easter in athens
ATHENS
weekly
Weekly supplement by Insider Publications • www.insider-publications.com • No 6 • Friday, April 18, 2014 NO RESPECT An exhibition that sets out to document the Greek graffiti and street art scene as it manifests itself on the streets of Athens and other cities around the country. Until July at Onassis Cultural Centre, Syngrou Ave. 107-109. Tel. 210.900.5800, sgt.gr
If in Athens this Easter, visit the Cathedral of Saint Dionysius by the Acropolis, where the Archbishop of Greece performs the Lamentation service on Good Friday and the Resurrection mass on Holy Saturday. Enjoy traditional Easter dinners and meals from Good Friday, April 18, to Easter Monday, April 21, at several of the city’s hotels including the Roof terrace of the GB, the Byzantino at the Athens Hilton, CafeZoe at Athenaeum Intercontinental, the Grill Room at the Arion Resort & Spa, NJV Athens Plaza and Athens Ledra Hotel - proving that celebrating in Athens can be both festive and tasteful.
FISH LAMPS
FOLK & ROLL SHOW
Frank Ghery’s new animated and vibrant light sculptures. Known for his imaginative designs and inventive use of materials, Ghery is one of the most celebrated architects living today. Until April 25 at Gagosian Gallery, Merlin 3. Tel. 210.364.0215, gagosian.com
Remi and the rock&roll dance group The Dazzlers present a spectacular show of rock & roll, folk, country and bluegrass music covering artists like Johnny Cash, Elvis, The Doors, Jerry Lee Lewis and many more. Until April 28 at Faust Live, Kalamiotou 11. Tel. 210.323.4095, faust.gr
TV THIS WEEK
Holy Week in the city easter traditions
Athenians may flee for the countryside, but Holy Week reveals the capital at its most appealing, argues Sofka Zinovieff. Few would dispute that Easter celebrations are the most intensely beautiful and emotional events in the Greek calendar. Fasting, feasting, grieving and joyousness all combine in the spring-time festival, which is far more significant than Christmas, New Year or the August holiday. Also known as Lambri (radiant or glorious), Easter is a time when most people return to their village or island to join their families and the capital is deserted by over a million people. Given that many shops and restaurants also close for days on end, the idea of spending Easter in Athens may sound bizarre - the loser’s choice. In fact, this time of year is the ideal opportunity for the visitor or the resident to enjoy the city at its most appealing: good weather (not too hot), no crowds, few cars, and an increased sense of local community. Even in the over-built cement city you cannot ignore the unstoppable energy of new life: flowers and greenery thrust their way up out of any available piece of earth; urban streets are scented with bitter orange
blossom and jasmine; hormonal cats yowl on the roof tiles; and misty-eyed lovers are suddenly on every park bench. After the darkness, cold and scarcity of winter comes light, warmth, abundance; the renewal of life itself. Not everyone fasts during the forty days of Lent, though the fact that Greek MacDonalds offer special nistisima (fasting foods) like fried onion rings is an indication of public demand. During ‘Great Week’, leading up to Easter Sunday, there are many more who adhere to the ascetic discipline and avoid meat, fish and dairy products. By Maundy Thursday, most people are in the mood, which is one of emotional vulnerability and sadness, exacerbated by physical weakness from fasting. A day of symbolic death, it is characterised by the colour red: eggs are dyed crimson for the paschal table; communion (Christ’s blood) is taken; and traditionally, a red cloth is hung in the window for protection. Scarlet poppies bloom over the roadsides and slaughterhouses and back yards run red with lambs’ blood as they are slaughtered in preparation for Sunday. Churches throughout the city are decorated for mourning: purple silken
rosettes are hung and, after the evening service, women bring flowers for the preparation of the epitaphios – Christ’s bier. On Good Friday, shops and offices are closed, and the city is quiet, but for the slow tolling of church bells. The anniversary of Christ’s descent from the cross is a time of national mourning, and it is still normal to adhere to full fasting (even olive oil is forbidden). In the evening, each parish has its own service and procession of the epitaphios. ‘Mourners’ queue up to kiss the representation of Christ - a gilded cloth lain on the flower-covered bier, much as they would at a funeral of a loved one. Reminded of their own losses, people weep for Jesus and for themselves. The subsequent slow march from the church around neighbouring streets is a moving affair, as the candle-lit procession follows Christ’s ‘coffin’. Those who prefer a larger, archetypically metropolitan version (in the presence of the Archbishop, politicians and TV cameras) can attend the Cathedral and follow the procession up to Syntagma (Constitution) Square. It is also enjoyable to walk around Plaka, visiting different churches, before choosing a favourite. Saturday is already a happier day, when people prepare for the celebrations to come. By the evening, everybody is dressed in their finest, and ready for the ‘resurrection.’ Even in the city, churches are packed, and while many are loyal to their local church, others visit more picturesque neighbourhoods such as Psyrri or Plaka. Almost everyone goes to the Easter Saturday service – from the youngest to the oldest, and from the devout and dutiful to dedicated atheists and communists. Children clutch their lambades (specially decorated candles, bearing small sweets and toys), and wear shiny new shoes – traditional gifts from the godparents. Inside the church, the tension mounts as people crowd in, listening to the ancient Byzantine hymns, which have not changed for centuries on end.
