Greece

So, some of you know that recently I went to Greece....and that it was quite adventurous :)

So what follows is a longish post about my trip there with postcards, pictures and all :)


How come I ended up in Greece in the first place? Well, blame it on Sigur Rós....see, my initial plan was to go to the InMusic Festival like last year, esp. since I was kinda sure that Sigur Rós would also be part of it, since they were/are on tour, they are doing festivals only, and the dates really kinda fit...but as time went by I was becoming aware that there will be no sign pf Sigur Rós, ...there were some other good performers announced but not such favourites that would make a whole such trip worth while. So had to start thinking of plan B cos I was really determined that I just HAVE to go and see them live, not knowing ifI will have another chance in the future, and while looking at the tour dates, Athens seemed as the most feasible...so Athens it was. A friend of mine also decided to come, though frankly I was ready to go alone if necessary, I just wasn't willing to miss such an opportunity (and probably I should have gone alone, but oh well, one learns things from his own mistakes...but I won't get down to that since the other side has no chance of defending himself here :D)

And after everything (or at least we thought) was set, we started our journey with Thessaloniki being our first stop (there are no direct connections between Skopje and Athens) where we had to kill literally all day - we arrived there early in the morning and had a train to catch at 11pm (but that was the cheapest option since the other train rides cost like twice more....and we were of course on a budget).

Killing that time in Thessaloniki turned out to be pretty easy, since Dimitris was very kind and offered to come and meet all the way from Komotini (which is like 250 km away, just FYI).

It was great to meet him (you may know that in general I haven't always had the luck of meeting a postcrosser when travelling somewhere, so each time I can it is like pure joy :))

We spent the day chilling out at the sea with some coffee (well, the Greek frappe), strolling around, plus he helped me find the Post Office so that I could mail the cards we wrote (Greece is one of those countries like Macedonia with no functional mailboxes around the city, but you have to find a Post Office and mail them either from the counter or drop them in the mailbox in front of the PO).
Well, not many of you will get a card from Thessaloniki, sorry for that, but due to the time constraints I only chose a few people whom I realized were our common friends (thank you Facebook). But most of you who have received a card can thank Dimitris for the lovely stamps (eventually I had to stock up again in Athens :P)

This is the one I sent to myself, showing a night view of St. Demetrus church (which right now I cannot recall if we saw it or not). After Dimitris left, my friend and I took one of those Free Walking Tours, but I was kinda tired and with my heavy backpack on my bag and with the heat, I honestly didn't pay much attention to what the girl was saying. However, I always recommend a Free Walking Tour if you are going somewhere...well they are not really free, but these people work for tips, so it is in their favour to actually make the tour fun and interesting, so in general they try harder :)

Dimitris and I in Thessaloniki, by the sea :)

me just chilling out by the Aegan Sea (ok, just posing for the picture, but it was good to have the back-pack off my back for a while :))

me feeding some pigeons in the centre of Thessaloniki

something that was supposed to be coffee, but turned out much better (has ice-cream inside). I regret I didn't remember the name of the cafe, cos it was a really nice one, plus the waitress was really kind.

and now a few pictures from the trains and the train station :D

and all would have been well if our wagon wasn't doomed for this: 

a bunch of children climbing over seats, tables, crawling on the floor, under the seats...and a bunch of noisy grown ups - I don't know if they were refugees or something (they had like hundreds of bags with them) and I really feel with them, but when you lack the basic code of ethics it gets really annoying...in the end we really had to change the wagon cos the noise was getting unbearable and I really needed to get some sleep after being awake from like 5 am in the morning...and we weren't the only ones who in the end looked for a wagon that was calmer...everyone who was not part of this gang had left...and I just couldn't believe it that out of 8 wagons, I had to pick THIS one :)

yeah, we were talking about a card here as well, and here come the stamps...3 fantastic ones!  The first and the third one are Diving stamps from a set of 6 issued in 2015, while the middle one is from a set of 12 issued in 2014 under the name "Month of Folk Art"
Now you know that eternal nonsense between Macedonia and Greece, and I was wondering if my cards to Macedonia would suffer some damage when the postal clerk see the name Macedonia written on them (there is no such force which would make me to use FYROM) and funny enough, this card from Thessaloniki had the name of Macedonia crossed out, so that below it they would write Macedoine! I mean, is this a joke, or what??! :D What's the point here?!! I was expecting "Recognized by Greece as FYROM" or so, but why on Earth would someone just replace it with "Macedoine"?? That is like in French or?? Well I really had a good laugh over this one I must say :))))


Ok...so a few words now about our days in Athens, since that was our main destination (I didn't however sent myself a card showing Athens, but chose this Greetings from... one. Dimitris brought me a number of these so I thought it was cool to use it (those of you who had received a GF card, blame it on Dimitris :)) There were some nice cheap postcards on offer btw on the way to the Acropolis..

