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Simply the best The new Acropolis Museum is indisputably the top venue for visitors to Greece this summer. Designed by the Swiss-born architect Bernard Tschumi, the 14,000-square-meter, three-floor museum houses 4,000-odd sculptures, marbles, and other artifacts, including a number that have never been exhibited before, from a single archaeological site–the Acropolis. A massive glass and concrete structure with walls and roof made of specially designed glass, the building was created to maximize natural light. The highlight is, of course, the Parthenon Gallery. Located on the top floor, it faces the Parthenon with a glass wall that allows visitors to switch their gaze from the surviving Parthenon sculpture and replicas of those now in the British Museum to the temple they once graced. Open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, except Monday. Admission through December 31, 1 euro. Tickets may be purchased at the museum or online at the museum website, www.theacropolismuseum.gr
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Re-Mapping the forgotten city
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t’s a big summer for art in Athens, as the second Biennale, Heaven, takes over the coast of Faliro and Kallithea, and ReMap KM2 settles into Kerameikos and Metaxourgeio. Though similar in size and scope, the two events are as different as they come–Heaven being a slick, high-end affair, with heavy focus placed on the illustrious names that grace the list of seven curators who organized the seven separate shows in the exhibition. Considering the conspicuous presence of its heavyweight sponsor in the form of Cosmote, whose logo is as promi-
nent as the event’s poster, it is safe to say that the Biennale has come a long way since its inception at Gazi’s Technopolis in 2007. ReMap, on the other hand, has no major corporate sponsor. Instead, the festival survives on the support of the city of Athens, the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, media sponsors, and supporters, as well as the donations from 48 July/August 2009 I ODYSSEY
owners of abandoned buildings, who give over their property to be used for the purposes of the event. In fact, the properties in which the ReMap exhibitions are housed are what truly make this event special. “A vast majority of the buildings are vacant, and some landlords understand what we want to do, while others do not. We are drawing attention to the neighborhood for positive reasons,” Effie Komninou, the director of ReMap insists, as she takes a small group of us on a tour of the event. It is no secret that the downtown neighborhoods of Kerameikos and Metaxourgeio have been practically abandoned by the Greek population of Athens since the ‘white flight’ phenomenon that started in the 1960s. Today, as Komninou explains, the area of Metaxourgeio is only twenty per cent occupied with a diverse population that sees Chinese restaurants rub shoulders with brothels, theaters, and junkies. Though these downtown areas are constantly being dismissed as ghetto–perhaps to the detriment of those who do the dismissing–these are still areas in the historic centre. With a plethora of crumbling buildings that are crying out to be listed, restored, and protected, ReMap is a rare opportunity to discover an Athens has well and truly been forgotten. “The interesting thing about ReMap this year, is that the vast majority of participants worked with a site specific concept in mind, with site specific works related to the neighborhood and the concept of ReMap,” says Komninou. These include outdoor sculptures and paintings which are exhibited in abandoned lots on the street. Along Iassonos Street–where traces of the 1st ReMap Graffiti Walk can still be seen–there is an empty lot with a
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Byzantine-style portrait by Stelios Faitakis adorning the walls. Created for the 1st ReMap, it shares the same space with newcomer, graffiti artist Boxy, who created the glorious piece of stencil art entitled True Love Story, which Komninou tells me is eleven layers of stenciling solely created with black and white tones. Also in the same space, is an old iron, spiral staircase which stands in the middle of the gravel, like a rusted, stairway to heaven. Entitled Promise of Paradise, by the Doxiadis+ architecture and landscape design team, the staircase represents a sense of hope and promise in an old, almost abandoned neighborhood “where old houses, new dynamism, lost immigrants, artists, prostitutes, architects, developed, politicians, hip clubs and ruins coexist.” The Open Air Screening room, which will be screening video pieces and films throughout the event, can be found nearby. Located here for the specific purpose of drawing more people to this specific street, Komninou explains why as we pass a group of junkies. “The city of Athens knows about the issues that exist here, but they cannot make these people disappear, and we don’t want this to happen. It’s about finding a solution.” Walking through ReMap, there is a definite sense that as a visitor, one is an outsider, a concept that is directly addressed by one of the most interesting site specific works– a neon light that hangs outside the window of Kerameikou 28, an extraordinary example of nineteenth-century architecture. The words xenoi pantou are scrawled in neongreen against the ephemeral façade of the elegant building. In multi-cultural Metaxourgeio, the idea that foreigners are everywhere becomes all the more apparent. Amidst its
gritty surroundings, the message becomes both a lament and affirmation, expressing the contradictions of combining art with the reality of inner city life. As we walk through the Athenian ghetto, we find ourselves wondering; who are foreigners here, us, or them? Nevertheless, the organization, scope and aims of ReMap are apparent. With the presence of prominent contemporary Greek galleries, including the National Museum of Contemporary Art, as well as an international gallery presence mostly from Berlin, combined with individual projects, performances and events set to continue throughout the summer until October 4, the forgotten neighborhoods of Athens are taking center stage, as contemporary art’s spotlight sets its sights on the shadowy crevices of broken buildings and dirty streets. As one art lover commented, “no matter what the neighborhood is like, people will still come for the art.” The 1st Athens ReMap demonstrated this, as do the galleries that have chosen to base themselves permanently in the Kerameikos-Metaxourgeio area. Rather than being high-minded and closed off, this is one art event that truly encourages engagement, not only with art, but with the city–in all its guises. Stephanie Bailey July/August 2009 I ODYSSEY 49
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Visual Arts Athens Achilleas Droungas: A Retrospective
Achilleas Droungas: Greek Subject, 1993, oil.
Achilleas Droungas, one of Greece’s most prolific and well-respected artists is the subject of a retrospective which showcases 140 of his works, on loan from some 60 private collections, museums and corporate collections. His works in which the classical meets the contemporary, are defined by minute, almost photographic details. The artist himself opts to avoid labeling his art as photorealistic, postmodern or even avant-garde. And so a mobile phone, a pair of sneakers and an African sarong coexist with more classical elements, marble sculptures, ancient signs, as well as leopards, peacocks and snakes. There is also an element of Surrealism in his work that evokes DeChirico, Magritte and Dali. National Gallery of Art, Michalakopoulou 1 & Vas. Konstantinou 50, tel: 210 723 5857. Open Monday-Saturday 9 a.m. – 3 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Through August 31.
In Praise of Shadows Thomas Struth: Self Portrait
Ilias Lalaounis Jewelry Museum: enameled floral brocch, Robert 1949-1980, (signed)
The exhibition is an exhibition on shadows, shadow theater, and silhouettes, based on old and contemporary folk tales and on simple narratives expressed with economy of means. The heart of the exhibition is the shadow theatre from Turkey and Greece, and its character Karagöz (in Turkey) or Karaghiozis (in Greece). This exhibition will explore the formal analogies and the conceptual references that a new narrative spirit in contemporary art has with shadow plays and, conversely, the influence this traditional art form has had on the world of contemporary art in recent years. The exhibition brings together key works by eight contemporary artists from seven different countries, and two master filmmakers from the first half of the twentieth century. Benaki Museum Pireos Street Annex, Pireos 138 and Andronikou, tel.: 210 345 3111. Open Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m, Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
the late 1950s, took on the project of creating a systematic archive of anonymous industrial buildings of Germany. Teaching at the Düsseldorf Kunstakademie, the Bechers represented a documentary, unadorned photographic language–without sentimentalism, defined by a seemingly impersonal frontality, but with great precision and complexity of thought. Museum of Cycladic Art, Neofytou Douka 4, Kolonaki, tel.: 210 722 8321. Open Monday, Wednesday, Friday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Thursday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Through September 14.
Upside Down: AFI at the Benaki The group AFI was established in 1979 and initially comprised 10 artists who were involved in the applied arts. Today the group has eight members: Maria Grigoriou, Judith-Allen Efstathiou, Inger Karlsson, Korina Koutouzi, Despina Pantazopoulou, Yiannis Papadopoulos, Eva Heiladaki and Theodora Horafa. The exhibition by the group AFI at the Benaki Museum will present integrated proposals / creations, inspired by the objects of the Museum’s permanent collections. Their works can stand on their own as exemplary artistic entities, and project publicly and provocatively their aesthetic integrity. It will be carried out both at the Pireos Street Annex and the main Museum Building, in the form of interventions taking place in the exhibition spaces of the permanent collection. Benaki Museum, Koumbari 1 and Vas. Sofias, tel.: 210 367 1000. Open Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday 9 a.m. to midnight, Sunday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Through September 14.
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Georgios Xenios A Geometry on Hold showcases relatively recent works by the painter Georgios Xenios organized in two thematic groupings. The first presents the “Phonaskountes” (Voice Users), an imposing crowd of faces, “shouting” at the audience, creating an overpowering setting; the second includes drawings and faces in discussion with the works of the first grouping, offering to visitors, in this way, a possibility to ponder the entire opus, seeking the internal relationship between the two. Benaki Museum Pireos Street Annex, Pireos 138 and Andronikou, tel.: 210 345 3111. Open Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m, Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Through July 26
A Century of Costume Jewelry A Century of Costume Jewelry from the Collection of Eleni Angelopoulou, 1880-1980 is dedicated to the art of costume jewelry–and should not be missed by anyone with more than passing interest in jewelry and jewelry design. Besides its inherent allure, costume jewelry serves to illustrate a fascinating aspect of jewelry design as it is, by definition, differentiated from precious jewelry but also from contemporary and ethnic jewelry. Ilias Lalaounis Jewelry Museum, Karatidon & Kalisperi, Acropolis, tel.: 210 9221044. Open Thursday, Friday, Saturday 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. – 4 p.m., Wednesday 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. Through September 15.
Turbulent Times People and Images
Time is the common theme that joins the works of twenty-six Greek artists. Using St. Augustine’s quote about time–«So, what is time? When I am asked, I know. If I wish to explain it to someone who asks me, I do not know”–as a springboard, each gives his or her own interpretation to time. The Art Foundation, Normanou 5, Monastiraki, tel.: 210 323 8757. Open daily 7 p.m. to midnight. July 7-September 7.
People and Images: Refugees’ Relics is an exhibition of personal items brought over by refugees from Asia Minor and Thrace that comprise the core of the museum’s new collection. The exhibition is rounded out by other religious relics from the collections of the Benaki Museum, churches, and other collections that also seek to trace the bonds
Aegina
Thomas Struth Since the late seventies, Thomas Struth has been known for his architectural and urban photographs, portraits, landscapes, and museum interiors. Trained first in painting, he took up photography in 1974 while a student at the Düsseldorf Academy of Fine Arts under Gerhard Richter (1974), and later, Bernd and Hilla Becher (1976) who, since
between the exhibits and their owners. Byzantine & Christian Museum, Vas. Sofias 22, tel.: 210 721 1027. Through August 30.
Yiannis Kottis Yiannis Kottis seeks inspiration in symbols and Greek nature, offering viewers a kaleidoscope of works originating from his associations with the environment. Historical and Folk Museum, Spirou Rodi 16,
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events 2009 Aegina Town, tel.: 22970 26401. Open daily 11 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. Through July 10.
Andros
Japan for a number of years, has won awards for his work in Paris and Tokyo. P. & M. Kydoneios Foundation, Andros Town, tel.: 22820 24598. Opens July 25.
Poros Sotiris Sorogas Old timber and rusted metal parts are central to the iconography of Sotiris Sorogas, whose first solo exhibition in 1972 was dedicated to the poet George Seferis. The scattered, broken, weathered fragments are taken out of context and placed in the center of large canvases, a product of meticulous observation and detailed drawing, emphatically presented in dramatic closeups. The hint of blue among the objects and the background suggests the presence of the sea in this series of works, Rust and Driftwood. Citronne Gallery, Harborfront, Poros Town, tel.: 22980 22401. Through July 22.
Chronis Botsoglou
Paul Delvaux: Leda, 1948, oil on wood]
Paul Delvaux and the Ancient World Ancient Greek and the poetry of Homer, along with Jules Verne, were some of the main influences on the work of the Belgian surrealist Paul Delvaux, who died in 1994. This comes out clearly in the exhibition Paul Delvaux and the Ancient World which features sixty works depicting myths like Leda and the swan, and other references and relations the artist developed with Greece, systematically extracting facts and elements he then interwove with his own personal, subjective mythology. Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation, Museum of Contemporary Art, Andros Town, tel.: 22820 22444. Open Monday to Saturday 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; closed Tuesday. Through September 27.
Haris Lambert “Light of the Earth and the Sky” is the title of this exhibition of works by Haris Lambert, one of the youngest representatives of the New Pop Art when he first appeared on the international art scene in the 1980s. The exhibition, which marks the 15th anniversary of the Kydoneios Foundation’s Ploes series, features works from three of the artist’s periods–New Pop Art, Spiritual Pop, and New Renaissance. Lambert, who has lived in
Chronis Botsoglou, rector of the Athens School of Fine Arts, has widely exhibited in Greece and Europe, including France, Germany, and Italy. In 2005, he started a series of watercolors and constructions, a kind of visual diary that he revisits and enhances every summer. The watercolors make a collection, a record of the moments spent next to the sea at Petri on the island of Mytilini. He focuses on details: a few shells, small pieces of driftwood, small rock formations. The works start at the seashore and are finished in the studio. In a playful way, the artist captures with directness and freshness the small, momentary pleasurable moments of his summer vacation and appropriately gives them the title Of the Seashore. Citronne Gallery, Harborfront, Poros Town, tel.: 22980 22401. July 25-August 26.
Panayiotis Tetsis Born on the island of Hydra in 1925, Panayiotis Tetsis is among the best-known contemporary Greek artists, in Greece and abroad. His seascapes are inspired by the islands of Hydra and Poros. The title of this series is Bypassing Tselevinia, a group of islets at the Peloponnese cape between Poros and Hydra known among sailors for their rough seas. Tetsis’s seascapes show an imaginative and emotive interpretation of the sea. The paintings are products of his memories, feelings, and sense of the place. Citronne Gallery, Harborfront, Poros Town, tel.: 22980 22401. August 29-September 20.