GIRLS
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THE WALKING DEAD 4 ©AMC
The air smells of incense, perfumes, hair spray, hot wax. Just before midnight, the lights go off, and then the priests emerge from the sanctuary with a flame – Christ’s resurrection–from which everyone lights their candles, kissing one another and wishing ‘Christos anesti!’ (Christ is risen) and replying ‘Alithos anesti!’ (Indeed he is risen). This is not just any fire. Quite apart from the symbolism, it has probably actually been lit directly from a flame brought that day from Jerusalem by aeroplane brought forth from the Holy Sepulchre by the Greek Orthodox Patriarch (often struggling to get it before his Armenian counterpart). Once in Athens, it is driven from the airport directly to the seventeenth century church of Saints Anagyroi (the Holy Penniless) in Plaka. And from there it is distributed around many of Greece’s churches (using boats, cars, planes and even helicopters). As soon as midnight has struck, bells chime, fire crackers and fireworks go off with deafening bangs across the country, and ships sound their horns. The Church’s job has been done, and the vast majority of people leave quickly to devout themselves to matters of the body rather than the spirit. The first thing is to head off hungrily for some food after all the fasting. Mayiritsa (soup made from the paschal lamb’s intestines) is the traditional dinner, which is normally eaten at home, but can also be found at tavernas. Also present are red hardboiled eggs,
which are taken and knocked against each other to find the “champion.” The late night dinner is usually followed by early morning preparations for the Easter feast, but nobody seems to mind the lack of sleep; it is impossible to suppress the exuberance. There is no question about what to eat; it is always lamb, spit- roasted over charcoal. And the idea is to over-indulge – to eat too much, to drink, dance and feel the sensuous pleasures of life returned. If you haven’t got a Greek family, you’d be well advised to adopt one for the duration, as tavernas do what they can (Plaka is probably the safest bet), but nothing compares with the home-made version. All over the city, people are out on terraces, in backyards, and even with portable barbeques at the beach, roasting their lambs and nibbling bits of kokoretsi (lambs’ intestines and offal wrapped on a long skewer and barbequed). Popular Greek songs are played at full volume, wine flows, and the dancing begins, as the whole country enjoys its favourite day of the year. Athenian Easter may be less intimate and community-oriented than in a village, but its highs and lows are just as powerful. The city is perfectly able to offer us regeneration and a sense of life-force, as we witness the eternally optimistic cycle of winter to summer, darkness to light and death to life. Sofka Zinovieff is the author of Eurydice Street: A Place in Athens, and Red Princess: A Revolutionary Life and The House on Paradise Street.sofkazinovieff.com
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CINEMA THIS WEEK TRANSCENDENCE
Johnny Depp stars in this high-tech, sci-fi thriller as a famous Artificial Intelligence scientist whose controversial experiments have made him a target for anti-technology extremist groups.
