

Candles are very significant in the Orthodox religion in general. When you attend church, people light a candle in mark of their prayer. At Easter there are two important candles lit. The first candle is a brown candle, set alight on Good Friday to represent the solemnity of Christ’s death. The flame leaves the church and is passed person to person as the crowd follows the “Epitaph” around the town.

The second candle is known as a “Lambada”. These are decorative candles sold around Greece, usually bought for children by their godparents. They are lit on Great Saturday in celebration of Christ’s resurrection, once again passed from person to person starting in the church. People then carry the candle home (you see candles lit in cars!), where they bless the house by gesturing a cross in the doorway.

Eggs

At Easter, eggs signify new life and new beginnings. In Greece, the tradition is to colour eggs, mainly red, which represents fending off evil. Chocolate eggs are of course exchanged, but people also often hand paint eggs, to decorate and brighten up the house.

Extraordinary celebrations

Easter Sunday in Greece is very similar to Christmas day. 

You spend the entire day preparing for the main meal and then eat until you can’t move! Some places in Greece, however, do somewhat wacky things to celebrate. For example in Corfu, the entire town throws huge ceramic urns off of their balconies in commemoration of Christ's resurrection. There is also an island called Chios where two rival churches actually shoot fireworks at each other in competition! People who went said it was an insane experience they would never forget!

Below are two Youtube links showing those crazy traditions mentioned above.

Enjoy the pictures!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwYrPhLBvz8 - Chios firework war in battle!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05Mc9gNWENI&feature=related - Pot throwing in Corfu

Nafplio

Greece is recognised by most for its beautiful islands and glorious beaches. Unfortunately, the mainland is somewhat neglected, which is a great shame given how much natural beauty there is to discover. Whether snowy mountains or golden sand, like most European countries, Greece has it all. Consequently, seeing as it's not island hopping season, I've decided to take the opportunity to see as much of the countryside as possible.

Last weekend I visited Nafplio, a town set in the heart of the Peloponnese mountains, surrounded by a stunning landscape of orange, lemon and almond trees. Although not famous for any food or local produce, Nafplio holds great significance for the Greeks. From the years 1821-1834, Nafplio was the original capital of Greece, before the head of state was overthrown. In fact, original elements from Nafplio were taken to new capital, for example, Nafplio's central square is called Syntagma square, just as there is a Syntagma square in Athens.

The old town of Nafplio has some of the most beautiful architecture of the mainland, which stems from past Venetian and Ottoman influences. It's extremely colourful and romantic, and, situated only 1.5 hours from Athens, is the perfect weekend getaway for Athenians. What I love about small towns like Nafplio is how personable they are. You go into a little art gallery and the artist is there to tell you about his or her work. You go for a coffee and have a conversation with the shop owner about everything and nothing. It just gives you a break from the hectic and somewhat anonymous life living in a big city.

The pictures below are taken all around Nafplio, including one from the top of a castle (which I had to climb 999 steps to reach!). Fortunately, spring finally decided to make an appearance that weekend, after one of the coldest and greyest winters Greece has seen since 1965!

Food

Food is one of the most celebrated attributes of Greece. Traditions and customs are, and have always been, heavily based around eating and drinking, but with the food being so delicious you really can’t expect otherwise!

One of the reasons that the food here is so rich in taste is the seasonality of recipes; Dishes are prepared in conjunction with whichever fruits and vegetables are in season. Villages also often have specialty dishes for which they are famous, which differ from place-to-place according to the specific ingredients produced in the region. Regardless of the season, however, tavernas will always have the basic table mezes such as tzatziki, choriatiki (Greek salad) and so on, available. What changes, are the main dishes. Because of this, locals generally don't even look at the menus and, instead, ask for what the cook has prepared that day. Although you might be able to order a normal Greek salad in winter, tomatoes are not in season, so a preferred winter salad might be the marouli, or lettuce, salad consisting of lettuce, parsley, spring onions and dill.

I had an interesting experience the other day when I went to a taverna in my area. It is famous for its incredible quality of food, but what’s most interesting about it is that you don’t actually order anything yourself! The waiters count how many people are sitting at your table and bring out a variety of dishes they’ve cooked that day, according to the number of guests. It was brilliant, and so delicious!

Another wonderful quality about eating in Greece is that most of the time restaurants will offer you a treat at the end of the meal. A common offering is a dessert consisting of yoghurt, honey and caramelised fruits. The caramelised fruits are known as Glyko tou koutaliou, meaning sweet of the spoon (because it’s so sugary you can’t have anymore than a spoonful!). Years ago Glyko tou koutaliou was a way that women demonstrated their capabilities in the kitchen. The more extravagant and creative was their sweet, the better cooks they were. Some villages have been so inventive with their desserts that there exists things such as caramelised zucchinis and olives, if you can believe!

Alternatively, restaurants might offer a digistif, an alcoholic drink served after food. A well-known drink to serve is Masticha, a liqueur taken from the mastic tree. The word mastic actually derives from the Greek word to chew, as it was the mastic tree years ago that provided the resin from which chewing gum was made!

