C.P.Cavafy - 150 years from his birth, 80 years from his death

C.P. Cavafy (Constantinos Cavafis), the most important modern Greek poet, was born 150 years ago today (April 29, 1863) and died 80 years today (April 29, 1933) in Alexandria, Egypt. Two Greeks -both poets- have been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature but Cavafy was not one of them. However, he is widely considered to be the greatest and most influential of Greek poets, transcending the barriers of language, ethnicity and time to appeal to persons from all walks of life without even letting you suspect that his poems were written 100 years ago.

A bust of C.P. Cavafy has been placed on Plateia Egyptou (i.e. Egypt's Square) at the corner of Alexandras Ave. and Patission St.

Bust of C.P. Cavafy, Plateia Egyptou, Athens, Greece

The side inscription, in Greek, informs us that it is a gift from Anestis Papastefanou, Honorary President of the Association of the Greek diaspora of Egypt, while a smaller carving on the side reveals that it was created by sculptor Costas Valsamis in 1982.

Bust of C.P. Cavafy (side-inscription), Plateia Egyptou, Athens, Greece

As I've written elsewhere, "Ithaca", his most famous poem, was one of only a handful of readings I remember from my school days and that is not accidental. 

Athens-wise, there is also a small street named after Cavafy, at the Kato Patissia neighborhood, and a few others, all minor side-streets, in the suburbs. All in all, a total of 1440meters -less than a mile- of roadway (as measured through Google maps) dedicated to the greatest Greek poet ever born. Considering the overall state and ethic of Greek town administrations it's no surprise and  probably it's for the better after all.

View Places related to C.P. Cavafy in a larger map

There will be various events comemmorating his birth (and death) this year in Greece, but the best thing you can do is pick up one of his books and really delve into his poetry. You may find translations in various languages, including English.
C.P. Cavafy in Amazon.com
C.P. Cavafy in Amazon.co.uk

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A Greek food festival in Athens

I went to Technopolis-Gazi today, the former gaz works factory turned culture centre, for a festival of Greek food, bringing together small producers from all over the country. The festival, co-sponsored by the City of Athens and Athinorama magazine, is a chance for people in the food and restaurant industry to network between them and with people form other fields but it is also open to the general public for a price of 5€ /day (running from Friday to Sunday). I imagine that if it turns out to be a success, on commercial criteria, it might as well be repeated next year or later, so look out for the "upcoming events" list here, some time next spring.

Saturday was a beautiful day anyway, so walking and sampling various treats in between, from the stalls of producers and merchants just felt like the right thing to do!

A small restaurant at the couryard of Technopolis - Gazi

Indoor halls were almost packed by midday.

A booth with Greek sausages and other deli meats

Spreads of various kinds (tomato & chili, tomato & garlic, tomato & feta cheese, etc.)

Basturma (pasturma in Greek), sausages and more...

An olive oil from Rethymon, Crete with really fine taste and a spectacular design for its bottle

Mushrooms from Northern Greece

Eel, cut and sliced

A portable bee-hive (these are live bees in there!) and...

...the product of their work. Honey of various varieties.

Back in the courtyard, an Athens bakery chain was providing bread for people eating there

Four of the best restaurants in Greece were serving bite-sized appetizers based on their regular courses.

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Pawn shops in Athens

The economic crisis has left (or rather, is leaving) several marks on Athens' urban landscape. The most prominent one is many retail stores shutting down and laying unoccupied for several months now. But one's crisis is someone else's opportunity, so there's also a number of newcomers into this situation. The most prominent ones are pawn shops. Shops where you can sell your valuables (gold and silver items notably) in exchange for some badly needed cash (in what I assume will be severely depressed prices).

Pawn-shop at Athens' Gyzi residential, middle-class neighbourhood

Pawn-shop at Athens' Gyzi neighbourhood

Up until 3 years ago, almost no Greek had ever seen a pawn-shop except in US crime films. Sure there was one somewhere in the central Omonia Square, if my memory doesn't trick me. But to me, and I think most people, this one pawn-shop was seen as something exotic; present here mostly because Athens needed to have one of these curious places as well, than for any real, functional reason.

Well... no more! Every major street and every neighbourhood in Athens now has its own pawn-shop and often more than one. Day and night, "GOLD" and "SILVER" signs are flashing in neon lights,  with their large, yellow poster-signs airing a deceptively festive look, symbolizing Athens current troubles with its desperate attempt to come out clean, no matter which way possible.

City kiosk with an ad for a pawn-shop on its "roof"

Flyer / business-card for a pawn-shop

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