Overwhelmed

I just got back from Reggio Emilia and I'm still excited - yes I know I'm over using that word but I don't know how else to describe it - by what I experienced last night. I'll post a more extensive comment tomorrow but let's just say that it was an overwhelming experience that ended in a gigantic love fest!

The entire ensemble on stage before a cheering audience. This was taken just before Claudio Abbado made his appearance - at which point the house went wilder.

It was very much an ensemble evening and to make that point there were no solo bows. First the Extras took their bows, then the two choruses (men of the Arnold Schoenberg Chor and the entire Coro de la Comunidad de Madrid) with their chorus masters, followed by each soloist, then the entire Mahler Chamber Orchestra came on stage followed by Maestro Abbado. Flowers peppered the stage and in a lovely gesture many were thrown back into the audience. The ovation went on for 25 minutes and they rang down the main curtain three times and even as I was leaving a third of the audience was still there voicing their approval. My hands were red from applauding, my voice a bit hoarse from yelling Bravi and to be honest my eyes still a bit watery from the emotional impact of the evening.

More to follow.

09 aprile - San Antonio Pavnoi

Mercoledi Musicale

Though we may not have danced to this at the old Manatee Club - it burnt down one night back in 1978 - I recall dancing my little buns (and they were little in those days) off at a long forgotten club in Hull. This tough little dyke called Suzanne rented the lobby of a Canadian Government building on weekends and turned it into the biggest gay disco in town. We donned our best Saturday night dancing clothes and after a few drinks at the Lord Elgin hotel headed over to Hull, where closing time was a civilized 03:00 am. God were we every that young?



Laura Branigan also does a great cover of The Power of Love - beats the pants off that French Canadian woman IMHO.

09 aprile - San Antonio Pavoni

Crowded with Incident

In class yesterday I mentioned to my teacher, Simone, what was on the calender for the week. She laughing said I was doing more in one week than she does in a year. An exhageration I'm sure but...

Tuesday (today): Going up to Reggio Emilia for a performance of Beethoven's Fidelio conducted by the great Itlian conductor Claudio Abbado. This is his first attempt at this monumental work. I'm excited.

Friday: A performance of Puccini's La Fancuilla del West with Italy's Golden Couple of Opera - Danielle Desi and Fabio Armiliato. I'm excited.

Saturday Morning: A private small group tour into the catacombs under San Pietro to see the site of the original church. I'm excited.

Saturday Night: Georges Pretre conducting the Academia in Mahler's 5th Symphony. I'm excited.

Monday Night: A small private group tour of the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel. They will be closed to the public at that hour so we will have it much to ourselves. I'm excited.

Oh what the hell I'm just excited about the whole damned week.

08 aprile - San Antonio Pavoni

Farnese Folly

In his artless way my good friend Parsi was asking if I was rehearsing "Vissi d'arte" at the Palazzo Farnese this past Saturday; no, Parsi I was just trying to get into one of Rome's great architectural treasures. Every spring the Fondo per L'Ambiente Italiano celebrates spring by opening some of the gardens, parks and historical buildings which it maintains. It's a chance to see many of the incredible venues that are normally closed to the public: as an example the Palazzo Farnese is now the French Embassy and as such can only be visited on official business.

We headed out for Via Giula - which was the centre of attractions in Rome - a little later than we should have and by the time we reached Campo di Fiori it was 2 pm. The market at the Campo was still in full swing - flowers, fruit, vegetables, bric-a-brac, dishes, kitchen ware, name the item it was probably there.

That's Giordano Bruno, the Italian philosopher, hovering over the marque tops. He was burned at the stake in the Campo in 1600; this statue was commissioned by supporters of the reunification of Italy and erected in 1889 on the site of his death. Several Popes tried, unsuccessfully to have it removed.

At the end of the market day - around 4 pm - the clean-up job is an enormous task.

