Two beauties.

A little blur but.... I wanted to share (this sounds like a rhyme).

My two countries... Οι δύο μου πατρίδες..

I was brought up in Northern Germany in a small town called Bremen (population 600.000)

I had a happy childhood, although I was a bit lazy at school!
I remember my parents. My father was very good to me and my sister. Always in a good mood.

My mother was strict to us and a nervous woman. But we loved them both!!
I don't know how this happened but I cannot remember so much from my past.

It is all very blur in my head!

I met my Greek husband right after I finished High school.
He had a job as obstetrician gynecologist and senior physician in a hospital in Bremen...

His roots where from Crete (father) and Macedonian (mother).
I took sick and came to that hospital. He cured me and we fell in love.

So, this is my story, how I came to live in Athens..
I love this country so much, that I feel more as a Greek..

I see this country with the eyes and criticism of a German and feel with the heart of a Greek woman..


Ανατράφηκα στην Βόρεια Γερμανία σε μία μικρή πόλη που ονομαζεταί Βρέμη (πληθυσμό 600.000).
Είχα μια πολύ ευτυχισμένη παιδική ηλικία. Αν ήμουν και λίγο τεμπέλα στο σχολείο..

Θυμάμαι τους γονείς μου.
Ο πατέρας μου ήταν πολύ καλός με μένα και την αδελφή μου.
Η μητέρα μου ήταν αυστηρή σε μας και μία νευρική γυναίκα.
Αγαπούσαμε όμως και τους δύο πάρα πολύ!
Δεν ξέρω πώς συνέβη αυτό, αλλα δεν μπορώ να θυμηθώ πολύ από το παιδικό παρελθόν μου.
Αύτο θα μου μένει ενα μυστήριο!

¨Οταν τελείωσα το Γυμνάσιο, γνώρισα τον ¨Ελληνα, μετά άνδρα μου..
Δουλέψε ως γυναικολόγος μαιευτήρας σε νοσοκομείο της Βρέμης..
Οι ρίζες του 'ηταν απο την Κρήτη (πατέρας) και Μακεδονία (μητέρα).

Αρρώστισα, νοσηλεύτικα στο νοσοκομείο, και ερώτευτικαμε..

Αυτή είναι η ιστορία πως 'ηρθα στην Αθήνα..

Αγαπώ αυτή την χώρα τόσο πολύ και νιώθω περισσότερα σαν Ελληνίδα.
Βλέπω την Ελλάδα με τα κριτικά μάτια μιας Γερμανίδας και την καρδιά μιας Ελληνίδας!

René Jacobs 'Ombra Fedele Anch'io' (Imagenes de Florencia)

Riccardo Broschi (1698-1756)

Air de Dario
De l'opera Idaspe

The cicada... Ο τζίτζικας..

Since I came to Greece, very young then, these are the first impressions I will remember until I die:

The sun and the bright light.
The scent of flowers.
Noisy streets.
Friendly people.
Old ladies in full make-up.
Men in their pajamas walking in crowdy streets
(in front of hospitals).
Very tall buildings.
The clear sea.
The beautiful islands.
And that special singing during hot summer days:
The cicada.... Ο τζίτζικας..
His singing is so loud and full of joy!!
Tsi tsi tsi tsi
I am going to miss you little fellow!!

Καί τά τζιτζίκια τά τζιτζίκια μέσ' στ'αυτιά τών δέντρων.
(¨Ελύτης)

Τό χρυσό παραμύθι..

A tired soul...

Μία κουρασμένη ψυχή (της ανθρωπότητας)...
This picture was taken somewhere northwest of Greece (Syvota).

Insanity....

Am I going mad?
Help me please, somebody....
Not to go crazyyy!!
It is insanity.

I remember older days, month ago.
Going out, seeing people. Chatting, drinking a glass wine (or two).
Having interesting (or just stupid) conversations.
I had meetings with friends. Having all the fun in the world.
Now I am sitting on my fat, wobbly ass in front of my shitty P.C.
My only companion is my five-year old cat. He is the only one who
can keep up with my new style. My new passion...

Now, I am going to call a friend (or two) to close the door behind me!
Good bye (tschuess - auf Wiedersehen) saluti my dear blogger friends..

See you tomorrow AGAIN  !!

Ohne Worte

Und doch. Vielleicht einige wenige: Es war ein schoener Sommer.

Ο μάγκας .

Young man on his horse...

Christoph Willibald Gluck - Orphee et Eurydice (1774 tenor version in Fr...

A gift from Barcelona.