I've been to Athens before, though as with Thessaloniki, I couldn't remember a thing :)
If one thing can be said for sure about our few days there is that we got lost more than once, which personally didn't bother me, I mean what can I do...but my friend turned out pretty grumpy about it in the end (and just about everything in general, but oh well...lesson learned).

I'll start with the hostel - we stayed at the Zorbas Hostel and I would really recommend it to anyone staying in Athens, esp. if you are on a budget. It is nothing fancy, not much of a socializing atmosphere, but was perfect for what I needed and the stuff are super kind and friendly. We were in the 8-bed dorm and it was clean, spacious, with its own nice bathroom. And I was amazed at how considerate everyone else was in the room, when they arrived late at night or had to take off early in the morning.
We arrived like at 6 in the morning and even though we couldn't check-in, they let us have a shower - I felt reborn after it.
The hostel is like 2 minutes walk from the metro station from where you can get just anywhere in Athens, it is 15 minutes walk from the train station (which is perfect for when you arrive early in the morning, esp. if you don't know your way around Athens - this one is super easy to find).
And in the nearest vicinity there was one of the chain fast-food Restaurants called Everest, which was open 24/7 - really good coffee, tasty pies, and very reasonable prices.
When it comes to food in Athens, I would recommend:

- Koulouri - something like bagels - I tried them at this bakery called Το Κουλούρι του Ψυρρή - crunchy, tasty and ridiculously cheap (they also sold doughnuts). Again very simple ones, but tasty.
Located at Karaiskaki 23.

- Greek pies - at the Ariston Bakery - probably the best best best pies I have ever tried! Two euros a piece, but I cannot even describe how tasty they were - and so many different fillings to choose from! I had one with leek-feta cheese and one with red peppers...heavenly taste, heavenly!!
Located at oulis 10

- Falafel - again, probably the best falafel I have tried, though unlike with the pies, I haven't really tried falafel at many different places. This place was simply called Falafellas and besides the falafel they sell other things too, which I assume are as delicious as this one. What got my attention is that there was constantly a line of people waiting in front of it. There are no chairs or tables, but if you are lucky, you will find a spot on one of the nearby benches.
It is a pity I didn't think of taking pictures of the above mentioned food - here is one of the falafel (the big version) - not a decent picture, but just to give you an idea

you can find it at Aiolou 51.

And after so many salty things, time for something sweet...and I think it couldn't get sweeter than this. A place called Serbetospito - one thing's for sure, it's gonna drive you crazy coz you won't know what to choose...everything is so delightful..and in such huge portions - no diets will work here.
Here, you be the judge

you can find it at Pl. Iroon 1

In Athens I was delighted to have had the chance to meet with Despina and spend a cool evening with her under the Acropolis....drinking tsipouro :)

I like trying out new foods and drinks....and I have already tried things like Ouzo or Metaxa so I decided to choose the tsipouro from the menu (they had some Greek beers, but you know I am a party-breaker when it comes to beer).
Well, my relationship with the tsipouro won't be long-lasting..it is good, but just way too strong for my taste. I did finish the glass though but I did feel rather tipsy afterwards :)

And now the main reason I went there were Sigur Rós, whose performance was part of the Athens Release Festival. Prior to my trip to Athens, I have never heard any of the other bands performing, so of course, I gave them a try to see if I was gonna be bored or not...and to my utmost surprise, I loved them all! So I knew it was gonna be a great day/night...and it was...one of the best times of my life.

We arrived at the venue quite early...we actually wanted to visit the Pireaus before the event since it was one metro station away, but with our luck, on that day the metro didn't go all the way to Pireaus, but ended its journey at Faliro. So we ended up waiting there for a few hours but luckily that day it was cloudy and even windy, so we didn't boil under the sun. And of course I ended up in the first row! I didn't even have to fight for it :D

The festival opened with a band called Afformance - a fantastic Greek band! But they had the bad luck of playing first when there were still barely any people there. But they didnt show any disappointment or so - they were just happy to play...and I really hope that after the festival they have acquired more supporters - they really deserve it (I won't get into posting songs from each of the performers since I know this post has gotten way too long...but I do recommend you give them all a try on YouTube and maybe you will like something)

Next were Theodore and his band- if you want an emotional performance that will give you the goosebumps then you will like this. All his songs are kinda sad but not depressing. There was also a girl performing within the band and she was like a really nice touch to the overall performance.

