Hello readers! How are you doing? Right now, I am blogging while I am
sitting on my balcony in the sunshine in Greece, so I am doing great!
This week, or let us say these past few days, I am going to tell you
something more about the culture in Greece. Unfortunately, we leave within a few hours to Italy, another beautiful country!
In Greece, the population speaks the Greek language. It has a really strange
view for us Europeans. It has not the typical ABC-alphabet, but the
alfa-bèta-gamma alphabet. It also has 24 characters, but the letters are very different
than the letters in our language. I put a scheme below, so that you can see the
view of the Greek alphabet:
Lucky for us, the Greek can speak English too. Except in the little,
authentic villages, people only speak Greek.
The majority of the population is part of the Greek Orthodox Church and
Christianity. It is the largest religion in Greece but there are some other
religions in Greece like Catholicism, Hellenic Neoplasms, Protestantism and the
Islam too.
Their holiday is on 25th of March and is called Independence
Day. Unfortunately, we were a little too late to celebrate this holiday!
I travelled to Athens once, and there I ate very good meals for a small
price!
For this week, we wanted to taste some of the typical Greek kitchen too, so we decided not to book a room with dinner. Every evening, we are going to look for good, typical Greek restaurants. The Greek prepare their dishes with typical ingredients like olive oil, cheese, aubergine, courgette, spices, vegetables, grain, wine, fish, meat like poultry, rabbit, lamb and beef and yoghurt. The Greek their desserts are sweet, they prepare it with nuts and honey.
For this week, we wanted to taste some of the typical Greek kitchen too, so we decided not to book a room with dinner. Every evening, we are going to look for good, typical Greek restaurants. The Greek prepare their dishes with typical ingredients like olive oil, cheese, aubergine, courgette, spices, vegetables, grain, wine, fish, meat like poultry, rabbit, lamb and beef and yoghurt. The Greek their desserts are sweet, they prepare it with nuts and honey.
On our first evening, we did not know what to choose because there were so many different
typical meals. The waiter was very friendly and explained us all the meals and
its ingredients.
As a starter, we ate taramosalata. This meal is made from the salted calf
of the codfish or carp. It is mixed with bread or mashed potatoes, lemon
juice, vinegar and olive oil. It was very good!
After that, Debra ate a Greek salad. The ingredients are salad,
tomatoes, olives, feta cheese, cumcumber and olive oil. It was served with bread and wine.
Célestine ate pastitsio: a meal with layers, like lasagne. The bottom
was made from paste, eggs and cheese. The second layer was made with meat
(beef, veal and lamb) and tomatoes. Then, there was another layer with paste
and the final layer was with Béchamel sauce or Béchamel sauce with cheese.
Greek people use spices like cinnamon and nutmeg to finish the dish.
Lauren ate souvlaki: cubes from pickled lamb or pork and served with
sauce, bread or French fries.
And I ate moussaka. It consists of aubergine, minced meat,
onions, spices, breadcrumbs, red wine, sliced aubergine, sometimes courgette
too, potatoes, tomatoes, Béchamel sauce and finished with a little bit of
cheese.
We saw that dancing and music is indeed still one of the biggest traditions in
Greece. The people dance at every party in Greece. The children learn the folk
dance by playing. The friendly waiter, Anthos, told us that Greece knows more
than 300 different dances and that each region has its own folk-dance, costumes
and music. It is a very social event and brings people together. People dance
on weddings, at Eastern and other important events in someone’s life.
I did not know any famous Greek persons, but I do know a lot of Greek
gods and goddesses. I am very interested in the Greek mythology, and I am going
to name the most famous gods and goddesses from Greece: Atlas, Aphrodite,
Fauna, Flora, Hercules, Jezus, Neptunus, Venus, Zeus etc. There a lot of Greek
gods and goddesses with each their history.
And how could I finish my blog without saying anything about the sports
in Greece? The Olympic Games, the biggest international sporting event. The
Olympic Games started in Olympia, a village in Greece. The Games are organised
in winter and summer. The most famous symbols are the Olympic flag and the
Olympic flame. Nowadays, the Paralympic Games (the Games for disabled persons)
are becoming more and more important.
Keep reading!
Liesbeth
Sources:
Three relevant
real-life examples:
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It was so weird to hear the Greek language and the alfa-bèta-gamma alphabet, was’t it? Fortunately, some people understand English.
I really liked the food there. I did not eat Greek kitchen before so it was a discovery for me. The food was not that healthy but I liked it, though.
I did not like our starter the first evening. We ate taramosalata, remember? BEH!
After that, I ate souvlakia. I was happy to eat a French fries.
I am happy that I did not pick the Greek salad because I hate feta cheese. The meal of Célestine, pastitsio, looked amazing. It looked like a lasagne, mmm. I think I am addicted to Italian food…
Greece is actually a very rich country when you think of, for example, the Greek mythology with the famous gods and goddesses from Greece, for example Aphrodite.
Also The Olympic Games is named after Olympia, a village in Greece.
I really liked our time spending here and I will definitely go back to Greece with my boyfriend this summer.
Thank you for the beautiful time together, Liesbeth.