Leonard Cohen's house in Hydra

The street is so narrow I could only photograph parts of the house. It's a three storey,  whitewashed, with grey door and windows

and with a huge terrace at the back,  bougainvillea spreading over the top of it.

Cohen bought the house in 1960, six days after his 26th birthday, for $1500, using a bequest from his recently deceased grandmother. Cohen later said that it was the smartest decision he ever made. The house was run down and had no electricity, plumbing or running water.

Cohen described his home to his mother:

'It has a huge terrace with a view of dramatic mountain and shining white houses. The rooms are large and cool with deep windows set in thick walls. I suppose it's about 200 years old and many generations of sea-men must have lived here. I will do a little work on it every year and in a few years it will be a mansion... I live on a hill and life has been going on here exactly the same for hundreds of years. All through the day you hear the calls of the street vendors and they are really rather musical... I get up around 7 generally and work till about noon. Early morning is coolest and therefore best, but I love the heat anyhow, especially when the Aegean Sea is 10 minutes from my door'.

He knew he had been accepted by the community when he began receiving regular visits from the garbage man and his donkey. (Today garbage is collected by a truck, the only motorised vehicle on the island). 'It's like receiving the Legion of Honour'. Cohen found peace here, and confidence. 'The years are flying past and we all waste so much time wondering if we dare to do this or that. The thing is to leap, to try, to take a chance'.

Bird on the Wire, began in Greece. When Cohen first arrived in Hydra, there were no wires on the island, no telephones and no regular electricity. But soon, telephone poles appeared, and then the wires. Then he noticed that the birds came on the wires.

And it was here, that he met Marianne, who he spent the next 10 years with.

Finally, the house is situated, where else? in Leonard Cohen Street.

Takis at the Athens Art Fair, 2019

Takis at Art Athina, 2019.

Panagiotis Vassilakis,  whose professional name is Takis, known for his kinetic sculptures, investigated the gap between art and science. Since the early 1950s he has explored new aesthetic territories, creating three-dimensional works of art that incorporate invisible energies as a fourth. He synthesised a broad range of ideas and experiences - from intensive scientific research to ancient philosophies and Zen Buddhism to encounters with other artists and writers - to forge a unique, category-defying vision that continued to evolve throughout his career. Time, space, energy and even political activism are primary materials for Takis.

The exhibition booth was too small for the number of exhibits - three booths would have done justice to the work - and it was consequently very difficult to look at everything, let alone photograph it.

Tableau Lumineux, 2005, (wood, electronic elements, lights)

Candlesticks, 1985, (bronze)

Aeolian Signal Feu d'Artifice, 1957, (iron and aluminium)

Magnetic Sphere, 1990, (bronze and iron)

 Flower, 1985, (bronze and iron)

Telelumiere - Relique, 1976, (wood, glass, metal, electric installation and objects trouves)

Magnetic Column, 2004, (magnet, steel, black colour)

Erotic Sculpture, 1979-1985, (yellow panel, bronze, wood, magnets, objects trouves)

looking closer

Triple Signal, 1978, (iron, bronze and objets trouves)

Erotic Panel, 1979, (polyester, wood, magnets)

Telelumiere Relique, 1976

Magnetic Sphere, 1988, (bronze and iron)

Musical, 1967, (wood and magnets)

Magnetic Evidence, 1983, (bronze patina and magnet) 

Super Nova No. 45, 2005, (magnetic and indian ink, watercolour, magnetic pins on canvas)

Black Hole, no. 34, 2005, (magnetic and indian ink, watercolour, magnetic pins on canvas)

Athens Art Fair, 2019

Art Athina, 2019, in Zappeion.

The area around Zappeion was a devastation zone as they were dismantling the Athens Book Fair which had been going on for the whole weekend.

We decided to go to the Art Fair on the Monday as we thought it would be less busy. We arrived at 12:00 just as they were opening

but the queues at the entrance alerted us to the fact that it would be packed out - and it was.

Zappeion is situated in the National Garden of Athens, and it's an imposing building. Designed by Danish architect Theophil Hansen, it was the first building to be erected specifically for the revival of the Olympic Games in the modern world, and was used during the 1896 Summer Olympics as the main fencing hall

So many exhibits... and I have posted only a few.

Yannis Adamakos, Untitled, (oil on canvas)

Yannis Adamakos, Untitled, (oil on canvas)

Yannis Adamakos, Untitled, (oil on canvas)

You can see more of Adamakos' work here

Iosifina Kosma (ceramic)

Iosifina  Kosma (ceramic)

Iosifina Kosma

Gevso Papadaki, The Empty Chair/The Emptiness I Knew

Ioannis Koliopoulos and Paola Palavidi, Oh! My Goodness, (jacquard fabric)

At this point, and in order to access the other exhibition spaces we moved on to the fabulous courtyard

the ceiling

Artemis Potamianou, Manet's Luncheon on the Grass, from the 'On the Origins of Art' series

You can see more of Potamianou's work here

I then popped out to another courtyard

dominated by this palm tree, and then back in to look at more art

Haris Kontosfyris, Island Landscape

Haris Kontosfyris

Costas Tsoclis

looking closer

Aristeides Patsoglou, L'Ecriture (bronze)

Aristeides Patsoglou, Ode to Spring, (bronze)

Aristeides Patsoglou, Daphne, (bronze)

Aristeides Patsoglou, Mother, (bronze)

Trina Langskenkamp, Sunday Morning I

Trina Langskenkamp, Sunday Morning II

Eleutheria Christaki, Home Sweet Home, (oil on canvas)

looking closer

Achileas Pistonis, Good Byes, (oil on canvas)

Giannis Euthymioou, The Destruction of Constantinople, (oil on canvas)

Eleni Kyrkili, Untitled, (mixed media)

Demetris Andreadakis, August, (oil on canvas)

Pasquale Guastamacchia

Pasquale Guastamacchia

Pasquale Guastamacchia

Philipos Photiades, That One, Over There, from the series The Stories of Those Across the Road

looking closer

George Hadoulis, Kiss and Tell, (glazed ceramic)

Giorgos Hadoulis, Calypso Dream, (glazed ceramic)

Vassilis Perros, Interior 2, (oil and engraving on wood)

Vassilis Perros, Interior 5, (oil and engraving on wood and canvas)

Vassilis Perros, Interior 4, (oil and engraving on wood)

Vassilis Perros, Interior 1, (oil and engraving on wood and canvas)

Vassilis Perros, Interior 3, (oil and engraving on wood and canvas)

looking closer

Vassilis Perros, The Neon Era, (oil on canvas)

You can see more of Perros' work here

We left the building, work on dismantling the book fair was still going on, and we headed for home.