We joined the line up in the Piazza Farnese at around 2:10; at that point it circled around the Piazza, down the side of the Palazzo and around to the garden entrance. It seemed to be moving fairly quickly and given the chance to see the incredible frescoed rooms we decided to wait. An hour and a half later we had made it as far as the side of the building and where then told by an FAI volunteer that there was no guarantee we would get in. A wonderful, typically Italian, scene then broke out: the volunteer chastised the guards for not cutting the line off sooner, the guards fought back, people in line started either grumbling at her and the guards or attempting to wheedle their way further up in the line. At that point I needed a coffee so we, reluctantly, gave up. However we did stroll around the area, enjoying the sunshine, a double scoop gelato and espresso.

Around the Piazza....

... down the south side of the Palazzo ...

... around the corner to the Garden entrance. Hmm... she was right we wouldn't have got in.

We decided to wander back to Piazza Venezia and on the way stopped into Chiesa del Gesu - the great Jesuit church in Rome. The Piazza in front is said to be the windiest place in Rome. In A Companion Guide to Rome - a treasure trove of anecdotes and history - Georgina Masson says: ... this fact is accounted for by a curious legend. The devil and the wind were once walking there and the devil asked to be excused for a minute to go into the church; he never emerged, and the wind has been waiting for him ever since. What may have defeated the devil was the baroque excesses of the interior - he probably got lost amongst the cupids, curlicues and decorations. Myself I find it just a bit over the top - but then to be honest I'm not the greatest fan of baroque architecture or decoration. Given that fact, Rome is not exactly the best place to be.

More to my taste is the Basiclica di San Marco at Piazza Venezia; I've never seen it open and despite its central location, when it is open it's not often frequented by tourists. A church has existed on the site since the 4th century and it is one of the ancient titular churches of the city. It's Venetian origins are apparent in the mosaics, the decoration and the layout. Fortunately the 17th and 18th century "improvements" haven't obscured the Renaissance ceiling and portico. It really is "worth the detour" and the Vivaldi playing in the background lent a nice touch.

The 9th century mosaics in the apse depict the risen Christ and various saints, including San Marco holding a model of the church, the lamb of God and twelve sheep representing the Apostles.

The Lion is the symbol of San Marco and Venice - the Basilica is the national church of Venice in Rome.

I was remarking to Laurent that often when we head out to do something here our plans go awry but there's no point in getting upset - there's always something else to do and see. My God I may be getting use to life here - for the moment.

08 aprile - San Antonio Pavoni

Lunedi Lunacy

Jeff mentions a film retrospective to celebrate the career of Bette Davis who was born 100 years ago Saturday past. Here's a little tribute to our Bette:



Craig Russell was a brilliant drag artist who got his start at the old Manatee Club on Maitland St in Toronto (I'm not sure but I have a feeling that this scene was shot there - Toronto posing as New York is not an unknown.) This is a clip from one of his first movie, Outrageous.

I had forgotten - or choose to forget - the way we dressed back then. Somewhere in a box at the bottom of a closet there are pictures of a guy who thought he was very with it: moustache, shag haircut, bell bottoms and vest. Today: the moustache is salt and pepper, the hair - what hair?, the bell bottoms wouldn't fit and the vest wouldn't close.

Sic Transit Gloria! Say wasn't that a song we danced to?

07 aprile - San Giovanni di Baptista de la Salle

What I Am Today ...

... You Will Be Tomorrow


The church of Santa Maria dell'Orazione e Morte stands across from the Palazzo Farnese and was built in 1575 by a confraternity founded in 1551 to collect and give Christian burial to the unknown dead of Rome. This plaque is one of several on either side of the entrance that asks for donations to continue this pious work. The confraternity still fulfils that task today.

06 aprile - Santa Virginia

Throwing Out the First Ball of Spring - 1492

Though last month's weekend in Spoleto was cut short we did get a chance to see a great deal of this intriguing medieval town in the mountains of Umbria. Brought back to notice in late 1950s by Gian Carlo Menotti and his partner Samuel Barber and their Festival of the Two Worlds, it is a stunning example of what can be accomplished by careful restoration. Though this year's Festival (it would be the 51st) seems up in the air we counted more than 12 buildings under restoration in the historic centre - a close look at the photo at the left reveals at least 6 cranes in the northern part of the town alone.