For a bit of fun I’ve included below a recipe for tzatziki, as it’s a very easy and I know so many people outside Greece who love it! You can see what caramelized grapes with yoghurt look like on the last photo :)

Recipe - Tzatziki:

2 pots of Total yoghurt (or a big pot of any Greek yoghurt)
2 garlic cloves
1 cucumber
1 juice of half a lemon
Salt and pepper

Put the yoghurt into a bowl. Crush the garlic cloves and squeeze the lemon juice into the yoghurt. Slice your cucumber so you can remove the seeds in the middle, and then grate the cucumber into the yoghurt. Mix everything together well, add salt and pepper to taste, et voilà!

Tyrnavos

Carnaval this year, and all over Greece, was noticeably toned down. With the current economic tensions, the usual period of celebration was reduced to reflect the mood of frustration and disappointment. One village, however, which did not seem to show any sign of backing down, was that of Tyrnavos. The usually sleepy town came alive for the carnival weekend, celebrating Dionysos, the god of wine and festivity. 

The specific festival that takes place there is known as Bourani and involves the cooking of lentils and beans. To commemorate the meal, men dress up as villagers once did, chant poems while circling the food, and carry phallic ornaments to represent fertility. The festival in general was crazy and random. As I entered the town, I walked past a stall where I was grabbed and made to drink chipouro (a drink similar to, and as lethal as, ouzo!) out of a phallic shaped bottle! People were dancing, eating, just having a good time, and you could hear the exclamation of "Kales Apokries" everywhere (the Greek celebratory wish for a happy Carnaval season). It was definitely an experience I’ll never forget!

Below are some photographs from the festival. Tyrnavos is not famous for its parade or floats, so there were fewer decorations than expected, but there were some that did stand out, including one involving Angela Merkel (as seen on the second last photograph)

I've tried to include pictures I deemed "appropriate", which was rather difficult seeing as you were literally surrounded by phallus', including a balloon shaped one floating in the sky!! (You can see that on the last picture)

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Carnaval

Ancient traditions are what shape and define the Greek culture, even today. At present, the people are celebrating Carnaval season, (also happening in South America) which occurs during the four weeks that lead up to the start of lent. The word actually comes from the latin "carne vale", which means saying goodbye to meat before fasting. Last Thursday, they celebrated Tsiknopempti here, which literally means "Smell of cooking meat - Thursday"....and it really was! I went outside and could smell steak and lamb cooking all around the city. I even saw a man roasting an entire lamb at 9 o'clock in the morning, which was apparently in preparation for all the yiayias and pappous (grandmas and grandpas) who would want their Tsiknopempti feast early in the day.

The Carnaval celebration is a really fun period all over Greece, packed with crazy costumes and customs. It's like a month-long Halloween, except not quite as freaky! It also creates a sense of community across the city, lifting the morale after the January frost. Walking through the centre last weekend was brilliant; the tavernas were full, and it was just wonderful to know that everyone was out for the same reason...even though the reason was just to eat meat!

Two days before lent, or Clean Monday as they call it here, marks the end of Carnaval. This is the biggest celebration, and there are certain areas in Greece that really go to town. One particular region is Larissa, an area north of Athens and home to a village called Tyrnavos. The festivities that take place in Tyrnavos are based around themes such as the arrival of spring, fertility, and new life. While we might interpret that as new chicks and ducklings, they use the phallic symbol. Consequently, the fame of the village is accredited to its many phallic parades and costumes!

I'm hoping to get some great shots of Clean Monday Carnaval next week, but for now, here are some snaps taken around the various suburbs of Athens that I've visited... 

Aπεργία! Strike!

What’s most interesting about the time I spend here is not why I’m here but, rather, when. Greece is the first country to finally buckle under the weight of the global economic downturn, and is now faced with an almost impossible situation. No thanks to its lax approach to work and constant tax evasion, she is now paying the price. The atmosphere in Athens right now is extremely tense, and the people are very angry. One in five are unemployed and 50% of youths are out of work. With the new cut backs (around the ninth wave of cuts so far) the people feel that they cannot take anymore. They keep receiving measure after measure, but see no outcome. What the government faces is changing the attitude of the people. The Greek culture is second to none, but the country is a nation of shopkeepers that has an economic mentality 50 years behind the rest of europe.

I recently found a list published concerning the top ten tax evaders in Greece (evidently some of the most wealthy in the country). Until today, not one person has been forced to pay back what they owe. Simply making them repay their debts will obviously not solve the current problem, but at least it would set some examples, at least it would help change the "if he's not going to pay his taxes, why should I" attitude. It's about changing the dog-eat-dog character, which, in the present climate, is close to impossible. Moreover, what's hilarious about the entire situation is that no matter what the government do, no matter what agreement the EU come to, a multi-billion dollar loan at an extortionate interest rate is never going to be paid back anyway!

I had my own little experience of the current upheaval when walking through Syntagma square on Friday. As I approached the centre, I saw hundreds of protest police running towards the house of parliament and thought I was headed straight for the strike. Luckily, I just missed the protest, which I'm quite glad of, given that apparently rocks were being hauled at the crowd at one point. As I made my way through the square, there was clear anger and frustration in the atmosphere, so I grabbed some shots and quickly headed away from the area. I started walking back towards home along the deserted streets, when I noticed everyone looking a little ill, coughing, red eyes etc; it felt like something out of a sci-fi movie! Suddenly, my eyes started streaming and burning until I couldn't see anymore, which was when I realised that I was actually in the middle of a cloud of teargas! Pretty freaky moment on my part, but I guess it was my christening as a Greek citizen in the crisis!

 The Bank of Greece