Music Verdi’s Requiem Lukas Karytinos conducts the ERT National Symphony Orchestra & Choir and the Athens Municipal Choir in a soaring symphonic work for a large orchestra. July 5, Athens Hellenic Festival, Athens Concert Hall, box office tel.: 210 327 2000, from the Hellenic Festival box office at Panepistimiou 39 (Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.) or from the venue box office. Haris Lambert: Maria Magdalini 2
Scorpions The German band that popularized heavy metal and hard rock with anthemic songs like Wind of Change pairs with Greek rocker Mihalis Papaconstantinou for a concert that proves their timeless appeal as fans, young and old, prepare to be rocked. July 6, Athens Karaiskaki Stadium
Sing the Truth: The Music of Nina Simone Angelique Kidjpo, Dianne Reeves, Celeste Simone, Lizz Wright & the Original Nina Simone Band perform a repertoire of Nina Simone’s best-known songs that straddle the jazz and soul genres. Remember her incredible voice through hits like My Baby Just Cares for Me, Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood, and I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl. July 6, Athens Lycabettus Theater
Panayiotis Tetsis: From the Bypassing Tselevinia series, oil on canvas
David Byrne The former Talking Head and leading songwriter of the New Wave comes to Athens to perform a program drawn from his discography. July 6, Athens Badminton Theater Scorpions
Marios Frangoulis Greek tenor Marios Frangoulis performs works by Manos Hadjidakis in a special tribute concert that includes Athanasia, To Methysmeno Koritisi, and Odos Oneiron. July 7, Platamonas Olympus Festival, Ancient Theater of Dion, tel.: 210 698 0044
Michael Bolton He’s gone from lead in a hard rock band and touring with Ozzy Osbourne to softer sounds that have become chart-toppers and won a Grammy. Now he brings his ‘Full Moon Concert tour to Greece with a program of romantic ballads, like When a Man Loves a Woman, and several Frank Sinatra hits. July 7, Athens Petras Festival, Theatro Petras, 9:30 p.m.
Michael Bolton
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Santana
Cosmic Festival
Carlos Santana has fused the sounds of rock, jazz, and Latin into his own form of music that has won over millions of fans around the world. Named by Rolling Stone as the one of the all-time top 100 guitarists, the 62-year-old guitarist continues to wow audiences with his energetic performances. July 8, Athens Olympic Stadium
The award-winning Nigerian musician Femi Kuti & The Positive Force headline the Cosmic Festival, which also features Ska Cubano, a group that gets the party going with its soaring horns and roaring baselines, Roy Paci & Aretuska, and Nineka. July 14, Athens Festival Imittou
B.D. Foxmoor
Santana
Orchestra of Colors
Linkin Park
Miltos Logiadis conducts the ensemble founded by Manos Hadjidakis in a demanding and varied program that spans three generations of Greek creativity in the field of classical music. Legendary early works by two giants of the international avantgarde–Iannis Xenakis and Jani Christou– are counterbalanced by more recent works by Theodore Antoniou, Georges Kouroupos, and Georges Koumendakis, whose Amor Fati was composed in 2007 to mark the year of Nikos Kazantzakis. July 9, Athens Hellenic Festival, Odeon of Herodes Atticus, box office tel.: 210 327 2000, from the Hellenic Festival box office at Panepistimiou 39 (Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.) or from the venue box office.
Kasimir and Karoline
Deep Purple
“A ballad of the unemployed driver Kasimir and of his bride… a ballad full of silent sadness, softened by humor; or, at any rate, by the banal insight that ‘we all have to die one day’”. This is how Horv th describes Kasimir and Karoline, the play he wrote in 1932 in the midst of Germany’s political and economic crisis. Johan Simons and Paul Koek–early co-directors of the legendary Theatergroep Hollandia–turn the dramatic folk romance by Ödön von Horv th, the poet playwright, into a sparkling piece of musical theatre which highlights the universality of its acerbic social criticism. (In French with Greek surtitles.) July 13, Athens Hellenic Festival, Odeon of Herodes Atticus, box office tel.: 210 327 2000, from the Hellenic Festival box office at Panepistimiou 39 (Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.) or from the venue box office.
Paul Weller Mercury Rev
This former member of The Jam and The Style Council always does something to us with his distinctive voice, intensity on the stage, and string of hits that won him the Brit award in 2009 for Best Male Solo Artist. July 14, Athens Theatro Vrahon, Vyronas, tel.: 213 203 7819
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The founder of Greek rappers Active Member strikes out on his own with a program of his trademark low bap music from the four solo albums he has released since Active Member. July 14, Athens Petras Festival, Theatro Petras, 9:30 p.m.
Meteora, the most successful album ever on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. The same gravity-defying quality of the Greek monastic community that inspired the album’s title permeates their music, as fans will attest. July 21, Malakassa Terra Vibe
Deep Purple The English rock band needs little introduction as they have captured the hearts of every generation since 1968 when they made their debut. Smoke on the Water, probably their best known song, qualifies as a classic yet Ian Gillian and co. continue to rock hard. July 22, Malakassa Terra Vibe July 23, Thessaloniki Moni Lazariston
James The band’s fans might beseech them to sing something, anything–and they’re right. The English rockers came to wide notice in 1993 with their album Laid and though subsequent releases have faltered in sales, they continue to command a large and loyal following. July 16, 17, Thessaloniki Theatro Gis
Mercury Rev
Alkinoos Ioannidis
Barbara Luna
An exceptional singer with a particular aura, Alkinoos Ioannidis will be joined in the Little Theatre of Ancient Epidaurus by three outstanding musicians and a vocal ensemble; together, they will treat the audience to a unique musical experience. In the interlude since his last concert tour, Ioannidis traveled and absorbed the experiences that make Neroponti his most consummate recording to date. The concert program will include milestones from his career to date as well as songs from his new solo album. July 17, 18, Ancient Epidaurus Hellenic Festival, Little Theater of Ancient Epidaurus, box office tel.: 210 327 2000, from the Hellenic Festival box office at Panepistimiou 39 (Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.) or from the venue box office.
The Argentine diva of tango and flamenco adds a Latin flavor to the Greek summer as part of her world tour. She’ll perform hits like A La Vida, A La Muerte and Indie Morena in a repertoire that spans Cuban son to the milonas and the characera. July 23, Athens Theatro Vrahon, Vyronas, tel.: 213 203 7819
Nine Inch Nails & Jane’s Addiction Nine Inch Nails have been around since the late 1980s but their brand of industrial metal is still fresh and strong. In Athens, they share the stage with Jane’s Addiction, another alternative rock band that reunited in 2008 after their second breakup. July 20, Athens Theatro Vrahon
Linkin Park With two Grammy Awards and sales topping fifty million albums, Linkin Park secured their niche in rock history–as if there had been any doubt–with their 2003 release
Mercury Rev have moved from psychedelic rock into more melodic forms, winning critical acclaim and a cult-like following. If you haven’t heard them before, now’s your chance. July 22, Athens Theatro Papagou
Rocking Athens Festival Heaven & Hell, a musical collaboration of four musicians including two former Black Sabbath members and German metal band Blind Guardian set the pace for the Athens Rocking Festival. Also appearing on stage: Testament, Gojira, Mencea, and Descending. July 27, Athens Olympic Fencing Stadium
Jason Yarde Described as one of Britain’s hottest new jazz talents, composer and saxophonist Jason Yarde brings a bled of spirituality and power to his cross-genre compositions that fuse progressive jazz with reggae, hip-hop, and soul. July 29, Athens Theatro Vrahon, Vyronas, tel.: 213 203 7819
Faith No More San Francisco-based Faith No More have been dubbed one of the most influential rock bands of their era, thanks to their blend of heavy metal, progressive rock, punk, jazz, and other forms. August 10, Athens Lycabettus Theater
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events 2009
Festival of the Aegean For the fifth year, Peter Tiboris, General Director and Music Director of MidAmerica Productions, will present the International Festival of the Aegean, showcasing opera, orchestral and choral music; and dance, on the picturesque island of Syros. The performances will take place at the Apollo Theatre (“La Piccola Scala”), a replica of the famed Teatro all Scala, in Milan, Italy. The program opens July 1 with a concert performance of Puccini’s Tosca and additional performances on July 3 and July 5. For this grand opera, Peter Tiboris will conduct the Pan-European Philharmonia Orchestra from Warsaw, Poland (Jakub Fiebig, Orchestra Manager) and principal singers from some of the greatest opera houses of the world, including Eilana Lappalainen, soprano, in the title role; Marc Schreiner, tenor, as Mario Cavaradossi;
Shannon DeVine, baritone, as Baron Scarpia; Tassos Apostolou, bass-baritone, in the dual roles of Angelotti and Schiaronne; Akis Lalousis, baritone, as Sacristano; and Konstantinos Klironomos, tenor, as Spoletta. On July 2 and July 4, the Festival will present music by Mozart, Schubert, and Tchaikovsky. Raymond Hughes, Principal Guest Conductor, will lead Mozart’s Overture to La clemenza di Tito, K.621, and Schubert’s Mass in G Major, No. 2, D.167, while Peter Tiboris will conduct Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64. Performing the Mass are Karina Skreszewska-Trapezanidou, soprano; Konstantinos Klironomos, tenor; and Akis Lalousis, baritone; and choruses from the U.S. and Greece, including Southwestern College Concert Choir, from Chula Vista,
Above:Renato Zanella Left: Peter Tiboris
California (Teresa Russell, Director), and singers from The National Conservatory (Spyros Klapsis, Chorus Master, The National Conservatory-Ethniko Odeio), Athens Singers, and the Ionian University Department of Musical Studies. Rounding out the Fifth Festival of the Aegean will be Stars of the Vienna State Opera Ballet, performing Zorba (World Premiere) and scenes from Spartacus, Bolero, Il Corsaro, Swan Lake (Act II), and more. The dancers, who hail from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tirana, and Kazakhstan, include Karina Sarkissova, Aliya Tanikpaev, Maria Yakovleva, Kirill Kourlaev, Eno Peci, and Mihail Sosnovschi. Renato Zanella is the Dance Director and Choreographer. July 1-11, Syros Apollo Theater, Ermoupolis, Syros, tel.: 22810 85192. July/August 2009 I ODYSSEY 53
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Performing Arts Jiri Kylian-Michael Schumacher
Habemus Papam, Walter The experimental Nova Melanchlia Theater Group–with Vicky Kyriakoulakou, Maria Manganari, Nikos Sabalis, and Michalis Fotopoulos–present Habemus Papam, Walter another work which has been described as “a whirlwind Walter Benjamin thinking out loud.” July 3, 4, Athens Hellenic Festival, Odeon of Herodes Atticus, box office tel.: 210 327 2000, from the Hellenic Festival box office at Panepistimiou 39 (Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.) or from the venue box office.
formed by the National Theater of Great Britain. (In English with Greek surtitles.)
Swan Lake
If Jiri Kyli n embodies the emotive and the fragile, Michael Schumacher brings a unique improvisatory ability to their timeless collaboration. In Last Touch First, a cast of six fine dancers throw themselves into the game of enacting everything grotesque in the human soul against a Chekhovian backdrop. The flow of time slows as emotionally-charged moments flare in the darkness, as a strange sequence of images invite us to sink into their beauty in a sort of silent theater. July 2, 3, 4, Athens Hellenic Festival, Pireos 260, box office tel.: 210 327 2000, from the Hellenic Festival box office at Panepistimiou 39 (Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.) or from the venue box office.
Aristophanes’s The Clouds Strepsiades, a farmer fallen into serious debt due to his son’s debaucheries, begs Socrates to teach him the art of rhetoric so that he can present unfairness as fairness, and escape once and for all from his creditors and judges. The Clouds, a shining comedy focusing on the unjust and relentless satire against Socrates, present the philosopher as head of the sophists and teacher of rhetoric. Performed by the Cyprus Theatre Organization. July 3, 4, Epidaurus Hellenic Festival, Ancient Theater of Epidaurus, box office tel.: 210 327 2000, from the Hellenic Festival box office at Panepistimiou 39 (Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.) or from the venue box office. 54 July/August 2009 I ODYSSEY
The Mariinsky Ballet Company performs the quintessential work of the 19th-century repertoire, Swan Lake, interpreted by the Russian school synonymous with the history of the classical ballet. The fairytale with prince Siegfried and the White and Black Swan (Odette / Odile) continues to inspire and challenge with the virtuosity and lyricism it demands. Additionally, by differentiating dreams from reality in the manner of late 19th-century Symbolism, the libretto is the perfect match for the choreography.
July 6, 7, Athens Hellenic Festival, Pireos 260, box office tel.: 210 327 2000, from the Hellenic Festival box office at Panepistimiou 39 (Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.) or from the venue box office.
Racine’s Phedre Consumed by an uncontrollable passion for her young stepson and believing Theseus, her absent husband, to be dead, Phèdre confesses her darkest desires and enters the world of nightmare. When Theseus returns, alive and well, Phèdre, fearing exposure, accuses her stepson of rape. The result is carnage. Helen Mirren takes the title role in this savage play by Jean Racine, translated into muscular free verse by the late Poet Laureate Ted Hughes and per-
July 10, 11, Epidaurus Hellenic Festival, Ancient Theater of Epidaurus, box office tel.: 210 327 2000, from the Hellenic Festival box office at Panepistimiou 39 (Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.) or from the venue box office.
Euripides’s Alcestis Alcestis is a symbol of self-denial and wifely devotion; the Euripidean heroine who, having consented to die in her husband’s place, returns veiled from the grave at the end. Ambiguous, satirical and tragicomic, the oldest surviving play by the ‘philosopher of the stage’ continues to fuel a range of alternative interpretations. Thomas Moschopoulos, in his directorial debut at Epidaurus with Maria Skoula in the title role of this production by the National Theater of Greece. July 17, 18, Epidaurus Hellenic Festival, Ancient Theater of Epidaurus, box office tel.: 210 327 2000, from the Hellenic Festival box office at Panepistimiou 39 (Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.) or from the venue box office.
Birds The Horeftes dance company presents an ambitious new work choreographed by Mihalis Nalbantis, Maria Anthymidou, and Aliki Kazouri. The piece combines dance with video art and is a reflection on contemporary politics and society. July 21, Athens Theatro Vrahon, Vyronas, tel.: 213 203 7819
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events 2009 The war of the sons of light against the
sons of darkness
The multitalented Israeli director Amos Gitai presents a spectacle at Epidaurus based on Titus Flavius Josephus’ The Jewish War which describes the Roman conquest of Judaea and destruction of Jerusalem. Named after the military manual and prophesy of apocalyptic conflict between Good and Evil found among the Dead Sea scrolls, the production combines theatre with oratorio, song with dialogue in a multitude of tongues, an extravaganza of projected images with the power of the natural landscape. An artist of conscience who demands the right to free and critical thought, Gitai approaches his subject through the echo of the Middle East today. Featuring the grande dame of the stage, Jeanne Moreau.(In French with Greek surtitles.) July 24, 25, Epidaurus Hellenic Festival, Ancient Theater of Epidaurus, box office tel.: 210 327 2000, from the Hellenic Festival box office at Panepistimiou 39 (Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.) or from the venue box office.
Tribute to Yannis Ritsos
Yannis Ritsos’ most autobiographical poem lends its title and subtitle (“The memoirs of a quiet person who knew nothing”) to a production which sets out to explore the trials and tribulations of his life. The poet opens the poem up to converse with his other works, with his heroes and with his “cloven, dual” self: the bard who sang of the people’s
struggle, but the heretic mystic, too – the seer of metaphysical visions who dared experience, alone and at first hand, the extreme contradictions of his age. It is no coincidence that the poem begins: “Me, alone”. July 24, 25, Ancient Epidaurus Hellenic Festival, Little Theater of Ancient Epidaurus, box office tel.: 210 327 2000, from the Hellenic Festival box office at Panepistimiou 39 (Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.) or from the venue box office.
