Greece

     Hello again, viewers.

     Today, I explored Greece.  And since it was during the day this time, my mum got to join me for parts of it, which was nice.  The more so because Greece is where she wants most to go.

     For some of the time, I was also joined by Misa and Bootsie, who dressed for the occasion.

     I started off my morning by making myself a strong cappuccino-esque espresso drink.  It wasn't traditional 'Greek' coffee, which is very strong and thick, but I've read that various coffee drinks, including cappuccinos are popular there.

     While I drank my coffee, I went online and researched Greek history and culture, Alexander the Great, Homer, Classical Greece, and art in Ancient Greece.

     Reading about these topics reminded me of an anime-style drawing I did a few years ago, inspired by the Greek myth of Pygmalion and Galatia.  The picture doesn't show very clearly, I'm afraid.

     After that, I had a small dish of yiaourti (Greek yogurt with honey and walnuts).

 

     Then I watched Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001), which is set in the Ionian island Cephallonia during WW2.  It's the story of Antonio Corelli, a music loving Italian soldier who's better with a mandolin than a gun.  He falls for a beautiful Greek woman named Pelagia, but she considers him an enemy, and distrusts him and his cheerful, opera-singing ways.  Eventually she gets over her distrust and returns his love, but the war and it's tragic events threaten to tear them apart.  Parts of this film are quite intense, but the music and the cinematography is lovely.

 

 

     As I watched it, I had some pita chips with hummus, and melitzanosalata, which is an eggplant (or aubergine)-based dip)

 

 

 

     After our Sunday Bible meeting, my mum and I went to Starbucks, where I got a chocolate

frappé, which I've read is a popular beverage in Greece, though I understand they're made a bit differently here.  In any case, it was delicious.

 

 

     Then my mum and I made dinner.  While she made falafel (fried balls or patties made from chick peas, bread crumbs and spices), I made a Greek salad consisting of cucumber, tomatoes, kalamata olives, feta (a brined sheep cheese), pine nuts, bulgur (wheat), lemon juice and plain Greek yogurt.  After mixing all of this, I put it together with the falafel in a pita, to make a gyro with a couple of dolmadakias (from Turkish dolmas), which are grape leaves stuffed with rice.

 

     After I ate my dinner, I watched several clips from various Greek films, and films set in Greece.  Then my mum and I watched a drama about the biblical characters Timothy and Paul.  The drama is set in various parts of Greece as well as Rome, mainly in Lystra and Ephesus.

     While we watched it, we had a dish of red grapes.

     When the drama was over, I listened to Greek music.  In the 1957 film Boy on a Dolphin, Sophia Loren sings a beautiful song in Greek.  While the film is no longer posted on youtube.com, the song is, and I was glad to hear it again.

     Mum and I finished our Greek excursion on a sweet note, with some baklava (a sweet made from layers of filo dough with nuts and a sweet syrup).

    
     It was quite a different experience "traveling" during the day, but it was rather nice.

     Good night, viewers, or good day; whichever applies.