Greece

Greece is best known to most British people for its islands and Athens for the Parthenon. Many off us learned a little about Ancient Greece at school, and the wonderful stories of Gods and Goddesses, heroines and heros. Homer’s books The Iliad and The Odyssey tell of some truly formidable women – the loyal Penelope and the weaving, singing nymph Calypso.

New 2019 Greek blogs

Athens home of the Acropolis and other stories

Where I stayed in Athens

Food and drink in Athens

Travelling around Athens and Greece

The magnificent sights of Athens

Thessaloniki

Traditional Greek Orthodx Church, Komotini — The Ecclesiastical Museum of Komotini, Greece

The country of Greece is all spread out, sharing the Aegean Sea with Turkey, and the Mediterranean with Italy.

The tip of Mount Olympus showing through the clouds - taken from the aeroplane — Mount Olympus poking through the clouds, as seen from the aeroplane on arrival

I flew to Thessaloniki, was met by B and taken north around the coast to the small village of Proskynites which means, can you believe it, A Pilgrim.

I met B in Ireland a month and a half ago through a fellow Shiatsu practitioner. He is German and works with young people whose lives are chaotic and needing some order and care. He doesn’t walk the Spanish caminos with them, but supports them in his home, encouraging positive communication and providing clear boundaries to engender trust in preparation for starting a new life somewhere.

Three weeks later he asked me to look after his Greek home with its horses, dogs, cats and chickens for a couple of weeks, although circumstances later changed meaning that I was actually there with A, his wife, helping with the tasks and giving Shiatsu.

Winter fruit tree - pomegranates — Pomegranates at the end of the season in B and A’s garden in Proskynites

And here is the same tree the following June, all green abundance, the last flowers and small fruits

It is said that Persephone ‘naughtily’ ate six pomegranate seeds when in Hades (the subterranean land of the dead) and so was only released above ground for 6 months of the year, giving rise to the Ancient Greek explanation for the fertility of the different seasons: half the year being fecund and the other half latent.

An urban scene in northern Greece with church spieres predominating — Proskynites, Greece predominantly Greek Orthodox although there is a community of Muslims in Komotini

Shiny red and green peppers on a market stall in Greece — The wonderful colours of the market produce, Xilagani, Greece

Gleaming oranges (bananas and potatoes) on a market stall in Northern Greece — Oranges for sale in the local market near Komotini, Greece

I visited Komotini, a half hour’s drive away, the nearest town, and the next door village of Xilagani which has a weekly market. I took a bus trip to Alexandroupolis to meet Shiatsu practitioner Panayiota who came all the way from Athens to meet me and with whom I spent a fascinating day.