A Little Night Music
After another sumptuous breakfast I took up residence on a sofa in the lobby to work on my blog and was soon joined by Victoria who was catching up on work and Jeanne who was itching to watch one of her beloved Korean Dramas on her iPad, the mini-series style formula romances that she has become addicted to. We’ve been in the company of groups of Asians several times and Jeanne just lights up. “Her people,” Shana commented. I’m determined to catch one so I can see what the fuss is all about. Jeanne never did get to watch because Shana asked her to diagram the Orphan Greek family tree, and soon they were joined by Leo and Vic, and eventually George, attempting to fill in kid’s names and family relationships. It was interesting to watch. They are going to visit some of these relatives after the cruise. I understand Shana’s need for documentation. Poor Steve has a family count of 15 and I have a cast of thousands; he was in a similar situation when we were first together. He still struggles with the family we don’t see often, and even I can’t remember some of my cousins’ kid’s names.
All that thinking made everyone hungry, so we returned to Arsenis Taverna for lunch, as it was nearby and good. The big discussion was about calamari. At first Jeanne rated theirs a 5, because she expects a bite with a bit of resistance, and then a “pop”, maybe even a bit of a squeak. Victoria shuddered at the description. Obviously Jeanne’s next bite popped and squeaked because her rating went to an 8. Steve and I split the fish, a sea bass called Tsipoura, mostly because I wanted more of the olive oil-lemon sauce.
Later in the afternoon we changed clothes for the evening, long pants, walking shoes and a sweater or jacket in case the mosquitoes (which might be the size of mice) were out, as we had tickets to a concert at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus amphitheater at the base of the Acropolis. But first, more food. The Orphans had some business to do off of Syntagma Square, so the rest of us had coffee at the shop near their Athens apartment. There was a rock band playing in the square, a World Cup match on the TV in the café’s upstairs lounge, and a rain shower going on outside, so we hung out until our cousins returned and the rain stopped.
We then went back to the infamous gyro restaurant, and this time went for gyros instead of platters, a bit more manageable from a portion standpoint but messy as all get out. It was my first time experiencing “fire feta” which is a spicy-creamy-feta spread packing some heat. I slathered some of that on my chicken gyro.
The restaurant serves chunks of great sourdough-like bread which you just grab and tear a hunk off of, and Vic told the story of a relative whose doctor asked how many slices of bread he ate a day. His answer was “No slicey bread! Breaky bread!” This was definitely breaky bread.
While we were eating the skies opened up, after Vic saying “It’s not going to rain!” So we happily sat and waited for it to clear before making our way from Ermou Street to the back of the Acropolis. It was quite the hike on rain slicked stone steps and paths, but afforded beautiful views and the chance to work off the gyro.
The concert was known as The Athens Project, a collaboration between Charles Lloyd, the jazz saxophonist, and Maria Fantanouri, the Greek singer of Mikis Theodorakis songs. Yannis Spathas, the great Greek guitarist, was their special guest for this performance. The other musicians included Takis Farazis (piano), Socrates Sinopoulos (lyre), Reuben Rogers (bass) and Eric Harland (drums) and Gerald Clayton (piano). I didn’t catch the name of the musician playing the Cimbaloman, an elaborate stringed instrument of the dulcimer family that looks like a piano with no keys; the strings are played with vibe hammers. Wonderful percussive sounds emanated from this piece, which none of us had ever experienced before. Gerald Clayton is the son of John Clayton, who along with his brother Jeff are The Clayton Brothers, a well known jazz group. We’d had the pleasure to see Gerald play with his dad and uncle on a jazz cruise several years ago.
So picture this: An amphitheater at the base of the Acropolis, the lights are bathing the stone in blue-white and magenta glow, and two pianos are framing the stage with an upright base in the center. There is steel scaffolding and electronic equipment against the ancient ruins, and musical instruments old and new. We’re sitting on marble seats used by audiences since AD 161; I can imagine the old souls swirling through the openings in the stone. Charles Lloyd’s ensemble appears and begins their jazz set. We can already tell it’s going to be a good night. Just as they introduce Maria Fantanouri the rain starts again. The roadies run out with tarps to cover the instruments and the concert takes a rain delay. Many rush for cover, many open umbrellas, but we had the industrious duo of Leo and Steve who went dumpster diving for cardboard and plastic to keep us dry on the way to the event.
After about 20 minutes the concert began again. I don’t know how to describe it. The mix was Keith Jarrett meets Paul Winter in a Fado/Greek folk music style. The progressions were intense and made us all groove in our seats. It was really an amazing show and we are indebted to Vic for scoping it out and arranging the tickets. Way to go, Vic.
After a short stroll down the Panathenaic Way we found taxis on a side street and made our way back to the hotel.
