Public spaces | Urban travel tales

Lost in interpretation

February 14, 2017 by Lisa Samloglou

Dedicated to my beloved mother, Christina Andreou – Samloglou October 1st, 1924 – January 18th, 2015 To be remembered….* Long walks along Thames in Surrey, along the riverside of Kingston-upon-Thames and Richmond from September 2015 to the early spring of 2017 have inspired this post. Looking back, it has been a period of silence, mourning and reconnecting the dots to go ahead … Winter sweeps off relentlessly the lush greenery revealing dark branches where before was foliage. Follow with your gaze the numerous […]

Categories: My Travel Journals, Poetic prose, Reflections on love and other arts • Tags: Cultural travel, Life, Long Reads, Nature, Photography, Poetic prose, Public spaces, United Kingdom, Walking, Writing

Save the spirit of the 31st Athens Classic Marathon

November 10, 2013 by Lisa Samloglou

31st Athens Classic Marathon dedicated to the memory of Grigoris Lamprakis November 10, 2013 The city of Athens celebrates today. More than 30.000 runners participate. The community responds, greets the runners warmly, cheers them with bravos and applause. The sun is warm, the sky is blue. I saw runners praying to their gods. I saw a runner in bare foot and a girl crying because she had to give up shortly before the termination at the Kallimarmaron Stadium. I saw tears […]

Categories: Athens for your eyes only • Tags: Athens Greece, Cultural travel, Culture, Greece, Ελλάδα, journalism, Life, Photography, Public spaces, Travel, Urban metaphors, Urban travel tales

urban travel tales, Athens 2013,Plateia Klafthmonos, Πλατεία Κλαυθμώνος, Square Athens

In the town I was born: Athens

September 24, 2013 by Lisa Samloglou

For Greek: http://to.ly/pi65 incident number 1: The clash, the stone-throwing, the tear gas started at 10:30 in the evening, on Saturday 21st September 2013. The location is not far from the centre of Athens, regardless of whether we measure from the old centre Omonoia, or the new, Syntagma. For a city of this dimension Athens’ centre is not large. So, here I am driving up Leoforos Alexandras, in front of the Football Stadium, that houses the team of Panathinaikos. “The game […]

Categories: Athens for your eyes only • Tags: Athens Greece, City, Culture, Greece, journalism, Life, Long Reads, Public spaces, Urban metaphors, Urban travel tales, Writing

urban travel tales, Puglia, Apulia, Fiesta di Santa Vittoria, Spongano

Places that console me: Puglia, Apulia

September 21, 2013 by Lisa Samloglou

For Greek http://to.ly/p90L In my travels of the recent years I am visiting places, locations and communities about which I know very little. I’m one of the travelers who do not get prepared meticulously beforehand. So, I am landing at the place with a vast curiosity and little bias, I like to think. Locally I gather information, starting from the airport or the port, right from the reception point. Landing to Brindisi via Rome I find at the airport a range of […]

Categories: My Travel Journals • Tags: Art, City, Cultural travel, Culture, Design, Europe, Italy, Life, Public spaces, Travel, Urban travel tales, Writing

urban travel tales, Puglia, Apulia, Fiesta di Santa Vittoria

Τόποι που με παρηγορούν, Απούλια, Puglia, Apulia

September 21, 2013 by Lisa Samloglou

for English http://to.ly/p90S Στα ταξίδια μου των τελευταίων χρόνων επισκέπτομαι μέρη, τόπους και κοινότητες για τα οποία ελάχιστα γνωρίζω. Δεν είμαι από τους ταξιδιώτες που προετοιμάζονται σχολαστικά. Προσγειώνομαι λοιπόν στον τόπο με πολύ περιέργεια και λίγη προκατάληψη, θέλω να πιστεύω. Επιτόπου συγκεντρώνω πληροφορίες, αρχής γενομένης από το αεροδρόμιο ή το λιμάνι, από το σημείο υποδοχής. Όταν προσγειώνομαι στο Μπρίντιζι μέσω Ρώμης βρίσκω στο αεροδρόμιο μια ποικιλία από καλογραμμένους οδηγούς, χάρτες και βιβλιαράκια με εύληπτες πληροφορίες για καλοκαιρινές εκδηλώσεις, μουσική, θέατρο & χορό, τέχνη […]