Aescylus’ The Persians The National Theatre of Greece has invited one of Germany’s leading men of the theater–the Bulgarian-born Dimiter Gotscheff, whose Ivanov Athens Festival audiences will remember from 2007–to direct The Persians with a hand-picked Greek cast. July 31, August 1, Epidaurus Hellenic Festival, Ancient Theater of Epidaurus, box office tel.: 210 327 2000, from the Hellenic Festival box office at Panepistimiou 39 (Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.) or from the venue box office.
phanes’ Birds promise about their utopian Cloud-cuckoo-land. In the year 414 B.C., two Athenians, Pisthetaerus and Euelpides, flee warlike Athens and its socio-political afflictions, seeking the perfect city in the sky. Sotiris Hadzakis, together with a multigenerational group of genuine comic actors, promise to highlight in their performance the play’s relevance to the modern world. August 14, 15, Epidaurus Hellenic Festival, Ancient Theater of Epidaurus, box office tel.: 210 327 2000, from the Hellenic Festival box office at Panepistimiou 39 (Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.) or from the venue box office.
William Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale
Euripides’s The Women of Troy The Women of Troy, the tragedy of the defeated, presents on stage the life of the captive Trojan women after the fall of Troy, before they are taken as slaves by the Greeks. Among them, former mighty Queen Hecuba, tragic seeress Cassandra and tender Andromache have to watch powerless as their men are sacrificed one by one, victims of the inhuman demands of the Greeks. This production of Euripides’ everrelevant anti-war play–first performed in 415 B.C. during the Peloponnesian War– marks Leda Protopsalti’s debut in Epidaurus with the National Theater of Northern Greece’s company. August 7, 8, Epidaurus Hellenic Festival, Ancient Theater of Epidaurus, box office tel.: 210 327 2000, from the Hellenic Festival box office at Panepistimiou 39 (Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.) or from the venue box office.
Aristophanes’s Birds “Health and wealth, long life, peace, youth, laughter, songs and feasts” and everything you’ve ever wished for: that’s what Aristo-
The Epidaurus Festival is playing host to the transatlantic Bridge Project, which brings some of the finest talents from the New York and London stage to our ancient theater, including Ethan Hawke as Autolycus. Academy Award-winning director Sam Mendes, the driving force behind this unprecedented partnership, presents Shakespeare’s rich tragicomedy The Winter’s Tale: a magical testament to the follies of hasty judgment and the force of love as a means of redemption. (In English with Greek surtitles.) August 21, 22, Epidaurus Hellenic Festival, Ancient Theater of Epidaurus, box office tel.: 210 327 2000, from the Hellenic Festival box office at Panepistimiou 39 (Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.) or from the venue box office. July/August 2009 I ODYSSEY 55
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Just for fun
Lake Vouliagmeni
Take a dive! Admit it, who hasn’t felt that surge of adrenaline that overwhelms you when you to dive off a cliff on some beautiful Greek island into the turquoise blue waters of the Aegean. It is just that the heights that we dared to dive from as kids are minuscule compared to that elite group of athletes who are the world’s best cliff divers. Cliff diving has its origin during the 1700s in Hawaii. No less illustrious personage than Kahekili, the last independent king of Maui, indulged in this extreme sport in the eighteenth century. He was famous for the “Lele Kawa”, which can be translated as “leaping feet-first from a high cliff into water without making a splash” and used cliff diving as an initiation tactic for his warriors. He required them to follow his example by jumping off cliffs in an effort to prove their loyalty. As time progressed, King Kahekili’s cliff diving stunts shifted focus. It was no longer just a loyalty test for Hawaiian warriors, but became so popular that people started to compete against each other. In the nineteenth century, the Hawaiian King Kamehameha was the first to let organize cliff diving contests with defined rules to determine the best and most brave athlete. In Acapulco, Mexico, pearl divers began to dive into the sea, with greater or lesser skills and in order to find the bigger and more valuable pearls, from the cliffs of La Quebrada in the 1930s. Legends recall the altitudes from which they jumped: the height inscribed into the top of the cliff is thirty-six meters; however many people talk about jumps from forty-one meters. The highest level on site is actually 25.90 meters above the sea. The cliffs are not overhanging, so the greatest danger is not leaping far enough forward (approx. eight meters) and the water is only sufficiently deep at flood tide. In 1963 even the ‘king’ himself, Elvis Presley, jumped off From cliffdiving events in Switzerland this famous cliff to impress Ursula Andress in the movie Fun in Acapulco. A whiff of the Olympic spirit will return to 56 July/August 2009 I ODYSSEY
Athens on September 20 for the world finals of the Red Bull Cliff Diving Series 2009. Olympic athletes jump from a height of ten meters, however this group of twelve athletes, the best in the world, will competitively dive from a height of twenty-six meters off the cliffs of Vouliagmeni lake in the suburb of Vouliagmeni. Lake Vouliagmeni, whose water maintains a constant 24 degrees Celsius temperature year round, is haunted by numerous mystic stories about voracious creatures, dangerous whirlpools and hidden treasures. Via an enormous and mazy underwater cave system the lake with healing waters is somehow connected with the Mediterranean Sea, divers have been swallowed in the labyrinth trying to find the lake’s underwater exit. These divers will defy the mysteries of the lake from a platform on the cliffs that line it. Entering the water at speeds of more than 90 miles per hour is like hitting concrete, and cliff divers must prepare both body and mind to avoid disaster, they know that only
a perfect execution of their tucks, somersaults and pikes will allow them to emerge from the heavy impact unscathed. As a spectator sport cliff diving is thrilling but also beautiful, you can feel everyone holding their breath as the diver jumps into the water in awe. Just as in Olympic diving, cliff divers must be mid-air gymnasts, able to maneuver themselves gracefully in and out of shapes and spins, and judges mark their form, style and ability to enter the water with a minimal splash. Think of Greg Louganis’s beauty in diving and add a ton of adrenaline along with twenty meters height. The reality of a diver’s experience is a sharp contrast to the smooth outward aesthetic as their body deals with the force of impact that with one mistake could be fatal. The organizers promise an unforgettable experience for not only the voyeuristic adrenaline kick seekers, but for anyone that enjoys seeing this beautiful sport. For more details on the event and how to attend go to www.redbullcliffdiving.com
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Nia Vardalos with Alexi Georgoulis
The ‘My Life in Ruins’ tour Like the film’s tagline points out, “the star of My Big Fat Greek Wedding is finally going to Greece”. Nia Vardalos returned to the screen this summer with as Georgia, a Greek American history professor who becomes a tour guide. And the romp, on and off the bus begins in this romantic comedy featuring, alongside Vardalos, Richard Dreyfuss and Alexis Georgoulis. But the film isn’t just a showcase for Vardalos, it’s also a showcase for Greece, with some of the country’s most famous sights stealing their scenes.
M
y Life in Ruins in some ways relates the typical journey many Greek Americans and philhellenes make to Greece–a quest to discover their roots or themselves. Unlucky at both love and finding her dream job in the U.S., Georgia has come to Athens to regain her mojo–or kefi, as the Greeks call it. During an extended visit, she signs up to be a professional tour guide, hoping she will find an eager audience for her encyclopedic knowledge of Ancient Greece among the Greek capital’s many visitors. Instead, the travelers who regularly fill Georgia’s tour bus are far more interested in lounging at Greece’s famous beaches than its celebrated Unesco heritage sites. Her insistence that the vacationers listen to her scholarly lectures on the glory of the ancient world has made her the least popular guide in the company’s history and when she refuses to change her program to suit her customers, her boss cuts a deal with another tour guide to make her quit. Georgia is thus landed with a busload of tourist clichés–loud-mouthed Americans in baseball caps and sneakers, Australians who won’t part with their beers, stuffy Brits, and more. To make matters worse, Georgia has been assigned the most dilapidated tour bus in Europe, the crummiest hotels Greece has to offer and the company’s scariest, hairiest, and seemingly mute bus driver and content with the mean-spirited pranks the other tour guide plays at every stop. With everything going wrong, a desperate Georgia begins to think about abandoning the tour–
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and her life in Greece, a life which literally seems to be in ruins. When Vardalos read Mike Reiss’s script for My Life in Ruins, she was instantly captivated. It wasn’t simply the chance to shoot a film in Greece, although that was certainly a plus for the Greek American actress, Vardalos fell hard for the character of Georgia. “What I added to the character was that she was so controlling and she had to learn to let go. I’ve always been told work hard and anything you want can be achieved. That actually turns out not to be that true, though. Sometimes you just have to let go and laugh–or dance!” Although her character has what many would consider a dream job, Vardalos observes, “She’s not letting the magic of it enter her soul because she chooses to bring the disappointment in her life with her. She has to change her outlook. And it’s not just Georgia; it happens to all the characters.” My Life in Ruins is structured very much like a real guided tour through Greece, with much of the action taking place on the tour bus or at the sites themselves. Filming during the height of the tourist season posed a number of challenges. “One time we were shooting in the middle of the Plaka, the main square of Athens, kind of like Times Square,” says Vardalos. “In the middle of the scene, I heard some people say, ‘Hey it’s that girl from My Big Fat Greek Wedding.’ Then they walked right into the shot and kissed me on the cheeks.” Filming among the ancient landmarks presented logisti-
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summer guide 2009 cal problems as well. The film had to share the locations with real tour groups. “A lot of times I would be walking my tour group through the ruins, carrying my sign saying Group B,” says Vardalos. “We’d pass a real life tour group, and the guide and I would just look at each other. This one woman tour guide actually winked at me. And I thought, yeah! Tough job.” My Life in Ruins was shot on some of the most spectacular and famous historical sites in Greece, including the Acropolis– and, indeed, made history as the first movie to film there.
First stop: Olympia The first important monument the tour group visits is Olympia, the site of the original Olympics in the eighth century B.C. There’s no doubt that Ancient Olympia is one of Greece’s top sights. Models near the entrance, at both the site and the museum, help orient visitors and hint at what the sanctuary looked like when the first recorded Games were held in 776 B.C. When visiting, plan for enough time for two tours of the sanctuary– one before a visit to the museum and one after. Known around the world as the birthplace of the Olympic Games, Olympia was also where gods and heroes competed before handing down this tradition to mortals. Contained within a low, fertile valley along the Alpheios River, the archaeological site is shielded by Kronion Hill, a gently rounded mound dedicated to Cronus–a great sport from which to survey the sanctuary. To gain an understanding of the site’s size and splendor,
it’s best to start from the Leonidaion at the southern end, just past the palaestra and Phidias’s workshop. The fourth-centuryB.C. building served as residence for visiting dignitaries and its foundations are the best-preserved at the site. It’s not, however, the most impressive: that honor goes to the Temple of Zeus, diagonally across, and once the largest temple in the Peloponnese. Its pediments were decorated with sculptures depicting the contest between Oenomaos and Pelops on one side and the Centauromachy on the other. The temple once housed a twelvemeter-high ivory and gold statue of Zeus on his throne, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Pediment sections and other finds are displayed at the site’s museum; unfortu-
Vardalos and Richard Dreyfuss
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nately, these do not include the statue of Zeus, which did not survive.
Second stop: Delphi
The next major stop My Life in Ruins makes is Delphi, the site of an ancient temple dedicated to the god Apollo. Delphi was once one of the most important religious destinations in existence. Visitors from all over Greece and other parts of the Hellenic world came to Delphi to consult the Oracle, whose cryptic advice could determine the course of history. The archaeological site sprawls over the slopes of the Mount Parnassos on both sides of the main road and includes temples dedicated to Athena and Apollo, the tholos, a stadium, theater, and a sacred spring. The landscape is gorgeous: sheer mountain faces fall like curtains behind the ruins of the fourthcentury-B.C. Doric temple, while below olive groves undulate in the breeze. In the warmer months, go early in the morning, then seek refuge from the midday heat in the museum, where finds from the site–including the Charioteer–are displayed.
Last stop: Acropolis The Acropolis is the nucleus of Athens, the original citadel built at the highest point of the city proper. The most celebrated site in Greece, it sits atop the layers of history that have created the modern Hellenic state. Often referred to by Athenians as the “Sacred Rock,” the Acropolis has been settled in Neolithic times but gained renown for its fifth-century-B.C. architectural masterpieces, which have come to symbolize the achievement of Classical Greece. Entry to the Acropolis is through the Beule Gate, part of a third century Roman fortification named for the French archaeologist who discovered it. The imposing gateway, or Propylaia, designed by the architect Mnisicleas rises almost directly ahead. The portal marked the end of the Panathenaic Way and had three wings. The northern section was called the pinakothike, or repository for paintings, and was decorated with frescoes. The Klepsihydra spring, discovered by Greek archaeologists in 1821, lies a few feet beyond the Pinakothike. Water 60 July/August 2009 I ODYSSEY
from the spring powered Andronicos’s waterclock in the Tower of Winds; during the Greek war of independence, it provided refreshment for the Greek fighters under siege in 1827. The Temple of Athena Nike, also known as the Temple of Wingless Victory, is visible slightly to the south. It was designed by Callicrates, on a commission by the Senate. Completed in 424 B.C., this small Ionic temple has sixteen columns, four on each side, and a relief frieze. The Erechtheion, an Ionic temple dedicated to both Athena and Poseidon, is on an eastern diagonal from the Temple of Athena Nike. Built in 420 B.C., this compact temple is probably the second most photographed monument on the Acropolis, thanks to the row of Caryatids on its southern porch–copies of the original statues, believed to be the Arhephoroi of Athena. Casting an eye around the grounds, several monuments are in plain view: the Pandrossion; the pedestal of the statue of Athena Promachos; the Sanctuary of Artemis Brauronia; the House of Arrhephoroi, girls of aristocratic lineage who looked after the mantle draped over the statue of Athena. But eye and soul are drawn to the Parthenon, a monument of startling simplicity and beauty. Dedicated to the city’s patron, Athena, the temple was completed in 438 B.C., just in time for the Panathenaia–a festival held every four years on the Acropolis. The sculptor Pheidias, whose chryselephantine statue of the goddess was placed in the temple’s center, or cella, supervised work on the temple. The Parthenon was constructed entirely of Pendeli marble, in the Doric order; the rectangular structure has seventeen columns along its length and eight columns on each of its wide ends. The metope, a panel around the frieze of a Doric building, was decorated with exquisite relief sculptures depicting scenes from Greek mythology and the procession of the Panathenaia. The pediments were also decorated with mythological scenes, including the contest between Poseidon and Athena. Sections of the Parthenon Frieze not removed by Lord Elgin are on display in the Acropolis Museum, along with fragments of the Parthenon Pediments, fragments of the Erechtheion frieze, five of the six Caryatids, archaic sculptures and korai, and slabs depicting Winged Victories and the “Sandalbinder” from the Temple of Athena Nike.