Third on stage were DIIV - a very very cool US band, with amazing positivity on stage, esp by Andrew Bailey, the guitar player - he just wouldn't stop jumping and smiling!
At the end of the show, I took a picture, without being aware of the actual moment that a picture was being taken from the opposite side as well...btw, the guy in the blue t-shirt is the Andrew - see, still all smiling :)

...which ended up like this :D Yeah, that's me in the middle taking a picture with my phone :D The guy behind me is my friend, while the girl with the black glasses on my left is a very cool Slovenian girl I met at the festival! (who has seen Sigur Rós 8 times so far...I told her I hated her...not very polite, but just came out of me :)))

The 4th on stage were the Black Angels - another superb psychedelic rock band from the US. Their music is really powerful, their performance on stage as well, esp with all the visual effects accompanying the show. They were like the perfect intro for what was about to follow....

And finally,  there were Sigur Rós...no pictures, no words could describe their performance. Sigur Rós are simply out of this world and so unique and incomparable to anything else. I know their music is specific and not for everyone's ears but really people, what you will experience at a Sigur Rós performance, you will not experience it anywhere else. To make things even more perfect, it started raining - rain at concerts is usually not welcomed, but here, the rain was a perfect addition to the overall emotional overwhelming feeling. I was shocked, I was speechless, I was crying - I really wasn't prepared for what I had experienced - and this made the whole trip more than worthwhile and one of the best decisions in my life.

I don't have much experience in uploading my own videos here, so hopefully this will work...Sigur Rós performing Sæglópur live in the rain - that person shouting her lungs out is me (well, I am the one recording this so I am shouting into my own phone, what can I do :))
Before the festival I loved Sigur Rós - after it, I also fell in love with them.

(if the video doesn't work, I will eventually upload it to YouTube and take it from there).

Ok, so that was like the day before the last...and in the morning there was some strike on the subway until like 10 am...so the next day I jokingly asked the receptionist if there was some strike again...he checked things online and said like, subway is working, buses are working..so it is all fine - well the railway is not working but you don't need that anyway.....wait wait wait!!! WHAT????!!!!!  What do you mean I don't need that anyway??That's the thing we need the most cos we are leaving tonight!!!!! Ermm...he got confused and said that they were on strike until late in the evening so we should go and check directly...oh boy, doesn't sound good.

So we go to the railway station (thank God it is nearby the hostel) there are some notifications, all in Greek, but there are some kind people around to explain things....and things are as follows - there is a strike like every three hours...so for three hours there are trains running, then in the next three hours everything is on stand by...BUT the rule doesn't apply to ALL the trains from Athens to Thessaloniki - there will be NONE in the next three days! Perfect, just perfect! :D I just couldn't believe it honestly, despite the fact that I often hear that somebody in the Greek transport is on strike :)

So, what to do...well first, finish writing the postcards of course, hell with the strike and all :)

Then we had to decide if we were gonna stay for 3 more days or find a bus back to Thessaloniki. Personally I didn't feel like staying for 3 more days cos that would have turned out more expensive on the overall (the train company said we would have our money reimbursed, and we really did after a few days), so in the end, the 43 euros bus ticket to Thessaloniki was the cheaper option than staying for three more days (for comparison, the return train ticket was 30 euros...)

Again, all is well that ends well...we got back home safe and sound....and even though a number of things didn't go as planned, I had a fantastic time! Fantastic!

Here are two more pictures for the end of this post, with some cool street-art from Athens:

and of course, the stamp (if you have survived up to here :))

one more from the Diving series - and as you can see, no issues with Macedonia on this one...go figure :)

Again, I would like to wholeheartedly thank Dimitris and Despina for taking their time to spend time with me - I really really appreciate it, esp. since I always love to hang out with the locals. I hope to see you again in the future! :)

Mykonos, Greece

ok, just one more for today...