Categories: Ταξιδιωτικά μου Ημερολόγια • Tags: Cultural travel, Culture, Design, Italy, πόλη, Δημόσιοι χώροι, Ιταλία, Ταξίδι, Life, Public spaces, Travel, Urban travel tales, Writing

a bench with a view

March 26, 2013 by Lisa Samloglou

This blog post is an experiment in poetic prose matched with photos from the island of Kea or Tzia that have inspired it. It is reviewed by the highly acclaimed Exile Room, an art space and very active non-profit organisation operating at the centre of Athens with specific “obsession” the art & practice of documentaries. The last years they have been showing regularly distinctive documentaries from the international scene; they also organise seminars and host the most hospitable events. Thank you Exile Room, […]

Categories: Greek islands, My Travel Journals, Poetic prose, Reflections on love and other arts • Tags: Art, Cultural travel, Culture, Gardens, Greece, Greek islands, Kea island, Life, Love, Nature, Photography, Poetic prose, Public spaces, Travel, Writing

urban travel tales, Athens National Garden

Where have they gone the monkeys Mom?

March 21, 2013 by Lisa Samloglou

It is Sunday, a warm day of 18 C/65 F, when in London is -1/-30.2 F and in New York +2/35.6 F. In Greece we are blessed with a mild weather and an enticing light. In the National Garden, at the center of Athens, next to the Parliament, people are walking, sitting on the benches. Most of the grown-ups have arrived from Central Europe and the Balkan countries, but their children speak Greek without any accent. They take photos; they watch […]

Categories: Athens for your eyes only • Tags: Athens Greece, Cultural travel, Culture, Gardens, Greece, Public spaces, Travel, Urban travel tales, Writing

urban travel tales,Tomb at Toumba Building, Lefkandi

Athens hosts ‘Princesses’ of Mediterranean at the Museum of Cycladic Art

March 15, 2013 by Lisa Samloglou

For GREEK http://to.ly/kvJe At the Museum of Cycladic Art from December 13, 2012 until May 8th, 2013 the personal objects that were found buried in the graves were brought together here to constitute the exhibition ” ‘Princesses’ of Mediterranean in the dawn of History”. Some of them have traveled from Cyprus, Southern Italy, Etruria to meet their synchronous from Greece: Attica, Euboea, Macedonia. The turnout is big at the well-organized Museum of Cycladic Art. This spring day, a Saturday, it is […]

Categories: Athens for your eyes only • Tags: Archaeology Greece, Archaeology Mediterranean, Art, Athens Greece, City, Cultural travel, Culture, Greece, Greek Museums, Long Reads, Public spaces, Travel, Urban travel tales, Writing

urbantraveltales,Karthea, Kea/Tzia, Greece, Karthaia, europea-nostra-award-2017

Walking the trail to the ancient Karthea, at the Greek island of Kea

March 3, 2013 by Lisa Samloglou

For Greek Προς την αρχαία Καρθαία, στη νήσο Κέα As in fairy tales we stand uncertain at crossroads. As pilgrims we share stories along the way. The starting point is Korissia, the harbor of Kea. The Cycladic island is also known by its other name Tzia. We drive to Kato Mera (Katomeria) following the road map. We stop at the parking lot to eat omelettes and drink coffee. While our breakfast is prepared we walk to the stone shed hidden behind some houses of the village. […]

Categories: Greek islands, Ταξιδιωτικά μου Ημερολόγια, My Travel Journals • Tags: Archaeology Greece, Archaeology Mediterranean, Cultural travel, Cyclades, Ecology, Greece, Greek islands, Karthaia, Kea island, Kea/Tzia, Long Reads, Photography, Poles, Public spaces, Travel, Urban travel tales

urbantraveltales, spring at Greek island, Kea

Walking by the sea after a long winter…

February 25, 2013 by Lisa Samloglou

Usually the words come first. Today, looking at the photos from my first walk by the sea, I have no words. Words do not serve me. What I need are brushes and a huge palette of paints to catch the arrival of spring after a long cold angry winter that took us by surprise. The intensity of the weather left some of us deeply wounded. We turn to nature to find a shelter for our uncertainties. To see a sign of the regeneration we are […]

Categories: Reflections on love and other arts • Tags: Cultural travel, Greek islands, Kea island, Kea/Tzia, Nature, Photography, Public spaces, Travel, Urban travel tales, Writing