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dining guide 2009
Feast on this Dining trends in Greece have taken a new turn, moving turn away away from the extremes of the ‘creative’ ‘wave’ and ‘nouvelle’ Greek cuisine back towards simpler fare where the ingredients’ freshness is the star. The number of restaurants using organically-grown produce and local products has risen, especially in large urban areas that are further removed from agriculture, leading chefs down new culinary paths. Diners have also become more demanding about what’s on their plate, with value for money emerging as an equally important factor as taste and surroundings. The taverna, which a few years ago languished as Greeks headed for sleeker eateries, is now enjoying a resurge in popularity and taverna-keepers have responded by updating their image. The result is greater variety in the Greek dining scene, which we’ve tried to reflect in this year’s restaurant guide: a mix that ranges from special occasions restaurants at the higher end of the gastronomic and dining scale to humble eateries where you can expect solid fare served in friendly, often homey, surroundings with minimal fanfare.
Please phone ahead to confirm opening times and ask if reservations are necessary as establishments occasionally change names and, especially in summer, opening times.
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ATHENS Alatsi Vrasida 13, Ilisia, tel.: 210 721 0501 (Traditional Greek) Alatsi has found its place on the Athens dining scene, winning loyal customers with its Cretan specialities made with ingredients flown from Hania, hometown of journalist-owner Stavros Theodorakis. The menu remains steadfast to the roots of Cretan cuisine, with imperceptible tweaks on the solid peasant fare known world-round for its healtful properties. Stamnagathi (spiny chicory) drizzled with extra virgin olive oil are a simple yet palate-pleasing salad that segues wonderfully to rosemary-flavored snails. It’s a tribute to Cretan cuisine that even a common dish like fried eggs becomes a gourmet treat when cooked in clarified sheep’s milk butter or staka. For many, a dinner at Alatsi is the next best thing to a trip to Crete.
Aneton Str. Lekka 19, Maroussi, tel.: 210 806 6700. Open to midnight every day except Sunday. (Contemporary Greek)
Comfort (hence the name, aneton, or comfortable) is the key to the restaurant created by chef Vassilis Kalidis and Dimitris Fotopoulos, from the décor to the foods on the seasonal menu. One of the pioneers of the new trend for using only fresh ingredients in season, Kallidis has lent his creativity to familiar dishes like pastitsio, made with trahanas and ground goat meat and pasta shapes filled with beef and served with a fresh tomato sauce and soured yogurt rather than the customary ground beef, macaroni, and bechamel. Kokoretsi is also wrapped with greens and wrapped in hand-rolled phyllo for a lighter variation, while mavromatika fasolia are paired with mackerel as well as the familiar lemonolive oil dressing. Depending on the season, you’ll also find fried zucchini served with white taramosalata, wild greens dressed with a pistachio pesto, smoked eggplant salad with feta, black-eyed peas with mackerel in a dill-spiked avgolemono, 62 July/August 2009 I ODYSSEY
or tender beef braised in a yogurt and tomato sauce. Homemade liqueurs served with dessert end the meal on a homey note.
Apla Harilaou Trikoupi 135 & Ekalis, Nea Erythrea, tel.: 210 620 3102. (Contemporary Mediterranean)
Chef Chrysanthos Karamolengos believes in keeping things simple, although he doesn’t shy away from mixing up flavors to wonderful effect. Simple, however, doesn’t mean humdrum. His philosophy is to combine ingredients so that one brings out the taste of the other without overpowering it, as in the subtle sweetness of the fig vinaigrette drizzled over sardines. While the menu clearly has Greek roots, there’s a definite Mediterranean accent, with starters like camembert cheese baked in a wine and thyme sauce and an earthier version of pesto with ground sesame seeds and tangy tomato paste. The ubiquitous horiatiki salad topped with pita croutons, and grandma’s lahanodolmades are filled with minced seafood rather than ground beef. Karamolengos’s philosophy spills over into the decor so the setting is laid-back luxury.
Cellier Zea Akti Moutsopoulou & Ionidon 2, Marina Zeas, Piraeus, tel.: 210 418 1049. Open for lunch and dinner. (Seafood) The yachts bobbing in the Zea marina add to the casual elegance of Cellier Zea, a modern bistrot-style restaurant that occupies the second floor of a beautifully renovated neoclassical building. The menu, contemporary Mediterranean, builds from a range of lighter dishes like baby artichokes with rocket dressed with avgotaraho vinaigrette and rosemary-dressed calamari to pasta dishes like saffron spaghetti and main courses like pot-stewed beef with chestnuts. The Cellier brand grew from a wine store so the staff is especially knowledgeable about wine and the wine list quite extensive.
Dirty Ginger Triptolemou 46 & Persefonis, Gazi, tel.: 210 342 3809. Open nightly to 2 a.m. (Contemporary Greek) Dirty Ginger might be described as a tavernabar and, indeed, in the bougainvillea-shaded patio you can sip cocktails while waiting for a table–and the finest barbecue in town. This meta-modern psitopoleio may look hip but its approach to cooking meat is definitely old school. Efi Yialousi-Hatzichristou, who oversees the menu, says all dishes are rooted in traditional barbecue techniques. There’s kokoretsi marinated in spices, sherry, and balsamic vinegar, Tinos lamb, Mytilene sausages, and rib-steak grilled to order. Vegetarians will find imaginative dishes among the appetizers such as eggplant boureki made with tahini and yogurt, wild greens, and split-pea fava served with olive rusks.
Fatsio Effroniou 5, Pangrati, tel.: 210 721 7421. Open daily for lunch only. (Traditional Greek) Fatsio hasn’t changed its décor or menu in decades–and old patrons appreciate the continuity, while newer ones the nostalgia factor. One of the city’s few remaining estiatoria in the classic sense, it features banquettes and a glass display case where you can pick your dishes. The food is unimaginative, the quality solid, the prices reasonable. What’s available varies each day, with typical dishes being moussaka or yemista, roast chicken with potatoes, fish plaki (fillets cooked in the oven with tomatoes, olive oil, and lemon juice), and a macaroni souffle.
Kanella Konstantinoupoleos 70, Gazi, tel.: 210 347 6320. Open daily from 2 p.m. except Monday. (Contemporary Greek) Picture windows accented by colored bottles and a cool white color scheme give Kanella an airy feel that contrasts nicely with the spices that delicately flavor savory dishes and sweets. Cinnamon, which in Greek is kanella, naturally figures in most magirefta, in the eastern tradition, adding a subtle, sweet kick to classic Greek dishes inspired by regional cuisine. Specialties include pork with mushrooms and oven-roasted chicken. A nice little touch: fresh home-baked bread and tsikoudia.
Karavitis Arktinou 33 & Pafsaniou, Pangrati, tel.: 210 721 5155. (Taverna) Karavitis is probably the furthest you can get from trendy in Athens dining and its
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dining guide 2009 steadfast insistence on remaining a simple neighborhood taverna has created a reputation that exceeds Pangrati’s boundaries. Don’t look for frills on the menu: the fare is as basic as it gets. Greek salad, fried eggplant, fava, boiled greens, meatballs, grilled meats, and the odd mayirefto might seem tame but they’re tasty and go perfectly with the house wine drawn from the barrels. In cooler weather seating is inside a cottage-like house, while in summer you can grab a table in the garden across the road.
Kardamo Ethnikou Stratou 17 & Evelpidon, Ano Kifissia, tel.: 210 623 3530. Open daily for dinner except Monday; Sunday open for lunch only. (Contemporary Greek) Spacious and airy, Kardamo serves classic Greek cuisine with an evident Cretan influence and modern accent such as lightly sauteeing wild greens, then serving them dressed with lemon vinaigrette rather than the customary drizzle of olive oil. Other dishes also mix-and-match traditional recipes, such as dolmades with the stuffing associated with summer yemista–rice, pine nuts, and raisins. There’s also beef braised in tomato sauce with chunky olives served over home-made pasta and simply delightful meatballs lightly flavored with basil.
Kouvelos Gennaiou Kolokotroni 66, Koukaki, tel.: 210 922 1183. Open for dinner except Sunday and Monday; lunch on Saturday and Sunday only. (Traditional Greek)
The old and new come together in Kouvelos, one of the city’s traditional tavernas that has taken on a new look with an interior patio and a new menu thanks to a talented young chef, Ilias Baxanis. The result is that taverna staples like the perfectly grilled bifteki is given a flavor lift from the ground pork and lamb mixed in with the beef. Other dishes get a tweak too, like the dakos (usually a rye rusk topped with chopped tomatoes and crumbled cheese) which becomes a bed for slices of roasted tomatoes topped with marinated anchovy and thick chickpea stew flavored with rosemary.
Malvazia
Papadakis
Agathimenou 3, Gazi, tel.: 210 341 7010. Open for dinner only Tuesday-Sunday and lunch on Sunday only (Contemporary Greek) Chef Yorgos Ksinos mixes up traditional Greek pairings to create new dishes out of old favorites with great success. Spanakopitta, for example, acquires more bite by subsituting slightly bitter wild greens for the spinach and sour mizithra cheese for the chalkier feta. If planning a night on the town, nibble on a selection of appetizer dishes for a lighter meal or settle back and order the more substantial main courses, like stewed beef or rabbit subtly flavored with dessert wine.
Voukourestiou 47 & Fokilidou, Kolonaki, tel.: 210 360 8621. Open daily for lunch and dinner except Sunday. (Greek Traditional)
Margaro Hatzikyriakou 126, Scholi Dokimon, Piraeus, tel.: 210 451 4226. Open for lunch and dinner daily, except Sunday nights. (Taverna) This bustling taverna fills up quickly so come early but only if you have a hankering for fried fish–perfectly cooked and surprisingly light. The menu is simple and consists mainly of a selection of small or medium-sized fish, depending on what’s plentiful at the fish market that day. Wash down with house wine or beer and accompany with fried potatoes and a hearty horiatiki topped with a slab of feta.
Oikonomou Troon 41 & Kydantinon, Petralona, tel.: 210 346 7555. Closed Sunday. (Taverna) This old neighborhood taverna has resisted gentrification, both in its décor and its menu. The food is delicious but simple, prices reasonable, and patrons a mix of local pensioners and young Athenians who come to indulge the genuine retro atmosphere. In short, the wood tables will only balance with a bottle cap shoved under one of the legs, the odd patch of peeling paint is the closest you’ll get to décor, and the menu is whatever’s bubbling in the kitchen that day. Oikonomou serves mostly mayirefta–casserole-style dishes with an olive oil and tomato sauce base, cooked slowly in the oven or on the stove. One standard is roast potatoes, deep golden brown and crisp on the outside, soft on the inside and subtly flavored with a little lemon and oregano. The house wine is served tin carafes and good enough to pass muster with the old-timers who are Oikonomou’s regulars.
Chef Aryiro Barbarigou has built her reputation on the imaginative dishes she has created for Papadakis, a fixture on the culinary landscape of Paros before decamping from the Cyclades and the fishing village of Naoussa to Kolonaki. In keeping with the restaurant’s roots, the menu is built around fresh fish and seafood, complemented by crisp salads with a tangy, subtly sweetened dressing. Nibble on fresh octopus stewed in wine and honey, then served in a nest made of home fries or order fresh grey snapper is subtly notched up with a light drizzle of lemonolive dressing and a delicate sauce with a base of sea urchin eggs. Traditional appetizer dishes like fava (pureed yellow peas) get a flavor lift, served with capers, cherry tomatoes, spring onion, and anchovies that conjure the Aegean’s sea breeze, smoked eggplant with xinomizithra, while revithia (stewed chickpeas) get a slight kick from a dollop of taramosalata. Papadakis rounds off an interesting wine list with a solid selection of tsipouro to wash down lunchtime meze.
Semiramis Semiramis Hotel, Harilaou Trikoupi 48, Kefalari Kifissia, tel.: 210 6284400 (Mediterranean)
Chef, Hlias Kokoris, this summer is suggesting light Mediterranean cuisine, using fresh and organic ingredients for original recipes. The design and taste welcomes you to a world of positive energy and healthy food. Open all day, from breakfast to dinner, Semiramis restaurant is ideal for business lunches, cocktail parties and other social celebrations. Ideally for a July/August 2009 I ODYSSEY 63
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friendly get together accompanied by finger food and cocktails. Semiramis restaurant and lounge bar is overlooking the unique shaped swimming pool, designed by the well known Egyptian & English industrial designer Karim Rashid and is surrounded by artwork from Mr. Dakis Ioannou personal modern art collection. Very tempting the Strawberry Colada and Alexander Frozen cocktails. As well as the Tuna Nicoise Salad, the Shrimp Risotto or Beef rib eye. The Semiramis is great if you want somewhere to unwind.
tan seats belie the look of the traditional psarotaverna but as far as both menu and dishes go, Papaioannou is the real thing. Fish, fried or grilled, to perfection without sauces or frills except for a drizzle of lemon juice and olive oil dressing or salamoura for dipping seafod. The choice of fish is extensive, according to season, but the rest of the menu limited to fried potatoes and Greek salad. Exceptions are seafood or fish appetizers like sea urchin salad, filleted red mullet, and barbecused shrimp in rock salt.
Zefiros restaurant
Pecora Nera
Akti Koumoundourou 48, Mikrolimano, Piraeus, tel.: 210 417 5152 (Seafood)
Sevastoupoleos 158, Ampelokipi, tel.: 210 691 4183). Open daily for lunch and dinner except Sunday. (Mediterranean) Ampelokipi hardly ranks among the city’s more fashionable districts: it’s mostly residential with a sprinkling of office buildings and few boutiques or stores. Yet owner Filipos Sofiano’s cachet as a popular stage and television actor was enough to draw the city’s trendier patrons–and the food and ambience of Pecora Nera keeps them coming back. Cocktails and finger food keep the conversation hopping at the lively bar and a large communal table in the center is a great place to make new friends. For more privacy, try the quieter upstairs dining area. The menu is Mediterranean, with a strong bias towards Italian, with dishes like smoked duck with arugula enticing palates.
Spending time in Greece, means spending time by the sea and tasting its goods. At the most beautiful coast of the Athenian suburbs and a few minutes from Piraeus lies Zefiros restaurant. Its nautical decoration gives you the feeling of being onboard a luxurious old yacht. Prepare your appetite for exceptional seafood, coming directly from the waters of the Aegean sea. Begin your meal with “fishmezedes” including, shrimps, seashells, crabsalad and other Greek specialties accompanied by a glass of our traditional ouzo drink. For your main course, let the Zefiros specialists choose the appropriate fish to suit your taste. End your meal with one of the delicious desserts and a glass of wine, while enjoying a beautiful view at the golf of Mikrolimano and the sailing ships resting at its docks.