It took me a while to figure out this was Mykonos on the card...well, I think...based on images comparison and all...and if im right, then this is the part of Mykonos known as the Little Venice, which is one of the most romantic places on the entire island. This neighborhood is replete with elegant and gorgeous old houses that are situated precariously on the edge of the sea. (info from www.greeka.com)
I am not fond of Venice...so I don't know if I'm gonna like this place :)

The card is lovely though...and even though I have hundreds of cards from Greece, actually I don't have so many written and stamped ones. My neighbour often goes there and when he comes back he brings me cards as a thank you for looking after his cat while he is gone...but they are all blank of course...and he is definitely not the type who's gonna bother about stamps and sending and all :)))

I received this one as a RAS from dear Peggy back in 2012.

The stamp is from a set of 6 issued in 2012, under the name Touring Greece.

Huh, this update kinda exhausted me...I blame it on Victoria :)

Enjoy your weekend everyone!!

Greece

the following card arrived from Milda last year...you know I love flags, and slowly Im adding new ones to my collection

and you know, the Greek one is so marine..just like the country itself...this is exactly like those beautiful white island houses, with blue roofs and blue wooden window-shutters....now im pretty sure the Greeks didnt pick the colours of their flag based on that, but it does have some analogies...

well some basic facts about the Greek flag say that it was adopted on
22 December 1978, and that it consists of nine horizontal stripes, in turn blue and white; a white cross on a blue square field in canton.
The nine stripes are said to stand for the nine syllables of the Greek patriots' motto: Ελευθερια η Θανατος (Eleutheria ê Thanatos), meaning "Freedom or Death". This motto is now the national motto of Greece.

so much of the white-blue houses =)

Milda uses some awesome stamps on the card!
All three were issued in 2013. The middle one comes from a set of three stamps commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Liberation of Ioannina.
The stamp on the right is from a set of four stamps, representing the Award-winning Greek Cinema, while the ship stamp is from a set of 6 sailing stamps. Love them all!

Nekromanteion, Greece

time ago i came across a lovely person..Despina from Greece...ok, she came across me actually...and I couldnt have resisted her offer...and im glad to know that i was the guilty person to have introduced her to Postcrossing and to have given her back the addiction for a mailbox full with cards! It is such a noble feeling you know...coz at least I know how Postcrossing has changed my life ever since I discovered it...

and one of the results of meeting each other was this lovely card arriving in my mailbox...a great place with a cool and rather scary story...Nekromanteion means 'Oracle of Death' and according to the ancient Greeks this was the entrance of the souls to the underworld.  When Christianity came to the area, a church was built on top of it, and that's what you can actually see on the card.
The temple was dedicated to Hades and Persephone.
I wonder through what sort of gate my soul would go through one day...
And I must say i love to have a card from Greece which shows something different from the usual places ive seen so far.
Btw, just after I uploaded the card, i noticed that big Hellenic Post stamp on front of the card...I dont know what it is doing there...and more over, I wonder how i hadnt noticed it while looking at the card previously....anyways, it does blend with the card nicely, so i dont mind it :)

the stamp was issued in 2008, representing the logo of the Asteras Tripolis F.C. football club.

Efharisto para poli Despina!!

Kalavrita, Greece

Here is a great official card I received not so long ago....and what makes it even greater is that this is my first ever train card from Greece!

GR-18664

This is a scene from the Diakofto–Kalavryta Railway which runs 22 km from Diakofto through the Vouraikos Gorge and the old Mega Spilaion Monastery and up to Kalavrita, stopping en route at Zachlorou, built by Italian engineers between 1885 and 1895. Its length is 22 km and the journey is 68 min long.

Well, with this kind of scenery, id definitely love to take a ride on this one too...and compared to my desire to travel by the Trans-Siberian and the Rocky Mountaineer, this one seems to be the most viable.

two stamps were used on the card....the left one was issued in 2010 in a set of 5 stamps presenting the New Acropolis Museum, where this one shows the Parthenon Frieze (the low relief, pentelic marble sculpture created to adorn the upper part of the Parthenon's naos).
The other stamp was issued this year, in a set of 6 events stamps..though I cant tell to what event this one particularly refers to...

Symi Island, Greece

my dear Nastya got the chance to again visit Greece this summer...this time the Rhodos Island and as always sent me some lovely postcards, among which is this one from the Symi Island...and which I must admit looks magnificent!