The world famous illustrator Pep Montserrat sent these beautiful illustrations in a book about "Orfee et Eurydice" to me.

This gave me the idea to share the images, on my blog, with you...

The opera "Orfee et Eurydice" is from the german composer Christoph Willibald Gluck.(1714-1787)

Synopsis.

Eurydice, the young wife of Orpheus, has died shortly after their marriage from a snake bite. Before her tomb, which stands
in a grove of cypress and laurel trees, Nymphs and Shepherds conduct a funeral ceremony. Overcome by grief, the Thracian
singer can only repeat his beloved's name.
Left alone, he gives full voice to his despair in a moving air, to which the echoes of compassionate nature respond. But soon
his emotion turns to rage: appaled by Pluto's decrees, he determines to confront the infernal gods and wrest his wife from them.
Amor encourages him in his audacious plan and promises him success if only he will submit to Jupiter's decrees: on their journey
back to the earth he must not look at Eurydice or explain to her the reasons for his behaviour.
Momentarily dismayed by his condition, Orpheus regains courage and descends to the abode of the dead..

Before the entrance to Hades, masked by curtains of flames and black smoke, Furies, Spectres and Demons - as well as the dog
Cerberus, "raging and howling"- attempt to terrify Orpheus. Undeterred, he appproaches, accompanying his song with his lyre.
The touching strains mollify the infernal attendants, who open up the gates to the realm of the dead. After Orpheus enters, their
natural fury returns and they rush off into the abyss.
In the magical landscape of the Elysian Fields, the Blessed Spirits, oblivious to the earthly world, enjoy a tranquil happiness.
At first taken with the beauty of the place, Orpheus soon implores the Spirits to give him back his beloved.
A veiled figure approaches, led by a Spirit: it is Eurydice. As she is about to give free rein to her happiness, the Spirit signals to
Orpheus to remain impassive until they have left the underworld.

Guiding his wife through the rocky labyrinth that leads out of Hades, Orpheus tells her that she will return to life. The young
woman's joy is quickly dispelled by the inexplicable behaviour of her husband, who obstinately turns away from her.
Increasingly vexed and fearing the loss of his love, she begs him, assails him with questions, trembles in desperation and
reproaches frail, "unkind Fortune". Then Orpheus, no longer able to endure this cruel ordeal, passes the point of no return:
he looks back and Eurydice dies a second time. Distraught with remorse, he gives vent to his despair, then, preparing to follow

his wife in the death, he draws his sword.

Amor, appearing suddenly to restrain him, revives Eurydice and crowns the couple's constancy by leading them back to the world

of the living.

In the magnificent temple dedicated to Amor, who appears surrounded by his attendants, Orpheus, Eurydice, the Nymphs and the

Shepherds pay triumphant homage to the god's limitless power, which  has restored their happiness.
Do not forget to click on the images to see them enlarged.

A future model.

This little girl was posing with such grace in a small village in Syvota, North West from Greece..

Innocence.

Die Wolken..

Zeigt mir in der weiten Welt den Mann, der die Wolken besser kennt und mehr lieb hat als ich!
Oder zeigt mir das Ding in der Welt, das schoener ist als Wolken sind!
Sie sind Spiel und Augentrost, sie sind Segen und Gottesgabe, sie sind Zorn und Todesmacht.
Sie haben die Formen von seligen Inseln und die Formen von segnenden Engeln.
Sie schweben zwischen Gottes Himmel und der armen Erde als schoene Gleichnisse aller
Menschensehnsucht, beiden angehoerig -
Traeume der Erde, in welchen sich ihre befleckte Seele an den reinen Himmel schmiegt.
Sie sind das ewige Sinnbild alles Wanderns, alles Suchens, Verlangens und Heimbegehrens.
Und so, wie sie zwischen Erde und Himmel zag und sehnend und trotzig haengen, so haengen
zag und sehnend und trotzig die Seelen der Menschen zwischen Zeit und Ewigkeit....
Oh, die Wolken, die schoenen, schwebenden, rastlosen!
Ich war ein unwisssendes Kind und liebte sie, schaute sie an und wusste nicht, dass auch ich
als eine Wolke durchs Leben gehen wuerde - wandernd, ueberall fremd, schwebend zwischen
Zeit und Ewigkeit...

A Fragment from a Novel "Peter Camenzind" by Hermann Hesse.

Vivaldi - Four Seasons (Winter)

A bit early for winter thoughts..

but seeing pictures from Venice

I could not help myself to post this.

With best wishes for a nice September.. Καλό μήνα !