Papaioannou Filipou 5, Mikrolimano, Piraeus, tel.: 210 422 5059. Open for lunch and dinner daily except Sunday. (Fish & Seafood) The white linen tablecloths and woven rat64 July/August 2009 I ODYSSEY
Spuntino Foivis 19, Plateia Nymphon, Glyfada, tel.: 210 894 2912. Open for lunch and dinner daily except Monday. (Mediterranean) Avgotaraho– salted and dried mullet eggs–adds kick to spaghetti in one of Spuntino’s signature dishes. The menu, Mediterranean with a heavy Italian influences, ranges from eggplant bruschetta for nibbling with a glass of wine to cuminspiced meatballs in tomato sauce served with risotto and a goat stew served with thick macaroni. The restaurant’s philosophy is to use fresh, good quality ingredients–and patrons are reminded of this by the appetite-whetting photographs adorning the walls.
Telemahos Frangopoulou 19, Kato Kifissia, tel.: 210 807 4015. Open nightly to midnight; lunch on Sunday only. (Taverna) Barbecue is an art, which is why when denizens of the city’s northern suburbs get
a hankering for a juicy steak, charcoaled pork chops, or chicken, they head straight for Telemahos. This casual, familyfriendly taverna has built its menu around barbecue–Telemaho’s souvlaki is legend– but there’s also a solid range of mezedes, from green peppers with cheese to potato croquettes, and and side dishes, including meat and vegetable pies with hand-rolled phyllo, to round off the main course. An alternative to barbecue–and admittedly a special dish–is pan-fried rabbit in lemon sauce.
To Berdema Spefsipou 8, Kolonaki, tel.: 210 722 2412; also, Vassilissis Amalias 20, Kifissia, tel.: 210 801 3853. (Greek Traditional) To Berdema, Greek for confusion, accents a contemporary, light-hearted atmosphere with somewhat whimsical touches like having miscellaneous kitchen utensils do double-duty as wall décor. But don’t let that confuse you: this contemporary taverna’s attitude about food is absolutely serious. The interplay between the décor and the menu subtly underscores the owner’s approach to food: tradition is in. In Berdema’s case, the culinary tradition is strictly rooted in the east and the once-thriving Greek community in Istanbul. Its story is told in Tassos Boulmetis’s moving film Politiki Kouzina (A Touch of Spice)–spice, typically, signaling the near-ubiquitous use of chili peppers and cinnamon to flavor dishes. The Athens restaurant may be closed at the height of Greek summer, but regulars are easily to lured to the Kifissia establishment by the prospect of dining al fresco at a table in the pretty courtyard.
Tsougri Thoukididou 53, Kalamaki, tel.: 210 983 2620 ; Open for dinner daily and lunch on weekends. (Traditional Greek). Poster-sized photographs of famous Cretans, from the painter El Greco to the writer Nikos Kazantzakis, dominate the room, bridging the sleek modern décor and the traditional menu built around the staples of Cretan cuisine. Along with fa-
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dining guide 2009 and other events), and as cool as the rooftop terrace in summer. Testament to Lazarou’s genius is that diners are so absorbed by the flavors that they barely note the view–an open line to the Acropolis.
Vasilainas miliar dishes like dakos and snails, you can order schioufta (thick macaroni served with grated mizithra), reportedly a favorite of actor Yorgos Partsalakis, who owns the restaurant. The menu changes according to season as ingredients are flown in directly from Crete. Take the opportunity to sample wines from Crete and around Greece from the extensive wine list.
Varoulko Pireos 80, Keramikos, tel.: 210 522 8400; www.varoulko.gr. Open to 1 a.m. nightly except Sunday. (Contemporary Greek)
Aitolikou 72, Piraeus, tel.: 210 461 2457; Open for dinner Tuesday-Saturday, lunch only on Sunday, closed Monday. (Seafood) The minimalist modern interior of Vasilainas hardly conjures the old general store that is the restaurant’s roots. Established in 1920s as a bakaliko, Vasilaina evolved from the meze spontaneously served up by its owner into a landmark on the Piraeus dining scene. The talent of chef Manolis Aslanoglou sealed that reputation, an accomplishment as the menu revolves around fish and seafood. Dishes range from starters like leek soup and octopus served on olive rusks to seafood rizotto and fish with caper sauce.
cooked so well people keep coming back for more.
Cavo Kolones Grecotel Cape Sounio Resort, Sounio, tel.: 22920 69770. Open daily for dinner, except Tuesday. (Contemporary Greek) Cavo Kolones would be special without dinner–the view of the moonlit Temple of Poseidon alone makes any meal here memorable. But the set menu is based on organic products from Grecotel’s Agreco farm at Adele, Crete, and rooted in authentic Cretan cuisine. Offerings are seasonal, but expect to savor succulent tomatoes drizzled with organic extra virgin olive oil on the koukouvayia, a slightly smoky aubergine dip, zucchini blossoms stufed with rice or stewed snails.
Galazia Hytra Westin Athens, Astir Palace Beach Resort, Apollonos 40, Vouliagmeni, tel.: 210 890 2000. Open for dinner daily except Sundays. (Contemporary Greek)
Athens environs & Saronic isles Antonis
Chef Lefteris Lazarou won a Michelin star for Varoulko and has been awarded the Gold Chef’s Cap for fourteen straight years thanks to his continuous experimentation and refinement. One of the pioneers of contemporary Greek gastronomy, he has built his philosophy on Greece’s comparative advantage: the wide availability of fine, fresh ingredients. He also makes a point of building the restaurant’s wine list around the menu, so diners ordering his trademark calamari and pesto will be able to accompany it with a wine that’s a perfect match for the delicate flavors. Lazarou has the culinary genius to create gastronomic delights from unusual combinations like green apples, chestnuts, and squid, yet also the instinct to realize such food needs to be offered in the proper environment. The décor is artsy (and quite popular for receptions, book launches,
Perdika, Aegina, tel.: 22970 61443. Open daily for lunch and dinner. (Seafood) The Perdika waterfront is lined with tavernas but Antonis is always first to fill up. The reason is his insistence on using the finest, freshest ingredients in every dish, from the generous horiatiki to the portionsized cheese pies encased in home-made phyllo. The menu is built around fish and seafood, in season, which arrives perfectly grilled or fried.
Argentina Kalentzi, Marathon, tel.: 22940 66476. Open for dinner weekdays except Sunday, lunch weekends; closed Monday and late August. (Taverna) The secret to Argentina’s success–there are queues most days and patrons usually call ahead to order their meal and arrive when told they’ll be served–is the owner’s skill with a carving knife and barbecue. He learned both skills in South America (hence the restaurant’s name) and has put them to good use since. Don’t expect ambience–Argentina is one of those vast, open tavernas with sparse décor–or a range of selections. The menu is steak, salad, and fried potatoes, but
Galazia Hytra is one of those rare restaurants that truly deserve to be described as a dining experience. The stunning setting– a veranda overlooking the sea–and refined aesthetics of the décor complement a menu that highligts the joys of gastronomy, with emphasis on fish dishes. Reserve for a special occasion, then splurge, treating your palate to pandora baked in a bread crust with beets and aioli or bass with orzo, bitter greens, and avgotaraho. Or try red mullet cooked with its scales and served with cauliflower and cucumber sauce.
Island Varkiza, tel.: 210 965 3563. Open daily for dinner; reservations recommended as the restaurant is often booked for private functions. (Mediterranean) Island is the equivalent of a one-stop shop for anyone who wants to go from cocktails at the bar to dinner to dancing without moving more than a few meters. The setting is indeed an island–a small rocky outcrop planted with palm trees and flowering shrubs that screen it from the July/August 2009 I ODYSSEY 65
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road. The dining area is pure elegance, with candles, crystal, and white linens. Perfect for a special night out, the service is discreet but the lively atmosphere contagious. Island attracts all ages and pocketbooks and many younger patrons sample appetizer portions of many menu items at the bar.
Liotrivi Paleo Limani, Spetses, tel.: 22980 72269. Open daily for dinner. (Traditional Greek) Set in a converted nineteenth-century olive press by the sea, Liotrivi is a modern bar-restaurant that attracts a lively crowd. The décor has a homey feel, with soft throw pillows on the built-in soufas and walls crammed with momentoes and photos. Fisherman’s spaghetti (makaronada tou psara) is Liotrivi’s signature dish–a mix of fish and seafood cooked in tomato sauce, served with pasta–but other popular menu itmes include home-made lobster ravioli and mayiatiko a la Spetsiote, a local fish stewed in the oven with tomatoes and a light sprinkling of herbs.
Xeri Elia Hydra, tel.: 22980 52886. Open weekends only for lunch and dinner. (Traditional Greek) Better known among locals as o Douskos, after its owner, Xeri Elia was established nearly two centuries ago as a general store and slowly transformed into a taverna. As one of the island’s oldest tavernas, it’s still the haunt of celebrities who visit the island seeking the simple taverna experience. The menu offers precisely that with a selection of appetizers like grilled octopus and tzatziki, mayirefta like eggplant imam, moussaka, or stewed beef and a selection of grilled meats, seafood, and fried fish.
Theodoros kai Eleni Legrena, tel.: 22920 519360. Open daily for lunch and dinner. (Traditional Greek) Just off the narrow road leading into Legrena village, a few kilometers shy of Sounio on the coastal road from Varkiza, Theodoros-Eleni can boast a loyal corps of regulars. The food is fresh, homecooked, and familiar though imaginative, from the steamed mussels with feta sauce and battered fried shrimp dipped in sesame to the perfectly cooked fish. When available, order the spanakopitta in homemade phyllo. 66 July/August 2009 I ODYSSEY
Entryfish Pavlou Mela 5, Thessaloniki tel.: 2310 230031. (Seafood)
Thessaloniki Clochard Proxenou Koromila 4, Thessaloniki, tel.: 2310 239805. Open daily for lunch and dinner except Sundays. (Mediterranean)
Tasseas Pounta, Poros. Open daily for dinner. (Traditional Greek) Tasseas is an endangered species–a genuine ouzeri. A handful of tables set on the sidewalk and along the marina attract a constant flow of patrons, some stopping for an ouzo and a small plate of grilled octopus, others spending the night noshing on meze–from a garlicky home-made melitzanosalata and pastrouma boureki to a range of fish, from gouna (sun-dried then grilled) and tiny atherina you pop in your mouth whole, always according to what his fishermen friends have caught that day. Expect friendly service but no frills–Tasseas offers the genuine ouzerie experience.
for the Arts where he offers his creative Mediterranean cuisine–with a strong Italian accent–at under ten euros for starters and roughly twelve euros for main courses. This alone was enough to earn him the “value for money” award in this year’s Athinorama’s Golden Chefs Cap list.
The discreet entrance barely hints at the delights inside Clochard, a bar-restaurant where Greek cuisine meets French gastronomy. Stake a place at the long bar where you can peruse bottles of wine from the extensive list or claim one of the tables in the minimalist dining room for more privacy. Featured dishes range from tomato millefeuille with cheese mousse and basil pesto or portion-sized cheese pies flecked with poppy seeds to meatballs with bacon, seafood linguine, and pork loin with honey and Dijon sauce. Clochard also serves meze for ouzo so you can happily nosh at the bar while checking out the other patrons.
Entryfish, which not surprisingly structures its menu around seafood and fish, bears the mark of Nikos Varveris, proprietor of the Interni restaurants. Tiled floor and marble-topped tables create a bistro-like setting that spills out onto the small terrace. Varveris’s philosophy is evident in the level of service as well as the quality of the ingredients. Eel and tabouleh, lemon grouper, shrimp pie, and mussels in potato broth share a menu that also boasts a number of dishes pairing fresh pasta with seafood.
Northern Greece Marina Potidaia, Halkidiki, tel.: 23730 41570. (Traditional Greek)
Art 02–Tellogleio Ayiou Dimitriou 159a, Thessaloniki, tel.: 2310 201421. (Mediterranean) Named chef of the year in 2008 by Athinorama, Ektoras Botrini continues to change the Greek dining scene,not just with creative recipes like shrimp covered in feta flakes which he dubbed snow, but other innovations. The latest is Art 02–Tellogleio, the restaurant of the Tellogleio Foundation
Relax on the broad veranda over meze and wine as you enjoy the view over the bay in this restaurant with the casual ambience of a taverna. Fish dishes feature high on the menu so don’t pass up the opportunity to sample grilled cod. If you have an appetite or like to share dishes, the lobsterspaghetti is Marina’s signature dish.
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dining guide 2009 Tomata Sani Resort, Sani, Halkidiki, tel.: 23740 31231. Open noon to midnight. (Contemporary Greek) There are sixteen restaurants to choose from at the Sani Resort, but Tomata stands out, having been singled out by the Financial Times as one of Europe’s top twenty-five restaurants and awarded this year with the coveted Golden Chef Cap. (Byblos, the luxury a la carte restaurant at Porto Sani Village also received a Golden Chef Cap.) The creative genius behind Tomata is chef Christos Karamolegos who transplanted his acclaimed restaurant from the Cycladic island of Santorini to the Sani Resort. The menu–which includes such imagination creations as grilled octopus with an ouzo vinaigrette, seafood rissoles, and meatballs with olives and cheese drizzled with watermelon sauce–perfectly reflects the stunning water-front setting in a prime location of the Sani Marina. Tomata’s casual elegance is rounded out by an extensive wine list drawn up from Greece’s best vintages to complement the food.
ples, including a number of local dishes like the garlicky veal sofrito and pastitsada (a variation of the classic pastitsio) but often features more unusual pairings like salmon with fennel that betray the chef’s French training and the island’s Italian influences.
O Trypas Kinopiastes, Corfu, tel.: 26610 56333. Open for dinner daily. (Traditional Greek) Trypas features in all the guidebooks but is equally popular with locals for its lively atmosphere and simple, yet solid food and good house wine. Start with meze then work your way to main courses like beef stewed in a Dutch oven or sofrito.
Ionian islands Etrusco
Taverna tou Skloubou
Kato Korakiana, Corfu, tel.: 26610 93342. (Modern Mediterranean) Frequently included among Greece’s top restaurants, Etrusco is the creation of its chef and owner Ettore Bottrini. Like all good chefs, he is constantly experimenting with new flavors and pairings of ingredients, with one constant: using the finest, freshest ingredients available. His culinary philosophy emphasizes contrasting textures and flavors as in dishes like Gnocchi Sperici, where the crisp crust gives way to a creamy filling. Some dishes are as good to look at as they are to eat as Bottrini believes food should also be a feast for the eyes. Sample homemade sausages and other cold cuts or revel in the sheer simplicity of salmon with the tanginess of lemons and limes. Round off dinner with a cooling ice, like green tea and vodka as you bask in the graceful surroundings of a bougainvillea-framed courtyard.
Ayios Sostis, Laganas, tel.: 26950 53336. Open for daily for dinner. (Traditional Greek) Taverna tou Skloubou stands out in a heavily tourist-oriented seaside resort like Laganas. This family-run taverna keeps it simple and keeps it Greek, serving basic fare like moussaka and yemista (tomatoes and peppers stuffed with rice) along with chops, grilled chicken breast, and other barbecue standards.
