Greece – Living Elysian

Searching For A Great Cup-o-Joe Abroad

July 16, 2017July 16, 2017 EVLeave a comment

Traveling abroad can be stressful and energy draining. It can also be adventurous! Finding a more than adequate cup of coffee proved to be part of the adventure. Walking through some nice places, not so nice places, getting lost, and trying to ask for directions from people who do not speak English – created much anticipation for that golden cup…of Joe!

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Athens, Greece

Mind the Cup

This was a lovely place to sit outside and enjoy the beautiful day while drinking our coffee. Located near the shopping area, it gave us just the right energy to walk through many streets and buy gifts for our loved ones.

We returned for another cup after shopping to get our second wind!

Tailor Made

Tailor Made was the first café we visited. After a loooong trek from our Airbnb spot, we arrived – 10 minutes before they opened. We found this out when the Barista rudely exclaimed this. So we took a couple seats on the patio table. After which, the Barista again reminded us that they were not open for another 10 minutes.

Although, I had a nice chat with a waitress, who informed me that our Airbnb was located across the street from Lindsay Lohan’s nightclub. She then told me some stories about said club.

I cannot remember if the coffee was good because I could not get past the boorish barista! I would not recommend this place to anyone who enjoys good service.

ΔΥΟ ΓΟΥΛΙΕΣ & ΔΥΟ ΜΠΟΥΚΙΕΣ

By far, this was the best place in Athens. We visited this place twice! The Barista was a friendly gentleman, who wore a butcher’s apron. He shared stories and news articles about Coffee competitions. Additionally, he selected the best treats for us and we just went with whatever he handed over. We were not disappointed at all!

The general vibe of this café was awesome! From the décor to the pleasant staff. The cappuccinos were splendid, as was the food. Hands down, it was the service that made our day. This is a must go to café in Athens!

Santorini, Oia

Passagio

We were welcomed by a lovely waitress named Sophia. She was on a smoke break and apologized. We laughed because Sophia was cute and funny in her apology. Sophia was a lot of fun, recommending that we eat as well as drink coffee.

My brother was especially amused by Sophia. This was a nice counterbalance to a stressful morning travel schedule. Just what the doctor ordered.

The view, friendly talks and of course, the coffee was perfect. If you are ever in Oia, GO to Passagio!

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Café Tramvaj

We had to laugh at the name of this place, which was about to close when we arrived. The Barista generously served us our much-needed cup of joe! The coffee was not the best, but we felt welcomed into this man’s world of Java!

My brother and I found that the people of Croatia were much friendlier than those of Athens.

Nestle 3 in 1

This little packet of gold is huge in Croatia. Not that it is healthy to drink every day, I really enjoyed it! So much, that I came home and created my own blend, sans the cream with partially hydrogenated oil.

Whenever you visit Greece or Croatia, take some time to check out these places…And Stay Blissful My Friends!

St. Constantine and Helen – Greece

June 25, 2017June 25, 2017 EVLeave a comment

About Helen and St. Constantine

St. Helen was born at Drepanum (Helenopolis) in Asia Minor. Married to Constantius Chlorus, their son St. Constantine the Great, was born in 274. Helen & Constantius were divorced in 294.

Constantine out of great honor and respect, granted his mother the imperial title “Augusta,” after he became emperor,

St. Constantine issued the Edict of Milan in 313 when he became the sole ruler of the Western Roman Empire. This guaranteed religious tolerance for Christians. It is believed that St. Helen, who was a Christian, may have influenced him in this decision. He also extended the provisions of the Edict of Milan to the Eastern half of the Empire. Christians could finally practice their faith without fear after three hundred years of persecution.

It is said that there are more churches than people in the village of Vothonas, where we were staying. This is easy to believe as one walks through the town. We passed more churches than we could count. Consequently, the cave house we were renting was across the street from what is known as “The Big Church”.

On the morning of May 21, 2017, while lounging, we heard what sounded like gunshots! I hit the floor (my natural reaction from living in the ghetto!)

My brother and I ran to the front of the house to see what was happening. It was a Church Celebration in honor of St. Constantine and Helen! We watched as several hundred participants walked in honor of these saints. It was a touching moment. I was honored to be able to see it up close and personal.

Love and Tolerance

For many years, Love and Tolerance has been my code. This sometimes means being tolerant of the intolerant. It may sound passive, but serenity is disrupted when one succumbs to anger and resentment.

Nowadays, in the U.S. there seems to be a lot of intolerance. Surprisingly, most come from the Christian community. Maybe this is fear based. No community wants their right to be taken away. God forbid that Christians might be persecuted in this great nation.

However, we must not let fear motivate us. Lest we succumb to the atrocious behaviors of historical intolerance.

I believe love and tolerance start within our homes, our neighborhoods, and our communities. Last month, the U.S. pulled out of the Paris Climate Control Agreement. Many were wailing gloom and doom projections. On the other hand, state and local governments were committing to hold to the agreement regardless.

Commitment from the grass roots! Sometimes political battles are lost. But the commitments don’t have to be. Thus, we can apply the practice of love and tolerance even if we don’t believe our government is.

Love, tolerance, unity, and empathy are not political policies. They are emotion and behavior first. How can you see yourself applying these values within your home and community? Talk to me…and stay blissful my friends – E

Teaching Yoga from Abroad

June 11, 2017June 11, 2017 EV5 Comments

As I stated in my last blog, I traveled to Greece and Croatia last month. This was at the peak of the classes I was teaching at an art gallery in Greeley, Co. The students were excited for me, however, I didn’t want them to miss any classes.

