Greece – Part 2 Paros

The second leg of our trip through Greece took us through Paros. Paros is an island in the Cyclades and a major port for most ferries through the Cyclades and onto other islands.

A lot of times when you travel to exotic or dream destinations you have an idea or an image of what that place should be. Many times that image is a very small tourism marketing picture. Paros and Greece on the whole proved that that’s not always the case. When you imagine Greece with the whitewashed houses and blue balconies overlooking a beautiful beach and a lulled Mediterranean, it pretty much is exactly what you get. Paros and Naoussa in particular makes that image a reality. What makes it even better is that it’s not a specific area or a singular spot its the whole town.

 

The Main city in Paros is Parikia, which plays host to the port on Paros and is also a central point for activities on the island. The main road that runs along the port is lined with a variety of little stores and restaurants.

Another town on Paros and our base is Naoussa, like most cycladic towns Naoussa is full of character with small cobbled alley ways, whitewashed buildings and shades of blue trim making a simple walk through almost magical.

The town of Naoussa is quaint and beautiful, it sits on a small harbour with boats that take you to different beaches on the island. The cute little town has a wide variety of restaurants and boutique stores. The loukomades from the store in Naoussa is unparalleled and highly recommended. Every meal and meze we had on Paros island was beautiful and fresh, I think the best advice is to try everything.

The best Loukomades…with ice cream…& Chocolate sauce

The local bars and clubs are located at the end of the harbour and are stylish and very popular with both Greeks and tourists. We were there towards the end of August which is towards the end of the summer high season, however we were told that during the busy summer months Naoussa can be absolutely packed.

We stayed at a friends apartment on the island however, there is an endless variety of accommodation options available in Naoussa. Travel and getting around the island is also very easy, a public bus runs between major points throughout the day. There are numerous rental places that offer a variety of vehicles from mopeds to mini SUV’s and four wheelers.

There are fantastic beaches around every corner in Paros. Golden beach has a collection of beach clubs and bars that line the beach. The straight between Paros and AntiParos is absolutely stunning and is famous for watersports such as kitesurfing. In all honesty with such a variety of options it’s one of those islands where you can find your own personal favourite spot and make it special.

Secret Cliff Diving spot

 

Paros and Naoussa in particular is a trip that shouldn’t be missed!

Greece – Part 1 Athens

The Acropolis overlooks Athens

I was very lucky to spend a few weeks in Greece last August. It was our first visit to Greece, which is somewhat weird since we have a lot of Greek friends who are very welcoming.

We spent a total of 3 weeks in Greece travelling between 3 major islands Paros, Naxos and Santorini and visiting attractions, beaches and restaurants along the way. For this blog post I’m going to start at the beginning and probably where everyone’s journey through Greece starts…In Athens!!

Sprawling Athens

Athens is the Capital of Greece and is a very large city that plays host to the International airport and the port Piraeus that inevitably takes you to all the exciting islands. Athens and Greece are famous throughout history for Art, philosophy and some of the greatest legends. Just a few relatively well known such as…Plato, Aristotle & Socrates to name a few. Greece and Athens in particular is a modern European country that is meshed intrinsically with a rich and deep history.

We had a basic list of must do’s and sights in Athens. We stayed in the Plaka district which is basically the old town of Athens, it sits at the base of the Acropolis and is basically central to most major attractions in Athens. Plaka is beautiful, it is the quintessential small cobblestone alleys dotted with restaurants and homes. For anyone visiting Athens, Plaka and it’s surrounds is the place to stay. We stayed at hostel since we figured we’d be adventuring most of the time before we made our way to the islands. Our hostel was the Student and Travellers Inn it was relatively cheap, accommodations were basic but location was prime.

Plaka older Buildings

Plaka Streets

We managed to visit all the major sites in Athens in one walking day, thanks to our great and central location we walked from site to site, if you start your tour at the Acropolis (or really at any site along the major site list) you can purchase an all inclusive tickets for 12 Euro’s that basically get’s you into every attraction, including all Acropolis, Hadrians Arch and the ancient Agora to name a few.

Acropolis – Athens

Acropolis – Athens

We were there in August so we missed the major Summer rush, however I doubt that places like the Acropolis get quiet. It’s also very hot, so dress appropriately.

