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- Orthodox

Orthodox priests and monks have many roles

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 - Donkeys

Donkeys have been, since ancient times, the faithful beast of burden of the farmer, builder and the locals as a means of transport. Each family living in rural areas owned a donkey which was mainly used for moving and agricultural activities. Before roads were paved, it provided the only safe means of negotiating narrow and winding paths where no car would fit.  Also, traditionally, brides would ride on a donkey’s back to the church and back.

Greek Cats

Authentic Greece by George Meis

Samos cat  (My photo)