Summertime in Greeceland

Enjoy some photos of what summer looks like in paradise (Greeceland) with some tunes and quotes to go along. Hope you are all busy being lazy sunbathers on an island not so far away..

The only sign worth following all summer long.

Quintessential Greek Summer: FIGS

SEAHORSE

Look what I found in the middle of nowhere on a Greek island: A Rubik's cube transformer!

On the road

Greek Summer 

Boat Rides and Life Jackets 

A home with a view. Meet me between the music and the castle 

 Glitter in the Gutter in the sand dunes.

Sand Dune Love

Dry salt lake 

Greek Delight 

Absolute Summertime Essentials

 

Sometimes I feel like throwing my hands up in the air 

 Sunset snack 

Dinner 

Scary sponge thingy 

Anchors Away

 Fisherman Blues

Summertime Essentials #2

Essentials #3

And given the beating my beautiful country has been receiving recently I must admit it was rather refreshing to read some praise from the master himself Mr Henry Miller in "The Colossus of Maroussi" (a definite must read for all you wandering romantic souls.) Miller spent 5 months in Greeceland just before the onset of the the second World War in the company of our hommes des letters such as Seferis, Katsimbalis and Ghikas. He speaks of the time just before we started getting it all wrong by buying into the American Dream. Enjoy...

"That conversation taught me immediately that the Greeks are an enthusiastic, curious-minded, passionate people. Passion-it was something I had long missed in France. Not only passion, but contradictoriness, confusion, chaos-all these sterling human qualities I rediscovered and cherished again in the person of my new-found friend. And generosity. I had almost thought it had perished from the earth."

Funny that Miller takes note of the glass of water that is automatically served the moment you sit down at any restaurant or bar throughout Greece. A lover from the North that visited my country several times was also rather taken by the way water is our constant companion throughout the day.

"The glass of water...everywhere I saw the glass of water. It became obsessional. I began to think of water as a new thing, a new vital element of life. Earth, air, fire, water. Right now water had become the cardinal element. Seeing lovers sitting there in the dark drinking water, sitting there in peace and quiet and talking in low tones, gave me a wonderful feeling about the Greek character. The dust, the heat, the poverty, the bareness, the containedness  of the people, and the water everywhere in little tumblers standing between the quiet, peaceful couples, gave me the feeling that there was something holy about the place, something nourishing and sustaining."

 

"There are so many ways of walking about and the best, in my opinion, is the Greek way, because it is aimless, anarchic, thoroughly and discordantly human."

"I liked the way they begged too. They weren't shamefaced about it. They would hold you up openly and ask for money or cigarettes as if they were entitled to it. It's a good sign when people beg that way: it means that they know how to give. The French, for example, know neither how to give nor how to ask for favors-either way they feel uneasy. They make a virtue of not molesting you. It's the wall again. A Greek has no walls around him: he gives and takes without stint."

"...the city of Athens. It is still in the throes of birth: it is awkward, confused, clumsy, unsure of itself; it has all the diseases of childhood and some of the melancholy and desolation of adolescence. But is has chosen a magnificent site in which to rear itself; in the sunlight it gleams like a jewel; at night it sparkles with a million twinkling lights which seem to be switching on and off with lightning-like speed. It is a city of startling atmospheric effects: it has not dug itself into the earth-it floats in a constantly changing light, beats with a chromatic rhythm." 

And to close a part from the introduction by none other than Mr Will Self:

"...if you believe in the brand of sympathetic literary magic that Henry Miller purveys, perhaps you will take his existential leap, go there yourself- and feel it anew. That's what he would have wanted. True avant-garde still had torsion. Delphi. The rest is noise."      

And since this post is all about summer enjoy an alternative version of  The summer hit that I am sure you have all danced to until the morning light it may lack some of the funky rhythm of Daft Punk and Pharrell but it is a personal favorite

And my favorite tune from the latest funktastic Daft Punk album

And one last one cause summer is tropical

One last one cause I want to see you HIGH