Plateia Dimarheiou, Corfu Town, tel.: 26610 39031. Open for lunch and dinner. (Traditional Greek) Set at the edge of a paved square by Town Hall, To Dimarheio is a picture-postcard version of the classic Greek taverna with its wooden tables and tree-shaded seating area. The menu is built around Greek sta-
Avli Xanthoudidou 22, Old Town, Rethymno, tel.: 28310 58250. Open daily for dinner. (Contemporary Greek)
Tassia Fiscardo, Kefalonia, tel.: 26740 41205. (Traditional Greek) Tasia Dendrinou’s culinary skills have been distilled in a number of popular cookbooks that highlight local cuisine. One of the oldest restaurants in Fiscardo, Tassia’s occupies a charming house on the waterfront with tables set by the sea. The house specials are seafood or fish dishes, simply prepared to bring out their full flavor.
To Dimarheio
port, rabbit, and snails are offered for the main course. The dinner is crowned by a dessert of fresh fruit, honey, cheese, nuts, or home-made moustalevria (must jelly), according to the season. As for the perfect accompaniment to such a lavish feast? The organic farm’s own wines. Red, white, and rosé are available under the label of Charisma, which is Greek for gift.
Crete Agreco Adele, Rethymno, tel.: 28310 72129. Open Monday-Friday from 6:30 p.m. only. (Traditional). Sprawled over a 40-hectare estate, Agreco is a working organic farm owned and created by the Grecotel chain to replicate traditional Cretan farming methods. Its centerpiece is the Taverna, where diners enjoy a set-menu dinner and a view over rolling hills to the coast. The dishes are not only healthy, but delicately prepared. The six-course meal starts with a basket with four different types of home-baked bread. Next come an array of appetizers, salads, and stuffed or steamed vegetables. Chicken,
Housed in a reconverted fifteenth-century Venetian mansion, Avli draws its name from the interior courtyard which serves as the dining area on warm nights. The menu features creative Cretan cuisine–that is, traditional Cretan ingredients cooked with a slight tweak, like the cured pork (apaki) paired with mushrooms and the goat flavored with honey and thyme. The setting is as luxurious as the flavors, with long banquets lndoors and wine racks built into the exposed stone walls.
Calypso Elounda Peninsula All Suites Hotel, Elounda, tel.: 28410 68250. (French) Chef Charles Metayer, in collaboration with consultant chef Jacques Le Divellec, who boasts two Michelin stars, have combined forces to create a gastronomic experience that matches the exquisiteness of its surroundings. With fresh fish and seafood as its centerpiece, the menu emphasizes the use of fresh local ingredients, accented by “imports” like fine olives from Kalamata and saffron from the northern Greek town of Krokos, near Kozani. You’ll never look at the horiatiki salad in the same way once you’ve sampled Calypso’s version with cucumber jelly, feta mousse, a meringue of sun-dried tomatoes, powdered olives, and oregano biscuit–and all served in a martini glass. Shrimp giouvarlakia (dumplings), foie gras mousse with bisque sauce, and European sea bass cooked in a sea-salt crust show the chef’s skills to advantage. For another take on fish, imagine grouper drizzled with saffron foam and served with three types of calamari ravioli. July/August 2009 I ODYSSEY 67
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Galazio Minoa Palace Resort & Spa, Platanias, Hania, tel.: 28210 36500 (Contemporary Greek)
The utmost dinner option is the a-la-carte sea-side restaurant “Galazio” offering unique designed dishes of the outstanding & famous Mediterranean & Cretan cuisine designed by the awarded Chef d’ hotel. The relaxed summer scene is completed by the exquisite panoramic view of the endless blue Aegean beyond and the impeccable service under the sound of the waves! The perfect choice for absolute relaxation in an idyllic environment along with an ultimate gastronomic experience! Its 5 restaurants & 4 bars satisfy even the most demanding gourmet tastes with breakfast & dinner buffets of splendid variety and a-la-carte menus of Italian & Greek cuisine.
Leventis Ano Stalos, Hania, tel.: 28210 68155. (Traditional Greek) If in doubt what to order, then pop into the kitchen to see what’s simmering on the stove. And if you have trouble narrowing down your choices, then order several dishes and share in true Greek style for it’s the only way to sample this awardwinning taverna’s offersings–from octopus with wild greens, cured pork (syglino), home-made sausages, portion-sized pies stuffed with Cretan greens.
Kounies Sofokli Venizelou 19, Irakleio, tel.: 2810 301448. Open daily for lunch and dinner. (Traditional Greek) The spacious high-ceilinged dining room decorated with muted colors imparts a timeless quality to this restaurant with the playful name that harks back to childhoods spent on swings (kounies). The extensive wine list was designed to complement the menu, which features traditional Cretan dishes from dakos to snails and sauteed wild greens. A number of dishes feature organic produce. Fish dishes are quite popular but because of the seasonality check the day’s specials. 68 July/August 2009 I ODYSSEY
Cyclades
tea sauce and pineapple gelatin. In short, Greek cuisine as you’d never imagine.
Giofyri
Mamacas
Koronos, Naxos, tel.: 22850 51219. (Traditional Greek) Naxos is known for its cheeses, dairy products, and beef–and these products feature prominently in local cuisine. It’s also known for its tavernas, especially in inland villages like Koronos which are less touristed than the town’s harbor. Giofyri is one of those establishments that caters mainly to savvy locals so the selection of dishes is careful but varied, with at least eight or nine offered fresh daily. Take a break from barbecue and taste stewed pork with leeks, lamb stewed in tomato sauce, or stuffed calamari all cooked in the traditional Naxos way.
Ayia Anna, Mykonos Town, tel.: 22890 26120. Open nightly from 7:30 p.m. (Contemporary Greek) Housed in a beautifully restored mid-nineteenth-century mansion framed by stately palms, Mamacas has adapted the concept of contemporary Greek cuisine pioneered by its sister restaurant in Athens to the island. Local products such lountza (smoked pork) and sharp, slightly sour soft white kopanisti cheese feature in several dishes, while local wines and fresh-caught fish are also an integral part of the menu. Start with mackerel fillets flavored with dill or peppers stuffed with anthotiro, then follow either with the catch-of-the-day grilled to order or beef filets roast tomato, onions, and parsley. For dessert, choices include a Cointreau ice cream soufflé or an equally unusual local pie made with melons.
Interni Matoyianna, Mykonos Town, tel.: 22890 26390. (Contemporary Greek) Designer Paola Navone has created a Cycladic microcosm of dazzling white and brilliant blue in the open-air courtyard that houses Interni, the trend-setting Mykonos bare-restaurant with sister establishments in Athens and Thessaloniki. The elegant simplicity of the Cycladic setting conjures a post-modern minimalism reflected in the menu created by chef Andrea Boulgari–a fusion of international flavors and classic Greek cuisine. Fine dining is not Interni’s only attraction. The corps of resident DJs and perfectly mixed cocktails have made the bar one of the hottest spots on this celebrity-packed island. Head here for cocktails or an after-dinner drink and you might just catch a glimpse of the likes of film director Oliver Stone, actress Sarah Jessica Parker, or Brazilian striker Ronaldo.
Koukoumavlos Fira, Santorini, tel.: 22860 22510 (Contemporary Greek) Every summer, chef Nikos Pouliasis migrates from his Kitrino Podilato restaurant in the Athens district of Gazi to a beautifully renovated mansion in Santorini where he tantalizes diners with his gastronomic variations on traditional Greek recipes. High ceilings and arched windows add a sense of ceremony to dishes like grilled tuna with Martini sauce, cauliflower panacotta, and tender beef cheeks served with mango sauce and gingerspiked tzatziki. Even ordinary dishes like bifteki get a lift when served with hibiscus
Mitsos Alithini, Syros, tel.: 22810 88253. (Traditional Greek) Set on a plateau high above the Ermoupolis harbor, Mitsos is the perfect place to sit and contemplate the sea and the town of Ano Syra. The food is just added inspiration. Sample traditional dishes like stewed rooster or rabbit stifado as you relax with a carafe of house wine.
Restaurant 1800 Oia, Santorini, tel.: 22860 71485. (Contemporary Greek) Housed in a nineteenth-century sea captain’s mansion, Restaurant 1800 fuses the old-fashioned grandeur of this backdrop with a thoroughly contemporary Greek cuisine, with definite Mediterranean influences. Start with a mousse of fresh local cheese, smoked salmon, and horseradish or share a plate of tabouleh with carpaccio of fresh tuna marinated in rosemary and mustard. Fish roe served on blinis with an avocado, lime, and walnut mousse is an updated version of the classic taramosalata. Main courses include salmon cooked in a crust of aromatic wild herbs and served with a lime, endive, and honey sauce. There’s also champagne risotto with fennel, spinach, scallops, and white truffle oil and lamb in a seaweed crust served with tarragon-mustard sauce. Accompany your meal with one of the fines from the restaurant’s impressive selection and top off the evening with a sump-
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tuous dessert–cheesecake made with local white cheese, kataifi with halva ice cream, figs in Vinsanto, or mascarpone sorbet with a comfit of green olives.
looking the sea, with the Vaporia coast in full view. Emphasis is on seafood and fish, and the Greek custom is to enjoy various seafood dishes before sharing a large fish for the main course.
Saltsa
Tsahpinis
Fira, Santorini, tel.: 22860 28018. (Contemporary Greek)
Naoussa, Paros, tel.: 22840 51662 (Fish & Seafood) Known as the sailors’ mezodopoleio, Tsahpinis is located in an old fisherman’s cottage on the Naoussa harbor. Octopus and gouna strung on a line to dry in the sun welcome diners and make a perfect nibble for enjoying an ouzo while waiting for the main course. Choose from grilled fresh fish or a heaty plate of seafood with pasta.
Dodecanese Saltsa is the culmination of Dimitris Lazarou’s experiences as a chef at some of Greece’s best known restaurants and hotels. The result is a restaurant that perfectly complements the calder’a incredible views with a casually elegant décor and dishes that engage all the senses. Start with a local variation of the horiatiki made with cherrytomatoes and chloro (unripened) cheese or grilled sardines with tomato and garlic before moving on to main dishes like risotto with cuttlefish, fennel, and leeks or baby lamb with smoked cheese and pasta, fish in season like batter-fried cod with carmalized beets and garlic fava or veal stifado in a cream-colored onion sauce.
Selene Fira, Santorini, tel.: 22860 22249. (Contemporary Greek) Mesmerized by Santorini on his first visit some thirty years ago, Yorgos Hatziyiannakis returned to open a restaurant whose menu is organized around the island’s traditional cuisine–fava, a puree of yellow split peas which Selene serves with dried capers stewed in tomato sauce and bite-sized cheese-filled sweet pies called melitinia. His love of experimentation with local ingredients has resulted in inventive dishes like fava crepes, a pulse and pomegranate salad, and mackerel cooked in caper leaves. All this served on a terrace with the Santorini’s caldera spread at your feet and prices quite reasonable for this island.
Thalami Kalomenopoulou 1, Ermoupolis, Syros, tel.: 22810 85331. (Fish & Seafood) After strolling the magnificent mansions of Ermoupolis’s Vaporia district, head to Thalami for some fresh fish or meze. Lucky diners will claim a table on the stone-paved veranda over70 July/August 2009 I ODYSSEY
Alexis Socratous 17, Old Town, Rhodes, tel.: 22410 29347. (Traditional Greek) It’s the restaurant’s boast that it was once frequented by the late shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis and regulars say little has changed in quality since those days. The house specialty is fish and especially seafood, with a number of signature dishes like wild oysters, making their appearance on the menu.
Mavrikos Lindos, Rhodes, tel.: 22440 31232. (Modern Taverna) Casual elegance permeates this friendly taverna where chef Dimitris Mavrikos’s culinary prowess has created a menu that belies the tourist-trap location on Lindos’s main square. Sit back on the shaded terrace with an ouzo and savor the Dodecanese version of shrimp toast or grilled octopus or soft manouri with pine nuts and basil. To vegetarians’ delight, some of the more imaginative items are meat-free, like pureed chickpeas flavored with garlic, cumin, and orange or steamed eggplant in a citrus dressing.
Northern Aegean Hotzas Stratones, Chios, tel.: 22710 42787. Open daily for lunch and dinner except Sunday. (Traditional Greek) Since the late nineteenth century, Hotzas has been a popular watering hole for locals. The secret is the small on-site traditional still that produces the ouzo served along with the meze. Family-run for four generations, Hotzas doesn’t stray from the staples of the Greek menu, with a good grill and a
range of mayirefta (check the kitchen daily) the main attraction.
Hippy’s Potami Beach, Karlovassi, Samos tel.: 22730 33796 (Bar Restaurant) Since opening in the mid-Seventies, Hippy’s has emerged as the favored hangout on Potami beach. The menu revolves around basic taverna fare like fried meatballs, Greek salad, and fried eggs from the freshest local ingredients despite a recent transformation into a hipper, beach-bar style environment with ambient music, bamboo shades, and loungers.
Peloponnese Handres Partheniou 23, Patras, tel.: 2610 273184. Open daily for dinner. (Traditional Greek) The retro style–wooden chairs with curved backs, checkered tablecloths, exposed wood beams and long windows with lace curtains–perfectly complements the meny, creating the perfect setting for this old-style mezedopoleio. Alongside nibbles like chicken salad, the menu includes heartier dishes like pasta, bifteki filled with cheese, and breaded chicken or pork fillets served with mushrooms, pepper, and cheese. If you like to people-watch, stake a table in the open loft, sit back and enjoy the glenti as live music on selected nights almost always inspires patrons to get up and dance.
Lela Kardamyli, Mani, tel.: 27210 73541. (Traditional Greek) Located in a traditional stone house by the sea, Lela is a favorite haunt of writer Patrick Leigh Fermor. And with reason for the only word to describe this taverna is charming. Claim a table among the flowers on the terrace and enjoy Lela’s home-cooking, from stewed pork flavored with lemon and rosemary to beef stifado. Even humble dishes like tourlou, a Greek version of ratatouille, are special thanks to the careful selection of ingredients and loving preparation.
Takis Limeni, Laconia, tel.: 27330 51327. (Seafood & Fish) The psarotaverna par excellence has earned a reputation that stretches far beyond the Peloponnese for its fish. The secret is local olive oil, used both for light frying and for drizzling over grilled fish cooked in rock salt. A signature dish: pan-seared calamari and whitebait. The seaside location and view are mere bonus.
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night life 2009
Athens by night Long gone are the days when a tour of ‘Athens by Night’ meant being whisked off to a Greek taverna, usually in Plaka, where after serving the waiters danced syrtaki or troupes of dancers in folk costume guided diners through the steps of various regional dances. Today, the Greek capital’s nightlife is a varied, vibrant scene–and no one should leave Athens without at least dipping a toe in its glimmering pool. From dark watering holes to glamorous beachside nightclubs and cool outdoor gardens, Athenians spend their summer evenings in the city hopping from one to the other, standing glass (and, more often than not, cigarette) in hand, as they trade gossip or gyrating to the beat. Maria Kostaki goes on a trek in search of the hottest nightspots and shares the secrets of a city that simply refuses to sleep.
