Greece Local Custom Tips by nickandchris

Mid Morning Business Meeting

To those of us who live in a less sunny climate, business meetings are always carried out indoors, maybe a pub, a hotel or a restaurant. We find it quite amusing to see Greek business men dressed in their suits carrying out business meetings at an outdoor taverna. Undoubtedly, these meetings become rather rowdy, the more the ouzo and wine is consumed. For example, a mid morning coffee break to us in England is a quick cup of coffee probably sat at our desk. Not so for a Greek, he will be in his favourite taverna surrounded by plates of food and drink and it could take some time before he resumes work.

Whilst in Koroni, we enjoyed watching the work party at a nearby table.

Avrio....

Always remember when a Greek says "Avrio" he doesn't mean tomorrow. He just means not today, sometime in the future!!!!
Plan any outings, meetings, etc. accordingly. Make contingency plans in case avrio isn't tomorrow so as not to waste a day of your precious time.

It's A Man's Life.....

Whilst we were in Paralio Astros this year, we paid a visit to the small, inland village of Kato Doliano. We parked on the main road and walked up the main "shopping" road, looking for somewhere to have a drink. We soon found our goal, a cafeneon where all the men were sitting in the shade, nodding off quietly. We joined them and were made to feel most welcome as the men moved our chairs into the shade for us. Soon, most of the village's males appeared gradually, having just awoken from siesta, coming to view the tourists!
The second time we stopped here, we gave them all a laugh by picking up the table to move it and the table top came away from the rest of it!!! We could imagine them chuckling over that for years; those tourists........
The cheapest place we had a drink at for a long while.

Greek Churches

Here, in England, churches are closing down and either left to rot or turned into housing schemes or put to some other such use. I have never seen a new church under construction in England. Religion is not on the same scale as in Greece.

The Brikki

Used for making coffee and of course perfect for boiling eggs. If you are lucky, the handle may stay intact and the water may come to the boil within the hour. (Depends on your cooking facilities.)
Brikki's seem to come in an array of sizes so you can actually make more than one cup of coffee at a time but that may be a little ambitious***!!

Periptero

The social hub of the village. Here you buy cigarettes, post-cards, sweets, ice-creams, drinks, whatever you can think of they will probably have. Be warned, small change only!!!!
This periptero at Horton, Pilion, was very delicately balanced which made shopping interesting!!

Fish Farming

Not really a custom but more of a fact. Fish are not as plentiful as they used to be and even the Greeks have had to resort to fish farming. It may be that a lot of these farms are run by foreigners, I don't know. Certainly wherever you go by the coast in Greece there is evidence that it is becoming more and more popular.

Filoxenia

The Greek language has such a small vocabulary, many words are the same with different meanings. Filoxenia means friend but it also means" love of a stranger". It is all part of a Greek's way of life, making visitors welcome.

Remembering The Dead

The roadside shrines that you sometimes find on blind bends or in a particularly beautiful location are a reminder of loved ones lost forever. They can be very simple affairs or very elaborate, I suppose depending on what people prefer and can afford. I am never sure if where they are located is where the person has died or is a favourite place.

Greeks Love Of Children

One thing that is very obvious when in Greece is their love of children. They are welcomed in all situations and usually a great deal of fuss is made over them.
Here we were in a practically all male cafeneon and Michael, at 16 months, was lifted into mama's arms and paraded about the place in front of the men.