Symi is mountainous Greek Island and includes the harbor town of Symi and its adjacent upper town Ano Symi.
In Greek mythology, Symi is reputed to be the birthplace of the Charites and to take its name from the nymph Syme (in antiquity the island was known as Aigli and Metapontis), though Pliny the Elder and some later writers claimed it came from the word scimmia meaning a monkey. In Homer's Iliad the island is mentioned as the domain of King Nireus, who fought in the Trojan War on the side of the Greeks. Thucydides writes that during the Peloponnesian War there was a Battle of Syme near the island in January, 411 BC, in which an unspecified number of Spartan ships defeated a squadron of Athenian vessels. Little is known of the island until the 14th century, but archaeological evidence indicates it was continuously inhabited, and ruins of citadels suggest it was an important location. It was first part of the Roman Empire and then the Byzantine Empire, until its conquest by the Knights of St. John in 1373.

This reminds me that I havent finished reading the Greek Mythology book I started a few months ago...

just today Nastya asked me about the stamps...and unfortunately, this one bears no cancellation either. The stamp was issued this year in an issue of 5 stamps regarding the New Acropolis Museum, and this stamp shows the Parthenon Frieze.

A thing I MUST mention and which makes me happy is that my cards came written with the name Republic Macedonia untouched, not a line scribbled over, not a word added...

Большое спасибо дорогая Настя! <3

Rethymno, Greece

A lovely card that came as a surprise from dear Earney!

It shows a lovely view of the old Venetian port in the city of Rethymno, which is situated on the island of Crete. And if you hadnt noticed, there is a lighthouse on it too, just a bit farther in the background, so it may take a while to spot it....at least I didnt see it at first :)
Ahh, holidays...sea...sun....on one hand posting cards like this makes me realize how much I yearn to be on the beach...on the other hand, I really dont feel like posting winter scenes or so, just for the sake of not to post holiday-related cards...Im gonna live, either way :)

And here is the eternal problem of mailing cards from Greece to me...the hatred of Postal Workers takes its toll and makes my cards look like this in the end, the name of Macedonia all doodled over, with a red pen...well, to whomever did this, it was a pretty lousy job to achieve what you wanted, since the name of Macedonia is still perfectly visible...the only thing you managed to do was destroy my card, for nothing.

"Σας ευχαριστώ"!!!!

As for the stamp, it is from a set of 10 stamps from 2008, showing Greek Islands, and this is the island of Kos.

Thank you very much Earney!

Mykonos, Greece

Another very nice and colourful official card I received last year.

GR-8961

Mykonos is a Greek island and one of the most popular tourist destinations, and such views as on the card are something very typical for these places. And honestly, i love it! It is just so inexplicably charming and I love the spirit of such *old town* parts. Though i could never figure out how people are able to live here with sooooo many tourists passing by every single second...where there is no *P* of privacy!
I cant see it well enough, but I think that on the left wall, whats hanging on there, are postcards :)

there are two stamps on the card. The one on the left is from 2008 from a set of 10 stamps representing the Greek Islands, and this one shows Chios. The other stamp is from 2009, issued to commemorate the 10 years since the Economic and Monetary Union of Europe.

Greece

A card which has to be commemorated since its my first official one from Greece.

GR-8348

For a long time I was wondering how it would be if I got a Greek address or if a Greek person got mine...I didnt mind at all sending one to Greece....I was more reluctant about the other person's reaction, since when it comes to political issue you just have to be prepared for everything...esp. if the reaction comes from one of the two involved parties.
And then this lovely card came from Dimitris...without any problem....with a nice message on the back. I must say I was delighted.
The funny thing is that after I received this one, in less than a month I got two more Greek official cards...all beautiful and all nice and kind.
I liked it that not once a political issue was mentioned and wasnt the basis of those people expressing some sort of antagonism or so.
I appreciate it from these people...and as you know, the last thing I want to discuss in depth here is Politics and Religion.
We can meet for that someplace else...

and here are a bunch of great stamps!

The top and bottom one on the left side are from 2009. The bottom one is from a set of 9 stamps and is dedicated to Greek actors. Here you can see Manos Katrakis. The stamp in the middle is from 2008 from an issue of 10 stamps representing Greek Islands....here you can see Chios.
As for the two stamps on top, I couldnt find any info....the official Greek Postal site, just works with some errors, unfortunately.

