Clean Monday

Last Monday (yes, I know, I am a week behind in posting...) was the first day of Lent. In the Western Christian tradition I know the first day of Lent as 'Ash Wendesday' but here in Athens it is 'Clean Monday' or 'Kathara Deftera', as in the 'cleaning' of ones sins away. It brings to an end what had been a week of Carnivale, which is not much celebrated in the US outside of New Orleans, but is definitely a weeklong event here in Athens, which involves lots of dressing up in costumes, staying out late, and in the morning finding confetti covering the streets. (I was also hit on the bum with a large squeaky plastic bat by quite a cheeky little 10 year old one night, which was met with great laughter from his parents.)

Clean Monday is quite a festival in Athens. It is a public holiday, and we ventured out along the stone walkway that shadows the Acropolis towards Filopappou Hill where we came across lots of people, and street vendors selling food, balloons, cotton candy, popcorn, and of course, kites. Because for some reason I have yet to discover, the traditional activity of Clean Monday is kite-flying. It is supposedly the only day of the year that Athenians fly kites.

And it is wonderful!! What a gorgeous view from the top of Filopappou, with all of the kites dotting the sky over the city.



The great mess of people.

Looking up at all of the little people on top of the Acropolis.



At the top of Filopappou Hill.

Kite fliers!

The beautiful view of the sea from the top of Filopappou.

Our lunch; not your usual street fair fare!

A little video of the kites:

And an almost 360 degree tour from the top of Filopappou narrated by Tim Barnes:

(sorry about the poor quality of the videos; I promise to take my HD camera next time!)

An evening in Australia?

Last night (Saturday night) Tim and I went with Dreya to the British School of Classical Studies' Carnivale party. The theme of the party was, oddly enough, Australia. (*NB: Tim and I happen to have three Australian parents between us.) Dreya told us we didn't really need to wear costumes or anything, so I must say we were quite surprised to arrive and find a heap of British & American classicists dressed as some wild variations of 'Australia'. Not to mention the decorations, with a life-size paper-towel-roll-and-duct-tape kangaroo greeting us at the door, posters like this one plastering the walls:




...and snacks like these paprika-flavored mini kangaroos.




They even decorated their statues.
(The cork hat is very Australian.)




Unforunately, the low light didn't allow me to get any pictures of the great costumes. The winners of the costume contest included all the members of AC/DC, two 'dingoes' carrying around dead babies and a pavlova. (Half the people there were dressed as convicts--I guess it was too cliche to win any kind of prize.)

Anyway, it was a fun time, if a little weird, having just arrived in Athens, to find ourselves in Oz.