Water vehicles

 The Tax Tower in Alkmaar, the Netherlands.

Sent by Gerrit in Alkmaar, The Netherlands

on 23 Aug, 2015

travel time 8 days

distance travelled 1,497 km

The Accijnstoren, meaning tax tower, is a tower in the dutch town of Alkmaar, built in 1622. All imported goods must be presented to the tower, the usage rights that were taken were an important source of income for the city. This square bell tower is built of brick with stone bands.

The ship is former inland freighter, the type is called Tjalk.

 Pythagorion harbor on Samos island, Greece.

My Samos collection.

 Yachts on the lake Galve, Trakai, Lithuania

Sent by Lidija in Sakiai, Lithuania

on 7 Aug, 2017

travel time 7 days

distance travelled 852 km

Traditional Greece - blue and white

Our first visit to Santorini island 1991

Second visit in 1992

Third visit in 1994

 Fourth visit 1998

Fifth visit in  2014

Traditional Greece- Cafes, Καφενείο

γειασου! Cheers

Cafe seats by the sea  Mytlini / Lebos

Little yellow cafe Crete 

Καφενείο

Kafenio typically serves various types of Greek coffee, including Greek coffee and frappé, as well as beer, retsina, and ouzo. Most kafenia provide meze or free snacks and rarely serve full meals. Kafenia were traditionally family-run businesses and furnished simply. The walls are often whitewashed. Kafenia often serve as social centers of villages and islands where they are located. People socialize after work or play a game of cards. In previous centuries, the kafenio was a place where women weren't welcome but now kafenia are frequented by girls and women. 

Traditional Greece - little villages

A majority of the people in the villages are old. Most of the young leave after highschool to work or study in cities or overseas.  Many of the old people have lived in America or Australia and come back to their ancestral home to retire. Some of the old people never left and continue to work the fields and orchards their parents and grandparents worked. 

 and the work never ends...

Traditional Greece - transport

Traditional Greek fishing boats Caiques on Samos island.

A caïque is a  fishing boat usually found among the waters of the Ionian or Aegean Sea. It is traditionally a small brightly painted wooden trading vessel.

Traditional Greece - fishing

Fishermen's net

Drying the octopus in the sun in the seaside village on the island of Crete.

Traditional Greece - costumes

Engraving 

Tinted sketch of an old man with costume from Sfakia, Crete

Traditional Karpathos  costumes and girls ready to dance.

Women in black
 Religious traditions concerning mourning - widows wearing black for the rest of their lives after the death of their husbands.