Chania, Greece

An amazing card that came as a real surpise from my dear Anastasia...and funny thing is, as I already told you, i started this update two days ago and had chosen the cards to post, and today, i received another card from Chania, and this time it was an official one! And my second Greek official card...but ill get to that issue when ill show you cards :)

This picture has probably been photoshopped...but its still an amazing one! I just really love the colours, i love the houses and how the sun reflects against them...i love the colours of the sky, the water, the mountains....
Anastasia says that Chania is the most beautiful town in Crete...have never been there, but i wont object at all..compared to Athens or even worse, Thessaloniki, this town seems to be lovely! And no offence, but i dont like concrete jungles like Thessaloniki is..or Skopje...so no political feelings involved here...just to avoid misunderstandings...
Chania is a mix of Venetian, Turkish and Greek culture On the card you can see the Venetian harbour and the old town.
Reminds me actually of some old quarters of towns in Brazil or Chile...

Anasty! You know im more than thankful for all the amazing Greek cards you had sent me! You are just great! :)

Corfu, Greece

Something from my nearest neighbourhood.

I got this card from a friend who went there this summer...actually, when he said he was going to Corfu, i of course asked him to send me a postcard...and as with the majority of my friends here, he said he was gonna bring me one and give it to me...i didnt complain of course, coz its the thought that counts after all...but then he saw this blog...and he was fascinated...and he said he was gonna definitely send me a card since now he knew why i so much love postcards and why i would love them sent, instead of being given to me :D
And in case he ever reads this, i just wanna say a huuuuuuuugeeee Thank You again!
Coz you know....i have a whole bunch of Greek cards, but 98%  of them are blank (either i have bought them or my mum bought them, or are from my late grandmother...). So written and stamped Greek cards are a rarity in my collection, so thats why this card is something i really treasure!
And another thing very worth mentioning...you know this issue we are having with Greece and their FYROM persistence and all..when addressing the card, my friend wrote R. Macedonia instead of FYROM...and to my awe, the card arrived without ANY single reactions by the Greeks....in general, they would cross out Macedonia and write FYROM...it has happened to me before...and ones some of the nationalistic postal workers even added on a postcard "Macedonia is Greek"....so when it comes to them, i would expect just anything...but this time i got a card, sent from Greece, which said Macedonia....its really really unbelievable!
It would be really nice if they actually stopped all the fuss they are making in general and just back off and mind their own business....
Oh yeah...and those dolphins are just too cute :P
Im still curious though to get an official card from Greece :)

The stamp comes from a set of 6 issued in May this year under the subject of Greek monuments of World cultural Heritage .

Thessaloniki, Greece

Finally a Thessaloniki card which shows something else but that famous Thessaloniki tower...i have nothing against it...im just tired of seeing it on every possible and impossible postcard.
This is the St. Demetrius church...a view by night...which is obvious...

Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki was a Christian martyr who is said to have lived in Thessaloniki in the early 4th century. During the Middle Ages, he came to be revered as one of the most important Orthodox military saints often paired with Saint George. His feast day is October 26 for Christians following the Gregorian calendar and November 8, for Christians following the Julian calendar...
The Serbian Orthodox church reveres St. Demetrius as Mitar, having a feast of Mitrovdan on 8 November....well, here we also have Mitrovden...and is celebrated mainly as a nameday or saints day, which is some sort of a family celebration...so people whose name is Dimitar, Mitar, Mitra or anything related to Mitar, do have their celebrations on this day....
My grandparents commemorate December 19, St. Nicholas Day, coz my great-grand father was called Nikola...well, i just want to make it more clear, what kind of celebrations are these...
There is a funny story related to this and two other Thessaloniki cards, but i guess ill share it when i show the other ones, and instead talk of the tower, ill go with the story...unless i forget...which wouldnt surprise me...i have become very forgetful in the past years....

Holy Meteora, Greece

I was convinced that i had bought this card myself, but just as I started making this post i figured that my mum and dad had brought it to me when they went to Greece ones...well, i was at the Meteora so hence the confusion...