LA BELLE ET LA BÊTE
A French adaptation of ‘Beauty and the Beast’ with Vincent Cassel and Léa Seydoux. The beautiful daughter of a merchant offers herself to a mysterious beast to which her father has become indebted.
EVENTS THIS WEEK
Music
Exhibition Women Artists in the Years of the Russian Avant-Garde A selection of works by women artists, featuring all the movements of the Russian avant-garde .Until May 25 at State Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki. Tel. 2310.589.140-1, greekstatemuseum.com
Lenten treats
Forest Swords Forests Swords, one of the most famous artists of modern electronic music, returns to Athens 2 years after his last performance. His album ‘Engravings’ is one of the best of the year. April 24 at 9 pm at Six D.O.G.S, Avramiotou 6-8. Tel. 210.321.0510, sixdogs.gr
Exhibition George Pastakas: Hours Art works inspired by the island of Tinos, depicting its unique landscapes and the religious aspect of the nuns and chapels and presenting the damaged areas. Until April 24 at Michael Cacoyannis Foundation, Piraeus Ave. 206. Tel. 210.341.8550, mcf.gr
Mount Athos soup (4-6 servings) 7-8 tablespoons tahini 1 cup rice Juice of 1-2 lemons 2 medium carrots, finely grated A few parsley sprigs, finely chopped Salt 10 cups water (approximately) Boil rice in a saucepan with water and salt until tender. Remove from heat and add the lemon juice. In a small bowl mix the tahini with enough hot liquid from the boiled rice to make a smooth paste. Pour the mixture back into the soup, stirring constantly until the liquids are blended. Add in the grated carrots and parsley and stir well for the aromas to diffuse. Serve.
Olive and potato ragout (4-6 servings) 1 cup sweet black olives (not preserved in vinegar) 1/2 cup oil 1 whole garlic head 1 kilo small round potatoes 1 tablespoon tomato paste A pinch of oregano Salt and pepper Separate garlic into cloves and peel. Leave cloves whole. Peel potatoes and leave whole. Lightly sauté olives and garlic in oil and add tomato paste, whole potatoes, salt and pepper. Stir until liquid begins to simmer and add 1 cup water.Cover and simmer until potatoes are tender and most liquid absorbed. Remove from heat and sprinkle with oregano before serving.
18 seasons. ’This is a title that the club really needs to celebrate because there will come a time when winning titles will ‘Forty-one and we still continue to dream.’ not be so easy,’ said Michel, whose team had wrapped up the title in record time in Olympiakos Piraeus owner Vangelis Marinakis’ statement at the club’s Super March with six games to spare but held on until their last home game to celebrate it. League title celebration party on Sunday The 50-year-old former Real Madrid and proved the hunger that Greece’s newly Spain legend added: ‘I am very pleased. crowned champions have. What a year We’ve had an exceptional year. The title it has been, especially for their Spanish was won due to the devotion of the players coach Michel in his first full season in who have been amazing, while our supcharge. The Red and Whites have been head and shoulders above their rivals this porters proved with their dedication that season, breaking several records in terms they can push us to go beyond our limits.’ One of several players to have caught the of matches won on their way to the 41st eye this season was Arsenal loanee Joel league crown - and their 16th in the last
Campbell, who the club is hoping can convince to stay on for another season. ‘For me personally it means a lot for my resume,’ he said. ‘We have won the title in an emphatic way with games to spare. We have also played well in Europe and at just 21 years of age this is important as a first major step in my career as a footballer. My aim is to make the [Costa Rica] world cup squad and I hope to continue to win many more titles with this team and any other team I might play for.’ The challenge for the rest of the Super League teams in the 2014/15 season is how to stop the trophy-winning machine. Something they will ponder during their summer holidays.
Fast or Feast? Holy Week, the last week of Lent when the bells toll mournfully and the spring lambs are rounded up for slaughter, is a period of strict fasting, traditionally adhered to by all but the determinedly atheist and the unwell. In their book, The Festive Fast (published by Akritas), authors Marigoula Kokkinou and Georgia Kofinas suggest dozens of recipes to make Lenten meals more of a feast than a fast.Why not try the following in the countdown to Easter?
SPORTS by Graham Wood
A winning red wave
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