The restored Rocca or Albornoz Fortress was built in 1359 as a Papal stronghold - when she controlled the Duchy, Lucrezia Borgia often slept there between 1499 and 1503. It hovers over the town and dominates the valley below.Used as a prison from 1817 until 1983 it has been converted into a National Museum for the treasures of the region from pre-Christian to late Renaissance times.
The Camera Pinta, in the tower of the Courtyard of Honour, is decorated with a wonderful series of frescoes dating from the 15th century depicting knightly and courtly pleasures. The subjects and the colours have a certain spring-like spirit to them, and I love this delightful couple playing catch over an archway. They've been playing this game for over 500 years now - I wonder if he ever caught the ball?

04 aprile - San Isidoro

Mercoledi Musicale

Back in 1963 Joan Littewood, a driving force in London alternate theatre, and her company tackled World War I. Oh What A Lovely War took it title from a song of the period and using other songs, letters and historical facts it traced the trajectory of death from 1914 to 1918. Littlewood staged her show as a sea side Pierrot entertainment with the death tolls continually being toted up on a cricket score board. It was as much a bitter satire of war in general as the Great War to End All Wars.

In 1969 Richard Attenborough decided to try his hand at film directing and choose Oh What a Lovely War as his first film. Filming at Brighton Pier, a garbage dump in Eastbourne and in the Sussex Downs and keeping many of the conceits from Littlewood's stage production including the infamous score board he created a film as critical of the on-going Vietnam War as it was of World War I.

Most of the established English acting community rallied to support "Dickie" who most of them had worked with in one way or another since 1942. John Mills, Michael Redgrave and Laurence Oliver played major roles, Vanessa Redgrave, Ralph Richardson, Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, Dirk Bogarde, John Clements, Jack Hawkins (stricken with throat cancer he offered to play a silent Emperor Franz Josef,) Susanna York, Ian Holm, Jean-Pierre Cassel and Maggie Smith all make cameo appearances in vignettes of life on the home-front and in the trenches.

One of the most disturbing scenes is Maggie Smith's (yes we're on a theme here this week) turn as a Music Hall star using her wiles to conscript young men into the army. Pauline Kael referred to her performance as being "all lure with no allure." Watch for the not-so subtle change in make-up but subtle change in attitude when she pulls a young man up onto the stage.



I saw the film on my first trip to London back in 1969 at the Odeon Leicester Square and it immediately became one of my favorites. I watched it again last night on DVD and almost 40 years later it still remains a fascinating piece of film making and a burning indictment of war.

02 aprile - San Franceso di Padua

A Flicker of Light

You may have noticed the candle on the right side panel that has been burning the past few days. Though I am a lapsed Anglican-Presbyterian-Anglo-Catholic I have always continued the habit? tradition? practice? superstition? call it what you will, of lighting a candle as a way of asking for a blessing on people I know and care about.

The past few weeks both here in Rome and in Athens, whenever I stop by a church I have been lighting a candle for my friend Elizabeth, KH (her husband), the Things (their 4 children) and the doctors who will be operating on KH today (April 1.) It is not for me to go into details and Elizabeth has explained both the situation and the seriousness of it on her blog.

If you read this and are so inclined I would ask that on Tuesday you remember Elizabeth, KH, the Things and the team of Doctors by lighting a candle, by praying to what ever God you address in prayer, by pausing for a moment or two to think of them or in what ever way you see fit.

Many years ago Father Darby, the Superior of the Cowley Fathers, in response to a rather brashly worded question concerning the lighting of candles - the questioner was a rather rude young man who shall remain nameless - simple said it was a way of bringing attention to our hopes and concerns. And that if nothing else it was a flicker of light that briefly illuminated a dark corner of our world.

1 Aprile - San Ugo

Lunedi Lunacy

Its was a Golden Age of TV Comedy: Carol, Harvey, Tim and a Guest.



