The Onasis Cultural Centre

The Onasis Cultural Centre on Syngrou Avenue opened a year ago so it was a first for us

We went there to see the Robert Mapplethorpe exhibition

I always wondered what the inside of the building would feel like given all those slats but the effect is quite nice and soothing, cocoon-like

The grand staircase

and a closer look

The building is five storey high. We were looking forward to having lunch at the rooftop restaurant with views of the Acropolis and Lykavetus but apparently it is not open yet

Is this really gold leaf,  I wonder - can it possibly be used on such a grand scale?

the bar

and another look at the impressive ceiling.

Eleni Vernadaki

A look at Heleni Vernadaki's ceramics shop on Valaoritou Street, one of my favourite places to go and browse and shop

a place full of delights

this is huge - it must be 2 foot high

the shelves are bursting with pots

plates, bowls, vases, spheres

and almost everything is on such a large scale

I find it hard to comprehend how a 79 year old woman can produce and handle such large ceramics

the two people who work with her in her studio have been with her for 50 years, so no spring chickens there

her favourite colours are black and white

in all kinds of variations

but red is used sometimes

as is blue.

Large black and white candlesticks

a teapot

bowls

She has been making these small spinning tops for years - they were my first Vernadaki purchase when I first discovered her shop

More black and white with a dash of red

Now we move downstairs where she keeps the really large pieces

Does Ken want to buy this, I wonder

The lady who was in the shop with us was going to buy two of these

and here's one on a plinth

and spheres

there are always spheres

of various sizes and colour.

Something completely new this time - huge, dramatic necklaces

this is just one necklace

the lady in the shop modelled one for us, but what she is wearing is not right for the necklace, so it is not shown to best effect

and here is another one.

Lastly one of the brooches from oxidised silver, also made by Vernadaki,  that are always to be found in the shop.

Nerantzies

It is that time of year when the nerantzies, the bitter orange trees lining the streets of Athens

are bursting with fruit.

Bitter orange is the only translation I could find on Google for nerantzia. You cannot eat those oranges but their skin is used to make sweet, sticky, 'spoon' (as they are called here) sweets which are delicious

This, and the next two photographs are taken in Syntagma, in front of the Parliament building

This is in Kolonaki at the top of Pindarou Street

a very beautiful part of Athens.

These are also in Kolonaki, behind Euaggelismos hospital.

 

Flowers

A lot of posts on flowers this month, but it is cold, everyone is wearing dark clothes and with the excepition of abundant blue from the sky and sea, everything is quite drab so some colour is required to cheer me up

 

only a few days have gone by since our last visit to Antonello and the shop is yet again, totally transformed

the colour that is required is to be found here

in abundance.