I visited Meteora only once...the time i went in Athens for New Years...I just cant recall if it was 1998 or 1999...i have it written somewhere...maybe even at an earlier post here...but right now my memory is not really on my side :)
I must say that this is one of the places in Greece which are a *must*! We visited the place in January, and i recall the weather was somewhat gloomy, and it had rained before that as well...but in general it wasnt really cold....i would manage with a denim jacket during the day...which for January isnt something you can afford in Macedonia for example :)
Anyway, i recall that the road up to the monasteries apart from being very steep, is also narrow, and waaaay tooo curvy...so it was rather scary while the bus was going up, coz all the time i had this feeling it was gonna lean on one side and fall into the abyss...and i could see the abyss from the window....it was right under me...i could see no road, no asphalt....just a deep deep abyys....on a road like that, it definitely didnt feel pleasant....but as you can see, im typing this, which means, ive lived :)
I cant recall exactly which monastery or monasteries we visited...but i know they had this rule, that you HAD to wear a skirt in order to come in...thats somewhat funny coz it goes opposite to all those 'skirts' forbidden rules which im used to in churches...thing here was, i was wearing jeans, and being not a skirt-fan, i had none in my bag of course...but the people there at the monasteries had a bunch for cases like this...so i had to put a long bluish canvass skirt over my jeans...i looked ridiculous....i have a picture of it, but i dont think i will post THAT here...i have this absolutely silly expression on my face so i rather keep it private :)
As i was walking along one of the monasteries, being all curious as i can sometimes get, i was trying to lurk into the rooms which were along, and i peeked into this one, from where i actually have the photograph below...i dont know what the room actually contained, and im pretty sure it wasnt allowed to take pictures...all the rooms were locked, so what i did was, i put the lens of the camera at the something which looked like a window and pressed the button...and took the picture...i think that the room contained skulls of some monks who had lived there....hmmm well...thats a big number of monks...why would someone keep the skulls i really dont know...feels creepy...though it feels creepy that someone like me took a picture of it...but i just couldnt have resisted....i knew that if i dont do it, i would regret it eventually...so here it is...

i just hope you WILL come by this blog again...i just had to share this with you when i was already posting a Meteora postcard...im not THAT insane...just a bit...in order to manage to get by in this crazy little world :)
Im pretty sure other people have taken pictures of this too...no? :)

Paralia, Greece

A card given to me (it says on the back "Im sorry i didnt send it as you wanted me to, but i feel more secure this way") by my dear friend Biljana back in 1999....well, i know by default, you expect me to speak something about a card or so...but the reason why im putting this card is coz today my dear Biljana gave birth to a baby daughter!!

I could've maybe put some card with a baby or so...but i just really wanted to commemorate it this way, but putting something personal I have from her...this is actually the first time that a friend ive known for so long and so well, has a baby...there are many friends or acquantances out there who have got married had babies or even managed to get divorced...but there is just a small circle of people i have which I consider real friends and who are dear to me in a special kind of way...and Biljana is among them...ive known her since kidnergarten, which i actually find it amazing!!
You know, i actually have the desire to spoil this child in a nice manner :)))  I dont know any details about the little lady yet, but i think that once i get to see this new being full of life, ill post again a card from Biljana and accompany it with a further story regarding all this.
As for now, i can just say that regardless this whole day was a real mess and makes me dread about tomorrow due to some personal issues, and leaves me a lot of suspision and tension....this news just goes beyond it all and makes me feel just so...hmm, i dont know....happy and excited and looking forward to spoil the kid...well, they dont really live far away, so i think ill have the chance for that ;-)
Be Blessed you little girl!!!

Thessaloniki, Greece

I bought this one myself during one of my visits there...

I love the 'sunset-tone' of the card...what i dont get it about the Thessaloniki cards is why 99% of them NEED to have a picture of the tower?

Athens, Greece (02)

I got this card when i went to Athens for New Year's Eve.....I think it was '98/'99.....a small voice inside me says that it might as well have been '97/'98...but the greater percentage goes to the former..


The card here shows the Parthenon in Athens...and ive actually been at this place...yup...i have walked here and had a close encounter with it :D
The Parthenon is a temple of the Greek goddess Athena, built in the 5h century BC on the Athenian Acropolis. It s the most important surviving building of Classical Greece, generally considered to be the culmination of the development of the Doric order. Its decorative sculptures are considered one of the high points of Greek Art.
The Parthenon is regarded as an enduring symbol of ancient Greece and of Athenian democracy and is one of the world's greatest cultural monuments.

Zakynthos, Greece

Again, one of the older cards......now, dont mind those white 'clouds' on the card....i once had a water-accident and some of my cards suffered, both temporarily and permanently....this one had the luck to be among the temporary ones.....though i cant say the same about the text on the back....but i too much love the view on it to just throw it away coz its somewhat damaged...

Sent to me by a friend, some 6 years ago.....looks heavenly.....makes you wonder how could such beautiful places exist in this corrupted, totaly gone nuts world....

Thessaloniki, Greece

Skiathos, Greece

Corfu, Greece