Most people don't realize that Maggie Smith got her start in Revue comedy as a singer/dancer/sketch performer. I was fortunate to see her both in London (Hedda Gabler directed by Ingmar Bergman) and later when she decided to live in Stratford, Ontario and become a member of the famed Shakespeare company there. For 10 seasons she played everything - Chekhov, Congreve, Coward, Cross, Shakespeare. Her Lady Macbeth was outstanding, her Rosalind in As You Like It one of the finest comedy performances I've ever seen and even though she could do star turns she just as easily became a member of an ensemble. To this day I remember a frighteningly beautiful Three Sisters with arguably a group of the finest actors in North American at that time. It was another Golden Age.

31 marzo - San Beniamino

Content

28 marzo - San Sesto Papa

Discontent

As election day (April 13) draws near posters are being slapped up all over town. The supporters of the far-far-right Forza Nouva where perhaps a little too eager to get their message out when they put up these posters on top of a lingerie ad but...


And their message:

An Italy without outsiders*
It can be done.

Again I am not going to comment one way or another on the political situation here but that slogan does raise some interesting questions. Such as who then would work the dairy farms, man the clothing factories, clean the houses, toil as live-in caregivers for Nonna and Nonno when the family is too dispersed to do so or for that matter who would pose for the lingerie ads? I'm sure they have answers.

*A more accurate translation of extracomunitari would be "immigrants from outside the EU" - given the normal message from FN this suggests a new tolerance of former East Block peoples who are now part of the EU. Strano. Molto strano.

28 marzo - San Sesto Papa

Restaurant Italien - 1927

Last month on my trip to Milan I just couldn't walk by Libreria Rizzoli, the big bookstore in the Galleria, without stopping in just to browse. And I just happened to come across Non Solo Erté - Not Only Erté, Costume Design for the Paris Music Hall 1918-1940. It was in an embossed slip case, it was large, it was heavy and it was expensive. And it was chocked full of designs for the great French Music Halls - the Folies Bergère, Bal Tabarin, Ba-ta-clan, Casino de Paris, Moulin Rouge. The designer most people know from that period was, as the title suggests, Erté but there were so many other talented artists creating costumes and scenery for les grands Music Halls. Many of them came to North American at the onset of WWII to work in New York, Hollywood and even at the Ringling Brothers Circus. Some of the names I was familiar with but others were new to me.

I may not have mentioned it but I've been in love with the tits-and-tassels Parisian Music Hall revues for as long as I can remember. When I was 14 I wrote to the Lido de Paris asking if they could send me a programme book. I received one with a note from Pierre Louis-Guérin, then the Lido Director, saying he looked forward to the day when I could be there to see one of his shows. I still have that programme and managed to catch three productions in Paris over the years as well as several when they were at the old Stardust in Las Vegas.

But to be honest I wish I had been around in that period between the two Great Wars when Josephine Baker, Mistinquett, Maurice Chevalier and the Dolly Sisters starred in fantastic spectacles whose sole purpose was to astound and entertain. The music was jazz-hot, the dancers were beautiful English roses and the Showgirls elegant and stately. The tableaux were as frivolous as the time itself and subjects could range from The Loves of Casanova, Great Queens of History, Milady's Garden, the Jewel Box of Cleopatra or even something as everyday as The Newspaper. Designers jostled with each other to be more creative and innovative. And in a place like the Folies Bergère where the stage is only 32 feet deep it was a challenge.

I found this particularly series of designs by Marco Montedoro particularly delightful and silly. Montedoro was an Italin artist who fled to American during World War II and eventually became head designer at New York's Radio City Music Hall. This tableau, for Un Vent de Folie the Folies Bergère show for 1927 starring Josephine Baker, was called Restaurant Italien and his imagination went wild clothing the showgirls and the ponies (dancers) as Bread Sticks, Antipasti and Pasta and the chorus boys as after dinner coffee and bonbons.


The set represented a table at an Italian Restaurant; the waiter with the serving dish was a painted backdrop and the table would have been a two level platform - an ingenious use of the small stage depth. The whole set would have taken up about 12 feet of space - meanwhile a larger scene was probably being set up behind it.