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Balthazar Tsoha 27 & Bournazou, Ampelokipi, tel.: 210 644 1215
A favorite summer spot of celebrities, wanna-be’s, nobodies, and everybodies, Balthazar has been a bustling hotspot for over a decade. It’s housed in an old neoclassical mansion with an immense garden that serves as the summertime restaurant and bar. Definitely make a reservation for dinner, come early to secure a seat at the bar, or come late and rub shoulders with the happening crowd.
Mommy Delfon 4, Kolonaki, tel.: 210 361 9682
Some like to describe it as bohemian, others dismiss it as artsy-fartsy, but whatever it may be, there’s no place like Mommy. Located on a car-free Kolonaki pedestrian street, this caférestaurant-bar is open all day long. It also functions as an art gallery; works
Mavili Square When in Athens, do as the Athenians do. This city square, near the American Embassy, is a densely packed treasure chest of bars where you can carouse from late afternoon to early morning. On Fridays and Saturdays, the crowds spill out of the bars and into the square, with patrons from different establishments often mingling. Start at tiny, trendy Briki, then next door to Flower, later over to the oldest watering hole in Athens, Lara, and as the sun begins to rise mosey on over to MG which stays open until early morning hours. Oh, and be sure to grab a “dirty sandwich” at the end of the night at the local canteen. 72 July/August 2009 I ODYSSEY
of photographers and artists constantly changing and refreshing its décor. Great for cocktails, food, and music. If you’re camera-shy watch out for Katerina, the owner: she absolutely loves to snap photos of her customers and post them to Mommy’s Facebook profile.
Vitrine (Exo) Markou Mousourou 1 & Ardittou, Mets, tel.: 210 924 2444
Want to sit on a veranda, sip a on a chilled cocktail, and listen to music while the summer breeze blows through your hair? Oh, and wait, do you also maybe want to gaze at the lit Parthenon straight ahead of you? Turn your head to the right and see Lycabettus Hill? If you answered ‘yes’ to any or all the above, head for Vitrine.
Circus Navarinou 11, Exarheia, tel.: 210 361 5255
Fabulous cocktails, reasonable prices, a great menu of things to munch on, friendly staff, and a lively crowd make this all-day bar a hidden hotspot right in the city center. Located on the border between Kolonaki and Exarheia, popular with a hip after-work crowd, Circus has an endless fan club of people of all types and ages.
Dirty Ginger Triptolemou 46 & Persefonis, Gazi, tel.: 210 342 3809
One of the more original and peculiar bar-restaurants in the hip Gazi area, Dirty Ginger lies around a huge palm tree in the middle of its garden. Actually, the place is a garden, hence open only during the summer months. The
food is of a high-end traditional taverna style, the music is of the best in town, and the drinks are the cherry on the cake.
Mamacas Persefonis 41, Gazi, tel.: 210 346 4984
White rules the chic decor and modern beats vibrate off the walls of this popular nightspot. Start off by having a late dinner at Mamacas restaurant and once the clock strikes midnight, move next door and let the rhythm vibrate through your body.
Room Eirinikos Leoforos Karamanlis 4 (2nd Beach, EOT Voula), tel.: 210 895 2403
A night out at one of the capital’s beachside clubs is an absolute must. Room is one of the trendiest spots this year. Its impressive white interior is brushed with hues of pink light. Come early and have dinner before the party starts, or call and make a reservation for a VIP table for drinks. Make sure to ask what’s on because visiting DJs, parties, and theme nights are aplenty.
Akrotiri Boutique Vassileos Georgiou B 5, Ayios Cosmas Beach, tel.: 210 985 9147
This summer club is so popular that on a Saturday night traffic backs up for miles on the main road leading to its entrance. One of the largest beachside clubs, Akrotiri has been making nightlife history for years. Book a table close to the beach, watch the glimmerati parade, and dance like there’s no tomorrow.
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Summer vines
One of the pleasures of the Greek summer are evenings spent at a seaside table slowly sipping a glass of wine and nibbling on meze. Summer is also the season that vineyards are full, as the harvest begins in mid- to late August, with a number of villages in wine-producing regions organizing festivals around the trygos-the harvest, which traditionally is done by hand, each bunch carefully cut with a small knife and placed in a large basket or crate for transfer to the wine press. Immerse yourself in the spirit of the season, sampling a glass of Greek wine and a slice of Greek life. Moschofilero, the taste of summer t’s that time of year when we begin to thirst for crisp, luscious, and refreshing white wines to suit the summer season. Several grape varieties such as new world Sauvignon Blanc (from New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and South America), Gruner Veltnier from Austria, and Albarino from Spain have made a splash in consumer’s interest. But one grape variety that has many people talking is Moschofilero, a grape that hails from the northeastern corner of the Peloponnese. Though very aromatic, the Moschofilero grape produces a very light, subtly fruity white wine. Unlike other regions of Greece, the region of Mantinia has the ideal conditions to mature healthy Moschofilero grapescold winters and mild summers. The grapes behave and react better to these conditions. If the weather gets too hot for too long, the grapes will lose their character. Once the conditions are spot on for the growing season, the aromas of Moschofilero will literally blow you away. The abundance of floral notes and citrus nuances will fill your glass as you sip away. The lightness in structure and body make Moschofilero a great wine for sipping, even as a pre-dinner cocktail, and an excellent accompaniment for a meal. Don’t be deceived by its lightness, its profound structure has a great backbone from its solid acidity that makes it a perfect pairing
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for many seafood and grilled dishes. Moschofilero has become a crowd pleaser amongst new comers to enthusiasts. Moschofilero’s production is mainly fermented in stainless steel tanks with skin contact for about ten hours on average under cold temperatures. This process allows the flavors of the grape to stay within the fermented juice along with achieving that refreshing crispness. I have to say that there isn’t another Greek grape variety that comes close to the characteristics of Moschofilero. It’s a unique wine that is easily liked by many immediately for its inviting aromas and flavors. Certain selections of Moschofilero have made their way onto fine wine lists from New York to San Francisco impressing avid wine drinkers. You will also start seeing displays of Moschofilero in fine wine shops across state lines. Thanks to aggressive planning and collaborations amongst importers such as Stellar Imports, Wonderful Ethnic Imports, Athenee Importers, and The Terlato group, you will have greats options to choose from when it comes to Moschofilero. Some fine selections of Moschofilero are currently available for under eighteen dollars retail in the U.S. They include 2008 Nasiakos Moschofilero, 2008 Domaine Tselepos Mantinia, 2007 Boutari Moschofilero, and 2008 Antonopoulos Moschofilero. Fotios Stamos
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wine 2009
Half full t seems that wine lists at restaurants and wine bars are beginning to offer many great options by glass. Wine directors and sommeliers are adventurous enough to offer indigenous and rare varieties from around the world. This is great for the average diner and oenophile who are looking forward to a great glass of wine. But have you ever been disappointed by the way a particular glass of wine tasted? Did it seem off from the first glass that was poured to you or was that bottle opened from a couple of nights ago? If you are particular by the glass of wine you chose, you may have these thoughts run through your mind. One great solution if available: order a half bottle. A category that has been overlooked on many wine lists for many years deserve to be considered for many reasons and benefits. A half bottle is a great selection to chose when you feel you’ll have at least two glasses of wine. The wine will be from a fresh bottle and you won’t have to worry how long the bottle was open before it was served to you. Half bottles are also priced better than glass pours, so this could save you some money. More and more wineries are offering half bottles for restaurants wine lists since the demand has increased in the past five years. Well-trained wait staff and sommeliers have directed diners towards the half bottle craze. Another great opportunity for half bottles is when a group of diners at a table are indecisive or are having different dishes. This situation makes it equally difficult for the server to recommend a bottle that would satisfy the whole group. The half bottle solution makes it a great choice to satisfy diners with different taste buds and food choices. The next time you dine, look out for half bottles and consider the option based on the great incentives that were mentioned.
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Going organic n 1982, the Tzivani family made a prescient move: they preserved traditional wine-growing methods and were among the early adopters of organic cultivation for many of the finest grape varietals. Wine aficionados, with a penchant for exquisite wines, they planted their private estate with 280 acres of organic vineyards, where they’ve since grown a number of Greek and imported varieties, including Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Athiri, Malagouzia, Merlot, Syrah, Barbera, SangΚοvese, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Agiorgitiko. The entire wine-making process takes place on their private winery at Ritsona, a small village near Avlida on Evia. Grapes go from vine straight to the winery, which is equipped with state-of-the-art presses and other equipment, and from there into storage in oak barrels in the underground cellar
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where it matures and ages to perfection. The winery, which is noted for its traditional architecture, has a section for tasting where visitors can experience the taste and flavor of Tzivani wines. Before or after, tour the wine and folk art museum on the estate, which also has adequate space for hosting meetings, receptions, or other events. For anyone interested in wine and winemaking, the small museum is especially interesting as its collection contains rare objects, traditional tools, and equipment all used for producing wine, olive oil, and folk art over the last century. The estate is also available for agrotourism visits throughout the year which can be combined with a tour of Avlida, an especially pretty area with stunning beaches, a nearby monastery, and archaeological site as its harbor was the launching point for the Greek fleet in the Trojan campaign.
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A vacation is a time to relax and rejuvenate–especially when combined with a visit to a spa. The concept may seem modern, yet the thermae is quite ancient, rooted in fact in the worship rituals practiced at the sanctuary of the healing-god Asklepios on the island of Kos. The ancient Greeks were the first to use the healing powers of water and especially the sea, the source of life, which, as Euripides tells us, they believed “restores man’s health”. So what better place for a spa holiday than Greece, where thalassotherapy originated and where one’s choices run the gamut from luxurious spa resorts to simple thermal springs.
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The healing power of water
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T
he image of Aphrodite rising from the sea is a recurring theme in sculpture and paintings since antiquity. It’s not coincidence that the goddess of beauty was born from the sea as water isn’t just vital for life, it’s also essential for beauty. Indeed, the human body is about two-thirds water, which is why we need to keep our bodies hydrated inside and out. Indeed, water is nature’s miracle beauty and health aid. The ancient Greeks certainly knew this and Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, even recommended water as a cure. Hydrotherapy, the general term for any treatment that uses water to heal or soothe, has proved especially effective for treating muscular and skeletal ailments like arthritis. Types of therapies vary–some use cold water, some use warm or hot water, some alternate between cold and warm water, some involving simply soaking while others use pressure to direct water to a specific part of the body–but the basic element is water. Apart from the rare landscapes and special
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natural beauty, nature also endowed Greece with springs with important therapeutic properties. Spas are part of the country’s national wealth, and have been since antiquity. Indeed, while visiting archaeological sites, especially temples dedicated to the healing god Asklepios–such as those at Epidaurus and Kos–are often located near the sea or mineral springs that were likely used for healing. Later, the Romans found the Greeks’ concept of bathing as a treatment so appealing that they developed grand public baths, or thermae, throughout their empire. These baths were extravagant complexes, not unlike the modern spa-resorts. Natural mineral resources are found throughout Greece; the water of these springs differs from common water, either due to the high temperature or to the presence of rare drastic components. The water of these springs is marked as mineral water because of the temperature or the general chemical composition. Apart from cold mineral springs, there are also hot springs and these are the ones used in therapeutic treatment: spa hydrotherapy (thermalism).
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The geographic allocation of the springs is not accidental as it is connected either with tectonic events, as is the case for example for the springs of Kaifa, Kyllini, and Langada, or with volcanic activities, as in the case of the springs of Methana, Milos, Lesvos, Samothrace, and Limnos. Hydrotherapy is particularly important for the treatment of multiple affections such as arthritis and rheumatic diseases, and falls into two basic categories: internal and external therapy. Internal therapy includes drinking therapy (drinking of natural mineral waters), inhalation therapy (inhalation of fumes or droplets of mineral water) and lavages (oral, nasal, gynecological). External therapy includes baths, jet showers (the body is hit by thermal mineral water under high or low pressure for a specific period of time), hydromassage (the pressure of the water massages the body), hydrokinesotherapy (combination of balneotherapy and kinesotherapy for the period of time the body is inside the water) and fangotherapy (application of mud, which has “ripened”, on those
parts of the body that suffer from various disorders). Thanks to its natural wealth, Greece has begun to develop spa tourism. Two thalassotherapy centers already operate on Crete under the special operation sign of the Greek National Tourism Organization and two more are under construction. This category of tourist infrastructure also includes sixteen hydro-treatment centers, at which 1,400,000 therapeutic treatments (baths and other treatments) are offered to approximately 100,000 individuals. There are also hydro-treatment centers at forty springs of local importance. The ancient Greeks were also the first to use the sea’s healing properties. Centuries later, a French biologist gave this practice a name–thalassotherapy, from the Greek words for sea and healing–and offered modern scientific proof of thalassotherapy’s effectiveness by showing the similarity in the composition of sea water and body fluids like sweat and tears. Further experiments showed that when swimming or wading, the minerals, oxygen, July/August 2009 I ODYSSEY 81
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and other elements in seawater don’t just help heal surface wounds but are absorbed through the pores, helping replenish depleted trace elements like iodine, calcium, and magnesium.
Therapeutic tourism Therapeutic tourism aims at the cure of various illnesses and the invigoration of the human body through the use of curing waters. Therapeutic tourism forms part of health tourism and is an excellent way of combining a vacation with additional benefits for health and well-being. Natural springs are the thermal, hypothermal and cool waters containing active ingredients indicated for the cure of various illnesses. Thermalism is a group of organized activities complementing each other, with thermal water being the most predominant element, designed to prevent, preserve, and restore human physical and spiritual euphoria and health. Greece has innumerable natural thermal springs, most of them known since antiquity. Many of them flourished dur-
ing the Roman period when they turned into cosmopolitan centers, attracting many people for spa-therapy and entertainment. Bathing in thermal springs at Asklipeia was very popular as far back as the thirteenth century. Examples of centers include Edipsos, where the hot spring of Sylla has been gushing out warm therapeutic water from three thousand meters for centuries, and Loutraki in Pella where the water has exactly the same temperature as the human body.
Edipsos Edipsos is known throughout Greece for its more than eighty medicinal springs whose temperature ranges between 28oC and 86oC. In addition to private hydrotherapy centers operated by hotels, the main hydrotherapy center is licensed by the Greek National Tourism Organization and includes a range of facilities for modern bath treatments. It’s one of the largest in Greece, offering specialized treatments, an open-air pool, and fully equipped physiotheraJuly/August 2009 I ODYSSEY 83
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py center. The centerpiece of the Loutra Edipsou is the Thermae Sylla, which was recently rebuilt from scratch. The ‘thermae’ takes its name from the Roman general who arrived in Edipsos seeking a treatment for his legs, the evidence is found in Plutarch as follows: “Syllas, while being in Athens, was hit by a pain that caused sluggishness and encumbrance to his legs, referred to it by Strabo as suppressed grout. He, therefore, went all the way to Edipsos and underwent spa-therapy, while, at the same time, having a rest and spending time with the people versed in the Dionysiac rites…” While there’s little evidence about who founded the town of Edipsos and when precisely it was founded, its thermal springs have been known since at least the fourth century B.C. Edipsos’s medicinal waters are recommended for ailments linked to arthritis, rheumatism, lumbago, sciatica, certain gynecological problems, and migraines. Treatments range from baths and mud84 July/August 2009 I ODYSSEY
bath therapy, applied either locally or as a fullbody treatment, as well as drink therapy.