Monastiraki

Monastiraki is the major shopping and market area in Athens. The market is most popular with tourists where you can find a multitude of curios, food, clothing and leather sandals stores. It is also a major subway station stop with a large variety of connections. I can definately recommend Thanassis for a greek gyro in the market. Cross the major road into a shopping mecca with all the popular stores from Mango & Zara to Nike. All the while walking from, towards or within a range of historical sites.

Athens Flea Market – Monastiraki

Food in Greece is typical Mediterranean, meze is a very popular way to eat and gives you an opportunity to try a variety of dishes. Gyro’s are a typical Greek fast food and are found everywhere at a relatively cheap price.

Lampshades light the way

We spent a few days exploring Athens and visiting the sites before we left for the Islands, on our return leg we spent more time in Athens. We rented a magnificent apartment off Airbnb again right next to the Plaka district very close to the Acropolis Museum and spent our time hanging out, visiting the surrounding restaurants and bars and enjoying the great weather.

Alpha Beer – Greece

Coming up very soon…Greece – Part 2  Paros

Lemon Blueberry Cake

January and February is a month of birthdays, anniversaries and other general celebrations. This mean’s one thing, festive cake is pretty much in order every week for atleast the first two months of the year. It’s definately one way to start every year!

For my Husbands birthday this year I made him a scrumptious lemon and blueberry cake with lemon cream cheesed frosting. Blueberries are really only becoming popular in South Africa recently and they are really expensive. It is really hard to resist using all the colorful berries when they’re in season but the price is a huge turn off. A birthday however is a perfect excuse to go all out on fresh berries.

This cake is really moist and tasty, the lemon flavour isn’t overwhelming but gives the cake a great citrus flavour and the general rule is the more berries the better!

The flavour combination of lemon and blueberry is timeless and can we all agree that cream cheese frosting is the future of everything.

All I can say is that this cake is definately worth the time, it’s light and refreshing. On a totally seperate side note, holding off on eating dessert and cakes in order to take pics for the blog is way harder than you’d think.

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Recipe: Lemon Blueberry Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

For the Cake:
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups buttermilk
4 large egg whites
1 ½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon pure lemon juice

2 cups fresh blueberries

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
250g cream cheese, softened
1 cup butter
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
3 cups icing sugar

For Filling between layers:
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam

Method:

1. Pre heat the oven to 180C and make sure th erack is centred. Butter two 9 x 2 inch/ 23 x 5cm round cake pans and make sure to line the bottom of each pan with a round of greased baking or wax paper.
2. For the Cake:

Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Whisk together the buttermilk and egg whites in a seperate bowl.

Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub the lemon zest into the sugar until it releases a citrus scent and the sugar is moist.  Add butter to the sugar and lemon mix and then using a hand mixer or paddle attachment, beat until the butter and sugar are very light. Beat in the lemon juice.

Combine all ingredients: add one third of the flour mixture into the butter and sugar mixture whilst still beating on medium speed. Then add half of the milk-egg mixture, Continue this process untill all the remaining ingredients have been incorporated. The batter should be smooth and creamy. Give the batter a final mix to ensure that it is mixed well. Add the two cups of blueberries and gently fold into the mixed batter with a spatula. Divide the batter between the greased pans and tap the pans on a surface so the batter levels out.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the cakes have risen and a knife comes out clean.

Place the cakes on cooling racks and cool for about 10 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, and remove cakes from tins, peel off baking or parchment paper. Allow cakes to cool completely before frosting

3. Cream Cheese Frosting:

In a mixing bowl combine cream cheese, butter and lemon zest. Beat on medium until creamy, light and fluffy. Gradually add 3 cups sifted icing sugar. Mix until frosting is light and creamy.

4. Assembling the cake:

Using a large serrated knife cut the slight domes off the top of each cake round. A great alternate option at this point would be to split each cake round in half and make a 4 layer cake, I however went with two substantial cake layers. Seperate, 3/4 cup of cream cheese frosting into a small bowl. Warm raspberry jam for 30 sec in a microwave until warm but not hot. Mix the warm jam into the 3/4 cup of cream cheese. Use this mixture as the filling between layers of the cake. Place bottom layer of cake onto a plate and then scoop the filling mix onto the top of the cake spread until even. Place second cake round on top. Ensure cake is level on top. Then spread or frost the cake using the cream cheese frosting. Decorate cake with leftover blueberries (that you haven’t eaten whilst baking…)

Love Norwood

Love Norwood

In recent years Johannesburg has seen a movement towards community revival. As a result there has been an increase in markets, local music and an overall coming together. It’s always a great day for family and friends to visit a new market get some amazing food and be entertained for the day.

