Bebi's

Lunch at Bebi's where they serve the most delicious food.

We arrived at 1:00, far too early for Greek people who would not consider eating lunch before 3:00 at the earliest, so we had the place to ourselves.

Behind the motorbike is the desk where they do the accounts.

Three days after her resignation as the UK's shortest-serving Prime Minister, and after having trashed the country's economy, Liz Truss came here to eat. She came with her family and they were accompanied by three body guards who sat at a separate table, three men outside guarding the door and two drivers. 

Whispers in my hands

Whispers in my Hands, by Dimitra Skandali, at the Athens Gallery.

Whispers in my Hands is an ode to nature. Skandali uses dried flowers, herbs, prickly pear leaves, seaweed, pebbles, marbles, shards of rock, wood. All these are interweaved with seaweed sourced from the Greek sea - the weaving methods she employs do not only reference traditional craft practices, but they also allude to ideas involving symbiosis and global continuity. 

looking closer

looking closer

looking closer.

 

Winter swimmers

It snowed here three days ago. There is still snow on the mountains. The temperature yesterday was 1oC

and yet there were people swimming in our small bay.

A dusting of snow

It snowed for about three hours yesterday morning - very unusual for this part of Athens and a sharp contrast to the 20oC we enjoyed last week. 

By 11:00 the sky was blue, the sun was shining and all the snow was gone. More snow is predicted for tomorrow and Thursday. It is bitterly cold.

 

Demons and Dew

Demons and Dew by Pier Paolo Calzolari, at the Berniers/Elliades Gallery, Athens.

Calzolari is one of the pioneering figures of the Arte Povera movement. His text 'La Casa Ideale' is considered one of the landmarks of the movement. His practice spans painting, sculpture, sound, performance, architecture and video.

In this exhibition the artist presents 20 new works in which he incorporates sculptural elements made of organic matter such as salt, feathers, clover petals and shells.

Untitled, 2021, (pigmented salt, broom/fan, oil pastel, iron, shell, oil candle and lead on panel)

Untitled, 2021, (salt, oil pastels, pastel a l'ecu, wood, varnish, steel and lead on panel)

Untitled, 2021, (pigmented salt, oil pastel, pastel a l'ecu, golden thread, lead, copper, oyster and oil candle on panel)

Untitled, 2021, (salt, pastel a l'ecu, broom/fan, tobacco and flannel on paper)

Untitled, 2021, (pigmented salt, oil pastel, copper, shell, oil candle and lead on pencil)

Winter at the Niarchos Centre.

Last Sunday we had a wonderful morning walking around the park of the Niarchos Centre. We started with the ice rink that they have set up - quite a lot people skating, most of them beginners, but what fun!

We walked along the canal

and ended up at the plaza where they were setting up for the David Bowie memorial concert which was on that evening.

We then walked along the other side of the canal and entered the park. It was a lovely, sunny day and it was packed.

We got to the music making area where there are xylophones and all kinds of other ways of making music - here, kids are jumping on the tiles, resulting in all kinds of sounds.

This is part of the Sound and Light feature - in the evenings peope can play the piano and the cubes light up in different colours

Chess playing

One of the fountains

The maze

We started doing it, but I quickly got bored

Ken however persevered and got to the centre.

A large activities area further on.

We noticed that some of the lavender has started flowering: far too early, but given that they have not had winter weather here yet, it is not surprising.

The majority of the planting in this park is olive trees and lavender bushes, like this avenue here. Even now, the scent of lavender  is overpowering as you walk around the park. I can't imagine what it will be like in the spring, when all the lavender has flowered.

We started walking uphill and reached the building which houses the opera, the public library, an art gallery, a shop, a cafe/restaurant and a Michelin 2-star restaurant.

We could see the sea from here, and Pireus in the distance.

Behind us, the Acropolis and Lycabettus Hill, once I zoomed in.

And the park stretching below.

 

We stopped to have a drink in one of the outdoor cafes. On our way out, we heard music: a DJ and people dancing.

I just had to join in and after that, it was time to go home.