"Sugar, spice and all things nice"

Holy moley, this is my version of heaven. Matsouka is a shop in Athens that sells just about everything delicious that you could ever think of. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Warning: they may induce severe hunger pangs for which I accept no responsibility.

Constitution Hill

Today I got to play tourist in my own country. Christi had to go to Constitution Hill to get pictures for a History assignment so I tagged along considering, and I am ashamed to say this, I had never been before. It was quite a chilling experience to see the jails where struggle heroes like Nelson Mandela, Albertina Sisulu, Winnie Madikizela- Mandela, Barbara Hogan and Mahatma Gandhi were held. We also got to see the Constitutional Court, the highest court in the land. The court, as well as the foyer, are really beautifully decorated. So much thought has gone into every little detail making everything hugely symbolic. There is also a lovely little art exhibition, which has some rather interesting pieces. Going to Constitution Hill made me realize that there is so much about South Africa's history that people of my generation will never actually understand because we weren't apart of it. I think that's why it's important to go to places like this. So, I'm going to make more an effort to visit the places that are right on my doorstep. I think it would be shameful not to. 

A passbook. 

For minor misdemeanors, prisoners were deprived of their meals and made to stand next to the red buckets in the courtyard. From there they could see and smell the meals that the other prisoners received. Talk about torture. 

The doors to the Constitutional Court have all 27 Human Rights carved into it in South Africa's 11 official languages as well as sign language. 

This flag ,which is in the Constitutional Court, is made out of really pretty bead work. 

Inside the Constitutional Court. 

The nine provinces.

One of my favourite pieces: Speaker of the House by Norman Catherine

"Can you throw 'em o'er your shoulder like a regimental soldier?"

Standing with a Greek Presidential Guard (Tsolias). The Tsoliades have to protect the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (behind them), the Hellenic Parliament and the Presidential Mansion. 

I feels so sorry for these chaps. They have to keep a straight face while tourists (like me) go and stand next to them and take a picture. And if that's not bad enough, they have to wear a skirt and shoes with huge pompoms on them. Some people really have horrid jobs.  

The changing of the guard. 

These boys are actually pretty hardcore. I read that during a protest in 2001, a protester through a  Molotov cocktail at one of the guardhouses. Obviously the guardhouse caught alight but the Tsolia didn't even blink until he was given the order to move. By then his  uniform was scorched on the one side. 

Santorini in a nutshell

Isn't this just the cutest stray cat that you ever did see? Greece isn't famous for its stray cats for nothing. If I lived in Santorini, I would probably become that old woman with all the cats. Alas, I have social worker tendencies.   

Poor Christi's caldera dreams were crushed when she was told that it's quite a mission to get to her geographical bliss. Sorry kid, we'll just have to go back to Santorini so that you can go to your caldera. It's that simple.

Musicians on the street. Boy, were they good. 

A typical rooftop restaurant. Awesome to watch the sunset from. 

The Cousins minus one. We missed you, Minus One. 

The lack of pictures of Santorini is due to the fact that by the time we got there everyone was pretty exhausted and getting a bit on each other's nerves. Bound to happen. Ha. Santorini has a lot to live up to (Gossip Girl fans: didn't Serena let loose in Santorini one summer?). In my opinion it was slightly too commercialized, but golly it was incredibly beautiful. I really do think that someone very smart (Hint: Steven) should invent a time travelling machine. Something along the lines of Back To The Future if you catch my drift. Then I could go back and bask in the sun while contemplating life. That would be very nice indeed.

Biutiful

Last night I went with a couple of people from my Spanish class to see Biutiful. What a sad, sad movie. My goodness, I cried like a little baby (Yes, I can be a bawler in movies). Hell, I would have cried even more if I had waterproof eyeliner on and if I wasn't with people who are practically strangers. The movie was directed by the same chap that did Babel,  Alejandro González Iñárritu and it starred Javier Bardem. He was nominated for Best Actor for his role at this year's Academy Awards. I must admit, I didn't know all that much about this movie until my Spanish lecturer told us about it. I just heard that Javier Bardem was in it and I was sold (Love love love him, especially in Woody Allen's Vicky Christina Barcelona). The movie dealt with Chinese and African migrants in Spain poignantly (this issue of migration seems to be following me around everywhere this week). The only fault that I could really find in this film is that it was a bit dragged out. Otherwise, it was incredibly biutiful. 

"Do not go gentle into that good night"

This man reminds me of my Pappou Kosta. He always used to catch 40 winks when he thought nobody was looking. 

If Italy had nice ceilings, then Greece had awesome doors!

This was my favourite door. Hey, is it possible to have a favourite door?

Not strictly a door, but it performs more or less the same function as a door and is still awesome!