www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Parish Life & Evangelization Greek Fest!

Thank You

New Yorker Born and raised, but my parents are from Cyprus so I am first generation.

I remember going to Titan since I was little, with no traffic it only takes us 15-20 minutes to get there. I love how the smell of olives just hits you when you walk in there.

Why won't my picture work, it worked last night?

[img]http://f7.yahoofs.com/users/4479ed83ze2128761/6985re2/__sr_/5431re2.jpg?ph40weEBVrlyZyTa[/img]

Doc,

I have to say you resemble Incognitus somewhat . I believe he is a little trimmer though with some more hair up top. Better start using that new hair tonic!

In the Risen Christ,
Father Anthony+

What, I thought ouzo helped burn fat!

Doc,

Like all medications ouzo comes with some side effects. Now you have discovered one of the negative side effects of ouzo . You really need to brush up on those side effects.

In the Risen Christ,
Father Anthony+

Besides making your face do this what other side effects are there?

Now, now gentlemen--enough disparaging remarks about Greece's national alchoholic drink!

Though I do not like it myself, one must understand that it has to be taken in the right frame of mind.

Ouzo is traditionally served over ice and drunk with a variety of meze/appetizers to accompany it. One should also be sitting at an outdoor cafe on a sunny day, overlooking the sea, without a care in the world...

Perhaps in such manner, it is more palatable?!?

Alice

To be fair, here's a site that praises OYZO:

http://www.lesvos.com/ouzo.html

Another on the history on OYZO:

http://www.greeknet.com/ouzo.htm

I thought it was a punishment from the Turks!

Last October I was in Greece and I had the occasion to try a glass with ouzo.

Well...I'd say I'd prefer rather a very fine cafe or a cold tea from mint or lime with lemon.

Ouzo is a very strange drink, but so I find also almost all the drinks based on alcohol. Only rare a little glass with visinata, a soft drink from cherries.

I simply love that sea and land. It vibrates of warmth. I was being in that warm water looking to the Olimp Mount. Aloof blue.........

In the Risen Christ, Marian +

Maybe one day you will be looking at that sea everyday from Mt. Athos?!?

The only problem is that you can only look but not enjoy, because monks are not allowed the pleasure of swimming in the beautiful sea.

In Christ,
Alice

P.S. If you like Visinada, you will really like Soumada, which is my favorite non-alchoholic traditional Greek drink. It is made from almond syrup (the Italians also have it, I believe it is called 'orzata' in Italian) and it is traditionally offered to guests to celebrate engagements, weddings, christenings, etc. It is a very delicate and sweet drink.

Dear Dr. Eric you said:

Now I will say ...with my Greek blood boiling:

First of all, you shouldn't have taken shots of ouzo. Put some water and ice in it, (it becomes white), and it is delicious and very refreshing. I like it, and even use it as flavoring in things like rice pudding. My Gosh, taking shots! SHAME ON YOU! It's amazing you're still alive. :rolleyes:

As for the music, the mode has always been different than Western music. That's how they can determine if people were actually descendants of the ancient Greeks...such as the Pontians, (whose music I can't stand, by the way)...or maybe the Epiriots. (Again whose music I can'ts stand). But it matters not, they like it. :rolleyes:

As for the Oriental influence, one has to consider if the music is originally from the Byzantines, Persians, Turks, or Arabs. That part of the world lived together for 3,000 years.

The Greeks have always found themselves in the Middle of two different cultures. When they tend towards Europe, the music becomes more European. When they tend towards the East, it becomes Eastern.

The old island music is lovely because they had Italian influences, yet the mode or timing is Greek...although I can't stand the new island music. It seems a repitition of the same tempo's, no melodies..and it's disgusting.

The heyday of Greek music was in the 1960's and 1970's when Hadjidakis, Theodorakis, and a few other composers took the 'bouzouki' music of the Greek dives, (remnants of the refugee's from Asia Minor), and composed the most beautiful music imaginable. The music became known throughout Europe...but those days are gone forever. It seems the new music is a mixture of our Western 'junk' and Greek. Nothing special!

As for the music of the minarets, and all Arab and Middle Eastern music, I just love it. I know though that Westerners do not appreciate it,but since I was raised with Greek music.... :p

Zenovia

Zenovia,
No one offered me the OYZO with water. I just got it in a plastic shot glass.

I wasn't complaining about the music either, I thought is actually sounded cool. It still seems very Middle Eastern to me, I was expecting more of an 7 note system that we are used to in the West without the microtones.

I was expecting something like the Carpathian Chant which is based on the mixolydian mode (D major scale with A as the root note.) Instead I was treated to augmented, diminished, and microtonal music. Spectacular!

As for OYZO, I still don't get the licorice flavor.

Personally, I find anise flavored liqueurs such as Ouzo, Raki, Sambuco, Arak, etc. to be fairly mild and quit drinkable. Most people I know will actually shoot them however, everybody has their own preference. We were over at friends for memorial day and the host's preference is to drink it quickly. He gets an Ouzo I had never heard of from some guy who is an importer in Northern Jersey. It was quite good and left to my own devices I would just sip it neat like a whisky.

The one drink I really cannot savor and have to shoot is �ljivovica.

Regarding Greek Fests, there are two in the Philadelphia area this weekend. St. Luke's in Broomall is having a one day fund raiser on Saturday for their new cultural center. St. Sophia's is having their annual festival starting Wednesday and going through the weekend. They will have food, folk dancing, rides and so on. It's a lot of fun.

We had our own mini fest when it was our turn at church to sponsor a few weeks ago and my wife made Kefthedes and Pastitsio (two of my favorites) among other things.

Andrew

Hello, my beloved sister in Christ, Aggeliki,

Well...you made me smile in my inner and bad heart. My sister, my sister, what business has a monk with the pleasure of swimming in the beautiful sea ???

It is so true that that warm sea enveils as a fine silk a soul, but who could speak about the night hours of humble prayer, of night service in katholikon, of the unspeakable deep joy of a soul monk who has as comfort the hesychia gifted by the Most Holy Trinity, as mantle the mercy of the Panagia Theotokos Glykophilousa?

My so beloved sister, I lived such nights in the Carpathians mountains, in two remote monasteries.

Looking to the Aegean Sea, a soul can understand better the blue from the Icon of St. Andrei Rublev, of the Most Holy Trinity, looking to the sea a soul is invited to understand the reasons of this world, so well explained by St. Maxim o Eksomologos, looking to a sea a soul can open his or her heart and bloom and all is peace and joy.

Beyond the pleasure of swimming, a soul is invited to make a further step on the the stairs of purification-illumination-theosis.

Well...my sister. I don't know to swimm, I just floated... And it is so true that I had no heart sorrow in Greece.

May God bless you all. Amin.

In Risen Christ, your brother Marian +

P.S. Dear sister, thank you so much for writing the name of Agio Oros.

Dear Gordo,

Sorry that I didn't get back to you sooner.

Incognitus says that if we wish to know who he is at an event he may be attending, the way to recognize him would be to look for someone with a papar bag over his face..

This is quite suiting, I believe, for someone who calls himself Incognitus!

He has not, to my knowledge, posted any such photo of himself, but apparently Dr. Eric has followed his example and in his case, has actually posted a photo of himself w/ a paper bag over his face!!!

Alice