No doubt an Italian tenor, from Roumania, would have been on the forestage - the Folies Bergère has a runway around the orchestra pit - warbling something appropriately Italian as the cast paraded, dance-stepped and glided across the table as:

Le Grisinnis - Breadsticks

Le celeri

Les Radis

Le Salade

Les Spaghetti

Le Spumoni

Le Cappacchino and La Fiasco - something like a wrapped candy????

It was definately a glorious, silly time! I wish I had been there.

27 marzo - San Ruperto

Mercoledi Musciale

I consider it lucky that I grew up in a household where we listened to Opera on Saturdays - Metropolitan Opera in the afternoon and Grand Ole on Saturday night. My brother played the banjo and sang Pete Seeger and I sang in the church choir - first as a boy soprano then as a wayward tenor. It wasn't that we were a musical family - hell I never could read music worth a damn, ask the other tenors - just that music was part of what we listened to. As a result my musical taste is fairly catholic in nature, if leaning heavily towards the vocal. Any sort of vocal - opera, leider, gospel, jazz, pop, country, bluegrass....

This combination of bluegrass and gospel had me wanting to clap along and maybe even call out a few "Praise the Lords." And the guy on the electric guitar damn near sets the place on fire.



Though they may look like they're dressed for the Republican Convention the Cumberland Trio were part of the folk scene in the 1960s.

26 marzo - Sant'Emanuele

Parlo di Piu e del Meno

• According to Blue the in-flight magazine for Aegean Airlines 2008 has been declared the year of the Feta by the Greek Government! Greek cheese manufactures have been up in arms over the imitation feta coming out of Denmark, Holland and Germany the past few years. It’s a billion dollar industry worldwide so the financial stakes are high and Greek producers are worried about cheap imitations that pass themselves off as the real thing. Feta marketing is going into full swing in Greece and throughout Europe. The new EU safeguards on Feta labelling – wouldn’t you have loved to hear that resolution, no doubt defining percentage of water, salt and curd content, read onto the order paper – guarantee that within Europe only Greek Feta can bear the proud name. Look for the πραγματική ελληνική φέτα on the label.

Parsi took us for lunch at a wonderful place called Cinnamon - traditional Greek with a twist. As you can see we dug in.

• Yes we have recycling here in Rome and many of us collect our plastic, paper and other recyclables to put in the handy bins on the streets. The problem appears to be that the city forgets to collect them.

• I now feel that I have finally arrived in Rome. I have become a regular customer at a barber shop at the bottom of Via Nazionale. I first went there because it was close to the language school and open. There are two barbers – Walter, an older bespectacled gentleman with a trim goatee and an air of ownership, Mimo, a younger more casual gentleman with a permanent tan and an artful comb over – and Luisa, an extremely attractive full-figured lady, who does the manicures, scalp massages and general reception and clean-up.
  
  I was made to feel welcome, despite a struggle with language, from the first time I walked in off the street. Mimo is my barber - Walter only deals with former Prime Minister Prodi, President Napolitano and the older long-time clients. But that’s fine because Mimo does an exceptional job with my fastly thinning hair. Luisa makes sure the nails are trimmed and glossy and gives the most relaxing scalp message immaginable. All the little formalities are observed – we shake hands on arrival and departures, health of my colleague (Laurent, who also goes there now) is always enquired after and the proper greetings and wishes for any approaching festival are exchanged. And we even have our little jokes about my bad Italian and Luisa’s emerging English.
  
  The day before we left for Athens I noticed that is was “almost time to buy a violin” as my mother use to say. As we were going to opening night at the opera with Parsi on the Friday I felt a haircut was in order. I dropped into the barber shop to see if they could take me after school at 4:30 but Mimo was booked up from 2 until 6. Luisa did a bit of fiddling, some frowning, then told me to come back at 4:15 and sent me on my way with a cheery “a presto.” I arrived back at 4:15 and somehow someone had been pushed back, someone else had been pushed forward and I was cut, manicured and massaged.
  
  When a man's barber does that for him, he knows he's arrived wherever he is.