This past weekend my local suburb celebrated itself and hosted Love Norwood day in the local park. It was a fantastic way to spend the day! The organisers which were the local residents association managed to organise a fantastic event with a pop up market, great live music, entertainment for the kids and an overall festive celebration of the wonderful and creative offerings our small “hood” has to offer.

Pop Up Market

Artisan Food

I was one of the creative participants with my baby and kids range of clothing and products – Mokopu. The event was held at a local park that borders the main road through the suburb, the events extended from the park all the way down Grant Ave. where all the local businesses got involved.

Pop Up market

It turned out to be a roaring success and a wonderful way to spend the day. In addition to the array of restaurants and shops down Grant Ave. there was a pop up market with a variety of craft and food stalls. Health and fitness such as bootcamp and “self-defense” training had demonstrations. There were short guitar sessions and kids paint sessions. I personally was somewhat saddened that I didn’t get the opportunity to tour the permaculture garden that was offering tour’s throughout the day. I didn’t even know it was in the area. I did however get to enjoy the music, the event had organised a range of local performers and band’s that did an amazing job of entertaining the crowd. Undoubtedly the best part of the day was seeing people come through grab a spot on the lawns and spend the afternoon listening to great performances.

Kids having Fun at the Mokopu stall

Other aspects of the event included an instagram competition that ran through the weeks running up to the event and photo tours on the day. All those instagram images can be seen using the #lovenorwood. Other great pictures from the day can be found on the Republic of Norwood Facebook page.

Lounging to Live Music

Overall, I love our little neighbourhood from the tree lined streets with people jogging or walking their dogs to the coffee shops and central stores on Grant Ave. (where I always bump into someone I know). I knew we had something special but Love Norwood day brought that little something out for everyone.

Maboneng – Sevensounds

Common Ground – The Maboneng Precinct

This past weekend saw the opening and first Seven Sounds event at the Common Ground park in The Maboneng Precinct. Firstly, let me mention that The Maboneng Precinct is a the leader in the revival of Johannesburg’s inner city. The Maboneng Precinct and its many attractions definitely deserve a post of it’s own and I guarantee it will come soon.

Playground

Slide

Industrial inspired swings

Chess Anyone?

The first Seven Sounds live music event was held at  Common Ground in Maboneng, Which as the name suggest’s is a musical line up made up of seven distinct and unique artists, the event started at 11 am with Matthew Mole as the start up entertainment, followed every hour by the rest of the line up including The Muffinz, Guy Buttery and Runaway Train Cult to name a few.

Overhead view of the Park.

Surrounding Street Art

Synonymous with Maboneng, the event was centred around community interaction and being held at the Common Ground park fed directly into that ethos. The park is architecturally designed and utilised by the Spark Maboneng School and the Maboneng Precinct community. This lends itself for industrial recreation as is evident in the adaptations of childrens play area and facilities.

Bar

Stage is set

The “stage” was set in a mini amphitheatre within the park. Food stalls and a bar catered the event and made for a easy, delicious offering. The day started off with wonderful sunny skies and slightly maybe too hot weather, however it was temporarily interrupted by a freak storm, which put off the festivities for a while. However once the bad weather passed over the music and chilled Saturday vibes returned.

Overall, it was a great way to spend a summer Saturday afternoon. The music was really great, the full line up looked something like this:

• Sound Zero – Gates open – 10h00
• Sound One – Matthew Mole – 11h00
• Sound Two – Shotgun Tori – 12h00
• Sound Three – The Muffinz – 13h00
• Sound Four – Guy Buttery – 14h00
• Sound Five – Tidal Waves – 15h00
• Sound Six – Nakhane Touré – 16h00
• Sound Seven – Runaway Train Cult – 17h00

Tickets are limited and details for future events can be found both on the Seven Sounds Website and through a link on the Maboneng Precinct website. I personally love any reason that gets me into the Maboneng Precinct, it’s always a pleasure to spend time in the city the entertainment is a welcome bonus.

Common Ground Surrounding street art