Dining by the sea

A family having an early dinner (or late lunch) by the sea in Mikrolimano, Piraeus. Mikrolimano is a small bay below the hill of Kastella in Piraeus, Greece. Piraeus is the port of Athens.

A number of restaurants, cafes and tavernas line the bay, offering diners the opportunity to enjoy their meal right next to the water. The only way to get closer to the sea is to dive in!

Hellenic Parliament

On one of the rare occasions when I left home without a camera, I got the opportunity to take a photo of an iconic building from an unusual angle. Luckily, my Nokia 5800 phone came to the rescue, so I can share this image with you.

This is Syntagma Square, in the centre of Athens. The yellow building in the middle of the photo is the Hellenic Parliament, previously a royal palace. The expance of green to the right hand side is the National Garden.

I took this photo from the top floor cafe of Public Store. I like it because it shows how close Athens is to the mountains. The range visible in the background is Ymittos (Hymettus), which lies along the east border of the city.

Souvenirs

I took this photo in the Plaka area in Athens, where all the tourist shops are. I'm not sure if the rag doll is on sale, I suspect not. It's not the prettiest of dolls, but it looked chilled out sitting on her little chair amongst the T-shirts, postcards and ceramics. I couldn't resist snapping it.

Vuvuzelas in Athens

If you've watched the recent FIFA World Cup, you will know what these are. If you're not a footie fan, let me explain: they are vuvuzelas, stadium horns used at football matches in South Africa. They make a monotone sound that resembles loud buzzing when you're watching a match on the TV. Very annoying but also quite distinctive.

I took this photo in Plaka, Athens, a few days after the world cup final between the Netherlands and Spain (Spain won). I've never before seen them on sale anywhere in Europe, which makes me think about the power of televised international sport.

A bite to eat

Travellers at Heathrow Terminal 5 grabbing a bite to eat at the Pret-A-Manger outlet. I like the bird's eye view.

Cadillac

I snapped this picture in Greenwich, SE London, earlier tonight. It's not often you see a car like that in our streets.

Spoons!

I took this photo in a Greek restaurant in London, called As Greek As It Gets. The food isn't the best, but the decor is very "modern Greek" and very interesting. Not a blue-and-white checkered tablecloth or chair with raffia seat in sight.