• And a final sign from Athens. When Parsi took us to lunch in the newly redeveloped Gaz area we saw this sign on a building near the restaurant. Anyone want to guess what it is?

25 marzo - Annunciazione del Signore

Lunedi Lunacy

A sure sign that spring is in the air!



24 marzo - dell'Angelo

Buona Pasqua

Buona Pasqua e auguri a tutti*


I'm not saying that this is a country of excess but.. underneath all the wrapping, silk flowers and butterflies are gigantic chocolate Easter Eggs. And yes, people do buy them!

*Happy Easter and good wishes to all.

23 marzo - Pasqua di Risurrezione

Observations

Western Easter Sunday this year falls on an uncommonly early date. The last time this occurred was in 1913 and the next time will be in 2160. The earliest possible date, 22 March, is even more rare: the last time was 1818 and the next time will be 2285. Until 1582 the date of Easter was identical in both the Western and Eastern church, after that point the different methods of calculation at times led to wide variations. This year there is over a month difference between the Western and Eastern observations of Easter.

Of course the differences between the two rites extended far beyond the dates of Easter and are best left to theological minds. But this past month in visiting the 12th century Duomo in Spoleto, the 9th century Basilica of Santa Prassede in Rome and various churches in Athens I was struck by how close they were artistically in earlier times.

This life-size crucifix by Alberto Soszi dating from 1178 once stood behind the alter of the Duomo in Spoleto. It is parchment mounted on wood and is now conserved in a glass case elsewhere in the Duomo.

A window display in Athens of vestments and vessels for Good Friday though modern reflects the iconic tradition of the Orthodox Church.

There is very little difference between the painting style of this 13th crucifix from Spoleto and the one in the window above.

The Basilica di Santa Prassede here in Rome is filled with stunning examples of 9th century mosaics. This apse mosaic of Christ the Redeemer is very much in the Byzantine style that was to be replaced by a more realistic style in the West but remain central to the Eastern Church.

This fresco of the Madonna and Child with St. John the Baptist and St. Stephen in the Capella Eroli in the Duomo at Spoleto is by the 15th century artist Pinturicchio. It shows the change in style that was evolving in the Western Church during the Renaissance.

Whereas this beautiful Madonna and Child is a modern continuation of the Eastern tradition of icon painting from the 11th century.

23 marzo - Pasqua di Risurrezione

Supper with Friends

Lately I've found that little things are triggering memories - it may be a word, a picture, a sound, something on the street or even a taste or smell. Suddenly a long-forgotten event or person springs to mind.

And they went, and found as he had said unto them; and they made ready the passover. And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him.

St. Luke 22;13-14.

We were strolling near the Cathedral in Athens last Saturday around an area of shops that specialize in church adornments. When I saw this icon in a store window memories of Holy Week at my old Anglican parish in Toronto came flooding back and with them one name: Elizabeth Lemberger.

Elizabeth was an Austrian Jew who had converted to Anglicanism after her escape to England at the onset of the Anchluss. Alone at the end of the war she immigrated to Toronto and became part of an incredible parish family at St Thomas - Huron St. Every year after the Vigil and First Mass of Easter a group of us would gather in Elizabeth's cramped apartment over a laundromat on Bloor St for a Passover supper. She would prepare many of the traditional Seder dishes and a few recipes she remembered from her childhood to share with her extended parish family. For her it was a way of remembering and celebrating the faith of her birth and the faith it gave birth to and the family she lost with a family she had found.

It has been over 30 years since I sat at one of those dinners and 15 years now since I last saw her, we lost touch as I moved around the world. But as I looked at that icon last Saturday the memory of her ladling hot, savory, aromatic broth into a bowl of broken matzo was as vivid as though it were yesterday.

22 marzo - Sabato Santo

4 X 10

So here I am in the middle of working on a few posts appropriate to Holy Week and doesn't Lorraine come along with a bit of memish distraction. Well I'm easily distracted and I wanted to post a few pictures from Athens so:

There isn't a cafe in Athens where you won't find a Coffee Frappe - sweetened ice coffee with a delicious foam on top. My favorite is at the Cafe Metropole in the Cathedral Square.

