Culture and tradition

THE FOOTBALL, NATIONAL SPORT IN GREECE.

Football is an institution in Greece. There are broadcasts of football matches everywhere, in any Kafenion. Every night football addicts find a reason to flame up for a particular team.

For those who do not support the foot, this is a little heavy after a while, the Greeks live to the rhythm of the football season, they speak football, they read football, they eat football but do they really play football?

The two most populars teams are the Olympiakos and the Panathinaikos. The supporter of the Olympiakos are traditionally from the working class, it's the team of Piraeus.

Panathinaikos is considered as the club of the upper classes in Athens. These two teams symbolized the eternal rivalry between Athens and Piraeus, between the low class and the upper class.

ORDER A COFFEE IN GREECE AND IN GREEK.

If you go into a Greek coffee and ask for a 'coffee', the waiter will look at you dubiously because it exists all kinds of coffee; Nescafe, filter coffee, espresso, cappuccino, iced coffee, iced espresso, Greek coffee.

The most popular is the iced coffee with Nescafe, the 'Frappé', you need to specify the amount of sugar because the mixture is made before, unsweetened: sketo, sweet: metrio, very sweet: gliko, with milk: me gala.

The Greek coffee, the equivalent of Turkish coffee is served directly with the coffee grounds, it's called: eleniko, again you need to specify the amount of sugar before.

GREEKS AND ALCOHOL.

The Greeks are they heavy drinkers? Certainly yes, but sociable drinkers, they go out in band, drink a lot, but the atmosphere is always good, slips are very rare. At family gatherings or parties with friends, alcohol is cut with considerable quantities of food. In coffees and bars it is also common to accompany alcohol with some mezze, which mitigates the effect.

In northern Greece they even brings free food to accompany your drink. No need to go to the restaurant so, you just go to a bar and order a beer to eat ...

THE MEANING OF THE GESTURE IN GREECE.

The Greeks have their own gestures, the most surprising and confusing for a foreigner is how they mean yes or no, unlike us, they shake their heads from side to side to say yes and upwards for say no.

The gesture of supreme insult is not the finger to means 'fuck you', it is like they throw a spell on you with a wide open hand toward your face, a X.

THE CELEBRATION OF THE EPIPHANY IN GREECE.

The Epiphany is celebrated also in Greece, the 6 of January, with the difference they celebrate the baptism of Jesus by St. John The Baptist and not the visit of Jesus by the Magi.

So there is no wafer kings in Greece, but instead the blessing of the waters (there is usually a ceremony in major ports such as Piraeus and Patras, besides rivers and large lakes of the country) .

The priest during the celebration throws a cross into the water, several swimmers will dive to try to retrieve the cross, the winner will be blessed throughout the year.

SHADOW THEATER IN GREECE.

Shadow theater in Greece is called Karaghiósis, by the name of the central character of Greek shadow theater. It is a Greek living in the Ottoman Empire. He lives in a shack and walk barefoot. It symbolizes the man of the people who by his own cunning triumph of the powerful people.

Shadows are produced by silhouettes that are interposed between the light behind and the screen.

THE GREEKS AND CIGARETTE ...

The law was passed but nothing happens, the Greeks are die-hard smokers and continue to smoke in pubs and restaurants. The first week after the smoking law passed, the Greeks did not know what to expect, smoking or no smoking in the public spaces. As a precaution they first smoked outside coffees and seeing nothing ahead, they decided to go back inside the bars to smoke, with changing the ashtrays by small glasses of water.

A month later, the ashtrays were back on the coffee tables and some people even showed clearly their views on the issue by putting outside the establishment a poster "smoking aera."

Greece, the last bastion of smokers in Europe ...

THE CULTURAL MIX IN GREECE.

Greece is one of the main doors to Europe for immigrants from the Middle East fleeing war and poverty, like Pakistan, Iraq, Iran. Greece also attracts many people from Eastern Europe, due to the slightly higher wages; Romanian, Bulgarian, Polish, Russian.

Albanians are especially present and are certainly the most integrated community into Greek society. And then of course, the Chinese are definitely everywhere and hold cheap clothing stores, not restaurants as in France, the Greeks are not so fond of the Asian cuisine.

DRIVING IN GREECE.

Driving in Athens is difficult and stressful, driving in Greece is pretty cool. OK, some Greeks think they are on a F1 circuit, but fortunately they are not so many.

There is an important rule to know, it is customary to let pass, by folding a bit on the low side the car behind you if it goes faster than you.

The positive point is that you will almost never be blocked by a car in front of you, unless it's a truck. The negative point is that you should always have a look behind you, because if you do not let pass, you will be quickly reprimanded by a concert of horn.

Tweet