Hibernation

I am bored to write here, just as I would not be bothered to tell upon return how it was on holidays/ trips, no matter how great they were. So for now the blog hibernates. Bye!

The highlight of my winter.

All year round ice skating pool? Yes! That's why it is worth leaving in Poland. The highlight of my winter.

Praise Google!

I am not a tech person nor a Google lover, but recently more than ever I appreciated their brililant products. The Translator- thanks to that I managed to complete research projects in 7 different countries without leaving my office nor hiring 7 translators. THIS is independency!

Speak out what you desire

I've mentioned recently that I miss mpougatsa from Thessaloniki, which is almost impossible to find in Cyprus.
And today I woke up and it was waiting for me for breakfast :)

I'm a hypocrite...

... putting effort working for an organisation that tries to limit food wasting and then eating in a cypriot tavern where sooo much food stays uneaten. But seems if you don't order too much, it is a shame.

The Marathon of Cyprus

Running is my least favourite sports but still I joined my friends' cyprus.com team to run Marathon of Cyprus in 5K Corporate Race. And despite the fact I hate running I loved the event. We run just along the beach, in sun, the waves were splushing on the rocks, nice music in my ears - a great beginning of the day. And we got third place out of over fourty teams - a guy from our team was first with about 12 minutes time!

Observation nr 1) Cypriot girls from our team  came in FULL MAKE UP to run the marathon. Do they EVER go sote?

Observation nr 2) 4 of the medals  for 20 and 10 km went to Polish guys. Polska górą!!! (42km podium belonged totally to Kenya who run it in 2.5 hours at about 17km/h!!That's my speed on the bicycle!).

Observation nr 3) The weather conditions was a miracle. It had been pouring all night, we woke up it was raining, we went to the meeting point it was raining, during the warm up it was pouring so much that my hair and shoes were soaking wet. Then 8.54, 6 minutes before the  start the sky suddenly cleared and we had beautiful sun for 5 hours :D

Still wet from the rain:

Third place for cyprus.com :)

Pomos village

 Remains of the "Oxi" movement I guess

 Would anyone believe that this deserted hut becomes alive once a year to turn into headquarters of the best jazz festival in Cyprus?

Trivial pursuit

Some people decided to take the most of  the house and to sit out inside every of many euros they paid. So they did not move from the saloni for anything but going to a tavern. The trivial pursuit was on all the time.

Weekend in the most amazing house

For the weekend I stayed in a rented house in Pomos, close to Akamas. THE MOST BEAUTIFUL EVER! I was speechless at its simplicity, lucidity, luxury and beauty. My jaw dropped lower and lower when I first was showed around and I was happy as a kid to discover the panorama, the pool, the sauna, the jacuzzi... and the view from my bed :D Oh, yes!

View from my bed :D

A new idea

I have had this idea for a non-profit organisation which I would LOVE to pursue. Let's get to work and see if I can make it happen...

Effects on the french pro-family politics in the flesh

A French guy: “So how many kids do you want to have? I think two is a good beginning”.

A Pole would normally say: “I think two is the maximum.”

Marathon

I spent last days sick at home. So I consolated myself with a marathon of films with my favourite cinematography geeks: Larry David (born 1947) and Jesse Eisenberg (born 4 decades later). BTW Finally saw the Social Network among other, which is a great film indeed. But this is not about the films. This is about the geeks: could not help but notice that young can be cute. But when they get old they'd better be witty and funny as there is nothing cute about an old geek.

Let Christmas be over

This year I am already fed up and tired with all this christmas mess way before it even started. For a month now I have been bombarded with x-mas songs(the same again and again), commercials, talking about it, planning it, all this presents hunting. It paralyses all normal life.  How long can this last? 1 week, 2 weeks ok but 1/10 of the year? Please...

Tilt shift photos etudes

 

Flying

On the flight back I sat next to a very sweet couple, maybe 20 years old, who flew for the first time abroad. The guy was very excited, while his girlfriend was totally paralysed by fear. He was very caring but the girl was freaking out anyway.  And here I was explaining to the girl how safe it was to fly and that the shaking though unpleasant is not dangerous and answer million questions about flying and traveling to the guy (“what is this sound”, “my ears hurt”, “why is the plane turning like that”, “ why are we going lower and lower”). Me, who is shit scared of flying. Irony.

New discoveries

There was this street I wanted to find in Thessaloniki, in the area of Ano Poli – Mousson. This street was the background of the autobiographic novel by Antonis Sourounis “ Monopati sthn Thalassa” – story of sweet but difficult childhood in this used-to-be poor area of the city. I was so charmed that I needed to see all the places I read about. Now this cul de sac is renovated but the houses remained very small, with low ceiling and line even more towards the ground.

Although the area is very small the grid of tiny streets is quite dense so I had a problem to find it and made circles for over half an hour.

The church of ... (forgot) and the big tree under which little Antonis would make his fake lottery and play with other boys.

When searching for Mouson I found a spooky building I have never seen before:

Some other peculiar structures noticed for the first time in places I thought I knew well:

Encounters

I was happy to find some friends doing very well, healthy, some proud of recent accomplishments, some with heads full of ideas.  

I was also surprised to bump on the street to a friend I know from a different country! He was there for the film festival as the Cypriot film producer “Apo thauma”. That is how I sneeked in among the “pros”. After the screening we went for dinner with the director and a few people from the production, and I was the only person on the table not from the film industry.

Films

The 51 Thessaloniki International Film Festival was organized with a very limited budget (know first hand from those who exhibited their kiosk there). This meant a very short opening ceremony and first of all lower awards among others. But the choice of films was great (among them a review of films of Dorota Kędzięrzawska). My favourites: Mammuth (France, with Gerard Depardieu and hilarious scenes of two old guys bed and of night golf), Donkeys (Scotland), Limbo (Sweden).

About the polish director’s film: I saw one “Jestem/I am” (just because the scheduled film was cancelled, otherwise I would not  see films which I can see in Poland). The audiuence was very enthusiastic and the film was awarded with a long ovation. For me, well it was a good movie, but like so many other “polish movies” – a sad drama, about a fragile individual trapped in a lousy social background. I guess for the greek audience it was something new and fresh.

Food

This week was all about food. My favourite mpougatsa EVERY day. Illustration of the amounts I would devour: a waiter brings my order, looks at the food, me, food, me and asks doubtedly: “are you going to eat all of this by YOURSELF?”. Oh yes! And the dessert on the house :D  Mainly octopus, florina peppers and mousakas and sweets (croissant with castanas filling!) are guilty of my 2 extra kilos.

Changes

Walking the city it cannot be missed that the economy is in bad shape. Some of “my” places closed or with a “for sale” sign : cafes, taverns, shops. Many of kiosks, which are usually on every corner, closed. In most of shop windows 30, 50, 70 % discounts. The most expensive cafes in the Aristotelous square half empty. However, the spirit seems still up, at least as far as service in cafes, hotel and shops is concerned. I felt always very welcome as a customer (no wonder since I left money there).