Therefore, I took some time on my trip to capture some classes on video. Honoring an earlier blog: Perfectionism, an Imperfect Practice, I chose to post as is, with no edits.

This was also a challenge, as I had a fear of doing videos. Said fear has been overcome. I have become a Facebook Live Whore! So if you have a fear of spending money to go overseas, just traveling overseas, or shooting videos, I highly recommend you get off your @$$ and just do it!

And here they are, for your viewing pleasure:

Athens, Greece

On the balcony of our first Airbnb. My very first video, complete with errors. Ha!

Dubrovnik, Croatia (Part 1 of Flow)

It started to rain in the middle of this one! I had fun anyway because that’s how Yogis roll…

Oia, Santorini – Greece (Part 2 Flow)

This was about the best view ever. Unfortunately, I forgot how to use my tripod and so could only actually use the cooling down floor poses. Still, check out that background!

Hope you enjoyed this! If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? If you could teach a video class from said location, what would you teach?

Adventure & Self-Awareness – Santorini Greece

May 28, 2017May 29, 2017 EV2 Comments

In the last couple weeks, I have been blessed with the opportunity to travel to Greece and Croatia with my darling brother. Our first stop was Athens. Then we headed over to the Island of Santorini for 4 days. Santorini provided adventure, serenity, long walks, and personal enlightenment. Some moments of elation and others of painful self-awareness. All good.

History

The Island of Santorini is named after Saint Irene. Saint Irene is said to have been brought to faith in Christ through a divine revelation. As a result, she broke all her father’s idols. Out of anger, her father commanded her to be trampled underfoot by horses. St. Irene was unharmed and her father was subsequently killed by one of the horses. But Irene compassionately prayed for her father and he was raised back to life. Her father then was baptized as a believer.

Santorini was the result of one of the largest volcanic eruptions in the last several thousand years. Believed to have erupted about 3,500 years ago, a large caldera surrounded by ash deposits hundreds of feet deep were left.

Late Neolithic (4^th millennium BC or earlier) are the oldest signs of human settlement on the Island. Running water pipes indicating the use of hot and cold water on this island appear to be the oldest of such utilities discovered.

Santorini was annexed to Greece in 1912. Its inhabitants are Greek citizens and speak the Greek language.

Jacques-Yves Cousteau Lost City of Atlantis Expedition

One of the greatest legends of Santorini is the one of the Lost City of Atlantis. It is believed that the Lost City of Atlantis lays on the ocean floor of this lovely island. This lead to an expedition led by Jacques-Yves Cousteau. The famous diver had a strong passion in his search for Atlantis, spending months researching the bottom of the Santorini Caldera.

This resulted in Mr. Cousteau’s strong love for the island. Though, he never found strong evidence of his theory. However, his love of Santorini left an impact still evident today.

I have never scuba dived before, but just had to get this experience off my bucket list at this very location! Of course, I chose the Discovery Dive at Atlantis Dive Centre in Oia (Pronounced ee-ya). My teacher/guide was a lovely man named Raid Raidako! Raid has a strong passion for diving and ocean life. At one point, he had me hold on to a rock underwater so that he could free a precious fish from an old net. What an experience! A whole new world exists underwater and I got to visit!

Blue & White

The majority of the buildings in Oia are white with blue roofs. This was basically for all of Santorini for a while. The buildings were constructed from volcanic stone, which was dark. While the stone was a strong insulator, the dark color absorbed the heat. This resulted in painting the buildings white for reflection of the sunlight.

In addition, paint was not easy to come by back in the day. So, a limestone plaster was used to cover the stone walls. A blue tint was used to tone down the strong brightness of the plaster. Additionally, more blue was used to cover the roofs, achieving the classic blue roof color.

In 1967, the active military government set a mandate that all buildings in Santorini be painted blue and white.

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Cave House

During our stay in Oia, we had the pleasure of staying at the Yposkafo Jacuzzi House. Our host was an extremely helpful man by the name of Thanos! His wife met up with us at one end of Oia and walked us to their Airbnb home. Along the way, she shared the history and some tips about Oia. My brother and I would agree that this lovely couple was among the best hosts during our vacation!

Self-Awareness

Would any trip be useful without a good lesson on self-improvement? Vacationing with someone who doesn’t see you often, can bring validation to the one in which you do. I was finally able to see where I have been selfish and inconsiderate of others. How I might better communicate.

Being in a 12-step program, I have learned to detach-with love. But, might I be a little too detached? TBH, my marriage has not been good for about 2 years now. This doesn’t mean we don’t love each other, it just is what it is. The resulting pattern has been my detachment from just about anyone in my life. Time to work on balance.

The hubby and I subsequently had a good conversation about how we both detach too much. Our agreement at this time is to focus on becoming better friends. Then we will get to the husband/wife thing again. After all, we have til-death-do-us-part to figure it all out. What we also have, is commitment. When love is lacking, commitment can hold it together until it returns. Marriage is like that.

I ain’t gonna lie. It was painful. I got a cry out of it. But this is also good. I don’t cry very often and it was needed.

Perhaps, part of me was trampled by horses like St. Irene’s father. It kinda did feel that way after all. But once again, a new Elysia was raised back to life. Hopefully a new and improved version.

Santorini gifted me with so much. Though I cannot give it back to Santorini, I might pay it forward.

Is there a place you might want to visit? What does your adventure look like? How do you see yourself growing by this experience?

Stay blissful my friends! – E