Four jobs I’ve had in my life:
Airline Employee (33 years) - Clerk, Customer Service Agent, Training Instructor, Project Manager
English Teacher to the Polish Armed Forces Chiefs of Staff
Web Editor of an English Language Business Paper in Poland
Security Screening Officer with the Government of Canada

Four Movies I Watch Over and Over Again
The Dead – a beautiful, simple, touching film - Walter Huston’s last based on the James Joyce short story
Raise the Red Lantern – a classic of the Chinese cinema with the incredibly beautiful Li Gong as a young girl brought into a merchant's household as the fourth wife.
Dumbo – What you ain't never seen an elephant fly?
Some Like It Hot – Well no body's perfect!

This tinsmith's shop is located just on the edge of Psiri.

These iron work swans grace the balconies of the Spanish Embassy on Dionysos Areopagitou; and yes, that's the Acropolis across the road reflected in the windows.

Four Places I Have Lived
Toronto, Canada – born and bred
Ottawa, Canada – home base for most of my adult life as I travelled around the world
Warsaw, Poland – our first real diplomatic post together, I was more a visitor in Mexico City, Amman, Cairo, Chicago and Beijing.
Rome, Italy – our current home

Four TV Shows I Watch
(We have 500 channels here – 100 in Arabic and 50 of those are for sex chat lines???? - and there is still nothing to watch)
The Simpsons (I Simpson)– you know its reruns when you can say the English dialogue over the Italian dubbing.
Ugly Betty – reruns on Fox here and we still don’t have this season yet!
Family Guy (I Griffin) – you know its reruns when you can say Italian dialogue over the original English
Law and Order: SVU – reruns but who bothers with dialogue when you can watch Chris Meloni or Mariska Hagerty for that matter.

Sunday around noon the cafes near the Agora where filled with a few tourists but mostly locals enjoying those wonderful frappees and early lunch. Adrianou St. was crowded with street sellers and entertainers including this old man with his antique hand organ.

An open air cinema on Apostolou Pavlou. Its like a drive-in without the cars.

Four Places I Have Visited
Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam
Aix-en Provence, France
Mount Sinai, Egypt
Skagway, Alaska
Okay I’m not bragging here but on one of those map programmes I’ve clocked up 195 cities visited, now mind you that includes a restaurant stop at St. Tite so maybe I should make that 194.

Four People Who E-Mail Me Regularly
Linda Gagne
Charlie Knight
Bev Toomer
Robert Mickens

Many of the houses on the upper reaches of Monastiraki and the Plaka seem derelict.

However this building very close to the Cathedral has been beautifully restored.

Four Favourite Foods
French Fries
Mashed Potatoes with Gravy
Scalloped Potatoes
Roast Potatoes with Rosemary and Olive Oil
And yes I am Irish and yes there is a theme here!

Four Places I Would Like to Be Right Now
(Okay I’m going to cheat on this one and going to include places I'd like to be in the coming months)
In Punta Cana for our nephew Andrew and Jessica’s wedding in April
At Mount Tremblant for our friends Martin and Robert’s wedding in June
In my old garden, once the 52 cm of snow has disappeared, to watch things begin to grow
In Rome with Laurent – oh wait a minute I am but I honestly can’t think of a 4th place.

There were many small chapels and churches throughout Athens, many like this one adorned with mosaic tympanums.

This group of cub scouts where playing a round game of some sort on Dionysos Areopagitou on Sunday afternoon. I'm still not sure how the guy in the Asterix helmet was involved.

Four Things I Am Looking Forward to this Year
Our trip to Salzburg in May
Our trip to Venice and Vicenza in April
Maybe, just maybe, a trip to Malta
Celebrating our 30th anniversary in November.

Four People I'm Passing this on to:

Evilgnome
Tater
Subtle Knife
Cowbell

The area surrounding the Theatre of Dionysos was a mass of poppies and the gentlest breeze sent them dancing.

21 marzo - Venerdi Santo