Loutraki Loutraki, about an hour’s drive from Athens, is known as the ‘City of Waters’. Its mineral springs are famous for their exceptional water, which is bottled and sold as one of Greece’s best-known brands. Loutraki natural mineral table water has a light, pleasantly tasting; it is extremely rich in magnesium and slightly alkali. The spring temperature is 19.5oCelsius. It is very easily absorbed and its extremely high concentration in magnesium makes it unique. But this seaside resort town, for decades a favorite escape of Athenians, is also famous for its therapeutic baths which have been developed into a hydrotherapy center and spa. Billed as a true oasis of luxury and rejuvenation, the waters of the Loutraki geothermal springs are derived from many faults of the coastal area in a 750 -m-wide zone. The natu-
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ral spring hot waters, at the bottom of Mount Geraneia, are discharged from a great mineral depth since Antiquity. During its journey towards the surface, the pure spring water is being filtered through porous layers and it is so greatly enriched in precious trace elements, salts and minerals, that its healing properties make it a very strong health ally. The hydrotherapy centers is open yearround and offers a range of treatments, including thermal hydro massage with mineral water which rejuvenates the muscles by reducing tension, naturally plumps up the skin without feelings of stress while organism is nourished with most precious trace elements of thermal mineral water, with beneficial and soothing results. Demand is such that a municipal wellness thermal spa is also being built. Once completed, in 2009, it will feature an outdoor thermal pool and indoor heated thermal pools with water jets, steam rooms, sauna, and twenty private rooms for special treatments as well as other facilities.
The Greek National Tourism Organization Thermal Spring also operates as a positherapy center. A circular building of unique beauty built in the inter-war period, it also features exquisite mosaics installed in the mid-1930s.
Ypati Located in the mountains over Lamia, about twenty kilometers west of the city. The village has been developed as a result of the therapeutic properties of its thermal springs which are located on a plain off the Sperhios River. The water in the crater boils very vividly due to the bubbles of the carbon dioxide and hydrosulphur. This water has a slightly salty taste and smells like a bad egg, but is believed to help heal or soothe skin diseases, eczemas, herpes, diseases of the respiratory and digestive systems, heart complaints and hypertension.
Kyllini The Kyllini baths, or Loutra Kyllinis, are also known throughout Greece. Located three kiloJuly/August 2009 I ODYSSEY 85
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meters from Kyllini Castle (Kastro Kyllinis), the springs are located near a long, sand beach. Kyllini’s springs have been famous since antiquity. The vapors and mud from the natural springs are believed to be especially beneficial for relieving arthritis pains, asthma, and skin problems.
Serres Hydrotherapy centers operate or are being developed at two sites near Serres: Sidirokastro, about seven kilometers from the town, and Nigrita, just five kilometers outside of the town of Nigrita. The Sidirokastro springs are being developed by the local municipality and feature a new hydrotherapy center, indoor pool, individual hydromassage units, and a physiotherapy center. The spring’s waters are believed to help relieve ailments related to arthritis, rheumatism, kidney ailments, and muscular pains. The Nigrita Thermal Springs are known throughout Greece for their mineral water, which is bottled locally and sold nationally,
and the springs themselves are believed to ease gastrointestinal ailments.
Ikaria The natural spa at Agios Kyrikos on the island of Ikaria also has ancient roots. Therma, the second city of ancient Ikaria was built in the southern coast of the island, at the foot of the mountain Pramnos, which, with its steep peaks, isolates the south from the north. Because the island’s terrain is especially rugged, the earliest ancient inhabitants are believed to have based their economy on the thermal springs. Indeed, records show that the city of Therma contributed 3,000 drachmae a year to the Atheninan Alliance. The springs became famous not just for their baths but also for their drinking water. Even today, visitors travel to the village of Ksylosyrtis, a few kilometers west of Therma, to partake of the “immortal water” from a local spring. Though few ruins of the baths have survived, some sections of the Hellenistic and Roman buildings can be seen about 500 meters from the settlement. July/August 2009 I ODYSSEY 87
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Hydrotherapy
Hydrotherapy, also known as hydropathy, covers a range of treatments that use water and pressure to treat specific problem areas or the entire body. Treatments are taken in special tubs fitted with miniature water jets that release fine streams of bubbling water into the tub. By varying the water’s pressure, hydrotherapy can have quite different effects. Hydrotherapy is particularly effective in treating headaches: the feel of bubbling water on the scalp and along the nape of the neck relaxes the muscles and helps release tension. 88 July/August 2009 I ODYSSEY
Shower Jets
Shower jets are wonderfully relaxing and can help relieve minor aches while dissolving muscular tension. Standing under a water umbrella is an excellent way to perk up a tired body and fatigued mind in seconds.
Affusion
Affusion, from the Latin affundere, means to pour liquid over someone and has the calming effect of laying down in a light, soft rain shower. Hundreds of thread-like streams of water rain down on the body from a special overhead rail fitted with a series of sprinklers. Affusion therapy can also have a strongly tonic effect, depending on the water’s temperature and pressure. Affusion is most effective when the streamed water completely cloaks the entire body without leaving any skin exposed.
Bubble seat
Bubble seats are one of the gentlest forms of water massage and especially popular for toning and firming skin. Their gentle massaging action is also recommended for combating cellulite.
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Nozzles
Like most water therapies, nozzle treatment uses pressure to target specific problems or problem areas. The width of the nozzle mouth and the amount of pressure used vary according to the desired result and the problem being treated. Water springs are particularly effective in targeting specific areas rather than treating the whole body because nozzles can precisely direct water to specific spots. Common treatment areas include the waist, abdomen, and thighs.
Hammam
The steam bath, or hammam, is rooted in the Roman tradition of the thermae. Steam baths have several beneficial properties. Sweating is one of the most effective methods of detoxification, with benefits for the circulatory and respiratory systems. Detoxification can help improve skin texture and tone, while heat can also aid weight loss by stimulating the metabolism. A session in the steam room is followed by a plunge in a cool pool to close the pores.
Sauna
The sauna, Finnish for “bath,� dates back to at least the sixteenth century and are so widespread in Finland and other Nordic countries that in private households they are almost as common as cars. Saunas are divided by tiered benches and have much higher temperatures than the steam bath. The two are similar, the basic difference being that the steam bath uses moist heat and the sauna uses dry heat. A typical sauna treatment lasts two or three hours and usually consists of several sessions in the heat, alternating with cooling dips in the plunge pool. July/August 2009 I ODYSSEY 89
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Natural Spa Centers National Mineral Springs & Spas
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Edipsos Prefecture: Evia Ownership: Greek National Tourism Organization Management: Hellenic Tourist Properties S.A. Facilities: Spa Tel: 22260 23501,22260 23502; Fax: 22260 23500,22260 223041 Prefecture: Evia Ownership: Private Management: Thermae Sylla Spa Facilities: Spa - Hotel Tel: 22260 22459,22260 60100 , 210 2110601, 210 2110602; Fax: 22260 22055, 210 2110603 Vouliagmeni Prefecture: Attiki Ownership: ODDEP Management: Private Facilities: Spa Tel: 210 8962237, 210 8962239; Fax: 210 8962531 Eleftheres Prefecture: Kavala Ownership: Greek National Tourism Organization Management: Prefecture Facilities: Spa- Hotel Tel: 25940 51240, 25940 51486-7; Fax: 25940 51296 Thermopyles Prefecture: Fthiotida Ownership: Greek National Tourism Organization Management: Hellenic Tourist Properties S.A. Facilities: Spa- Hotel Tel: 22310 93301, 22310 93303, 22310 93304; Fax: 22310 93111 Ikaria Prefecture: Ikaria Ownership: Municipality of Ag. Kirykos Management: Municipality Facilities: Spa Tel: 22750 22202 Kaiafas Prefecture: Ilia Ownership: Greek National Tourism Organization Management: Hellenic Tourist Properties S.A. Facilities: Spa- Hotel Tel: 26250 31710, 26250 31705, 26250 31709; Fax: 26250 31709 Kamena Vourla Prefecture: Fthiotida Ownership: Greek National Tourism Organization Management: AXA-ASTIR Facilities: Spa- Hotel Tel: 22350 22245, 22350 22247, 22350 80501-6; Fax: 22350 22307 Kythnos Prefecture: Cyclades Ownership: Greek National
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Tourism Organization Management: Hellenic Tourist Properties S.A. Facilities: Spa- Hotel Tel: 22810 31217, 22810 31001, 22810 31484; Fax: 22810 31000 Kyllini Prefecture: Ilia Ownership: Greek National Tourism Organization Management: Private Facilities: Spa- Hotel Tel: 26230 96275, 26230 96270, 26230 96267; Fax: 26230 96474 Lagadas Prefecture: Thessaloniki Ownership: Greek National Tourism Organization Management: Municipality Facilities: Spa- Hotel Tel: 23940 22221, 23940 22488, 23940 22165; Fax: 23940 23090 Loutraki Prefecture: Korinthos Ownership: Greek National Tourism Organization Management: Hellenic Tourist Properties S.A. Facilities: Spa (only drinking mineral water treatments are available) Tel: 27440 22205 Prefecture: Korinthos Ownership: Municipality of Loutraki Management: DETALP Facilities: Spa Tel: 27440 22215, 27440 22124; Fax: 27440 21124 Methana Prefecture: Attiki Ownership: Greek National Tourism Organization Management: Hellenic Tourist Properties S.A. Facilities: Spa Tel: 22980 92243, 22980 92079; Fax: 22980 92957 Prefecture: Attiki Ownership: Private Management: Private Facilities: Spa- Hotel Tel: 22980 92378 Nigrita Prefecture: Serres Ownership: Greek National Tourism Organization Management: Hellenic Tourist Properties S.A. Facilities: Spa- Hotel Tel: 23220 22893, 23220 22892; Fax: 23220 22047 Platystomo Prefecture: Fthiotida Ownership: Greek National Tourism Organization Management: Hellenic Tourist Properties S.A. Facilities: Spa- Hotel
Tel: 22360 22519, 22360 22510; Fax: 22360 22513 Smokovo Prefecture: Karditsa Ownership: Greek National Tourism Organization Management: Communal Enterprise Facilities: Spa- Hotel Tel: 24430 61210; Fax: 24430 31178 Ypati Prefecture: Fthiotida Ownership: Greek National Tourism Organization Management: Hellenic Tourist Properties S.A. Facilities: Spa- Hotel Tel: 22310 59526, 22310 59528; Fax: 22310 59555
Echinos Community of Thermae, Xanthi, tel.: 5440 22180 Spa (small) Efthalou Community of Mithymna, Lesvos, tel.: 22530 72449 Spa - Hotel Genissea Community of Nea Kessani, Xanthi, tel.: 25410 96260 Spa Gialtra Community of Gialtra, Evia ,tel.: 22260 32164 Spa - Hotel
Local Mineral Springs & Spas
Hanopoulos Arta, tel.: 26810 85197 Spa - Hotel
Adamas Community of Adamas, Milos, tel.: 22870 22130, 23375 Spa
Helova-Banioti Municipality of Angelokastro, Messolonghi, tel.: 26410 93218 Spa
Perasmata Community of Leptopoda, Volissos, Hios , tel.: 22740 21979, 22740 21208 Spa
Irea Municipality of Irea, Arkadia, tel.: 27950 31117,27950 31114, 27970 25000 Spa
Agios Fokas Municipality of Kos, tel.: 22420 28223 Spa Under Construction (at the stage of planning)
Kavassila Community of Konitsa, Ioannina, tel.: 26350 22047 Spa
Agios Ioannis Community of Lisvori, Mytilini, tel.: 22520 71159 Spa - Hotel Agios Nikolaos Community of Ag. Paraskevi, Halkidiki, tel.: 23740 61439 Spa Agios Varvaros Community of Tryphos, Etoloakarnania, tel.: 26460 61202 Spa - Hotel Amarandos Community of Amarandos, Ioannina, tel.: 26550 22257 Spa - Hotel Ammoudara Community of Ammoudara, Kastoria, tel.: 24670 44294 Spa Arachovitika Community of Arachovitika, Patras, tel.: 2610 931258, 2610 931853,2610 931958 Spa Dranitsa Community of Ktimeni, Makryrachi, Karditsa, tel.: 22320 61487 Spa
Kokkino Stefani Community of Myrtia, Agrinio, tel.: 26440 51316 Spa Kolpos Geras Municipality of Mytilini, Lesvos, tel.: 22510 41503 Spa – Hotel Kremasta Community of Alevrada, Agrinio, tel.: 26410 81810 Spa - Hotel Krinides Municipality of Krinides, Kavala, tel.: 2510 516162 Clay treatment Unit – Hotel Loutraki (Pella) Community of Loutraki, Aridea, Pella, tel.:23840 91300 Spa - Hotel Mandraki Municipality of Nissyros, tel.:22420 31204, 31284, 31203 Spa - Hotel Mourstianos Community of Lysimachia, Messolonghi, tel.:26310 22124 Spa Nea Apollonia Community of Nea Apollonia,
Thessaloniki, tel.: 23930 41510 Spa - Hotel Paleovracha Community of Paleovracha, Spercheiada, tel.: 22360 44444 Spa - Hotel Pikrolimni Kilkis, tel.: 23410 29971-2 Clay treatment Unit Spa - Hotel Polychnitos Municipality of Polychnitos, Lesvos, tel. 22520 41201 Spa - Hotel Preveza Municipality of Preveza, tel.: 26820 28120 Spa Psarotherma Municipality of Samothraki, tel.: 25510 98229 Spa - Hotel Sedes Thermi, Thessalonikis, Venizelou 45, tel.: 2310 555053 Spa Selianitika Community of Selianitika, Eghio, tel.: 26910 72205 Spa Siderokastro Siderokastro, Serres, tel.:23230 22434 Spa - Hotel Souvala Community of Vathi, Egina, tel.: 22790 52794 Spa Stachti-Poriari Municipality of Pyllini, Nafpaktos, tel.: 26340 62473 Spa - Hotel Thermi-Kalymnos Municipality of Kalymnos, tel.: 22430 28670 Spa Thermi-Lesvos Municipality of Thermi, Lesvos, tel.: 22510 71242 Spa – Hotel TrainoupolosTRAIANOUPOLIS Municipality of Alexandroupolis, tel.: 25510 61225 Spa - Hotel Xylokera Pyrgos, tel.: 26210 51064 Spa
Data Source: Greek National Tourist Organization