Clean Monday, or Kathara Deftera in Greek (the catholic equivalent is Ash Wednesday) marks the end of the carnival season (Apokries) and the beginning of the preparation period for Orthodox Easter. Therefore, Clean Monday is by default a day of fasting, and cleansing of the body and the soul. We could say it is a sort of detox day, right after the meat feast of the carnival celebrations.
Clean Monday is the first day of the Great Lent leading to Easter, and therefore special culinary habits apply. First of all, Greeks eat a special unleavened bread, baked only on Clean Monday, called ‘lagana’, and it is crisp and delicious. On Clean Monday, all bakeries bake only laganas, while some people like to test their baking skills, preparing their own hand-baked laganas at home. The Clean Monday menu is essentially a sort of vegetarian menu based on vegetables and seafood. The table is full of elaborate dishes with oysters, clams, octopuses, squids, cuttlefish, and shrimps. There are also dishes with legumes, pickled vegetables, tarama (a fish eggs paste), and halvah. Halvah is made either from tahini (sesame seed paste), or it is cooked as a type of semolina pudding. Nowadays there are many variations, i.e. halvah with chocolate.
There are many different customs associated with Clean Monday all over Greece. Perhaps the most well-known and anticipated one is the flying of kites. The root of the custom is very old and comes most probably from ancient China, where cathartic and protective properties were attributed to kites. The kite is perceived as a symbol for the soul, and the kite flying process resembles its cleansing and elevation to heaven. Some Greeks like to build their own kite, as a family bonding activity, but usually, people buy it from street sellers. It is one of the most joyful and impressive customs, since the skies fill with beautiful shapes and various colors, while in some areas there are kite-flying competitions. It is an outdoor activity loved by all, children and adults.
This year, however, due to the on-going lockdown in force, there will be many restrictions nationwide. People may fly a kite only around their block because they are not allowed to move far from home. Clean Monday will be very different this year, but even if we cannot fly a kite, we can elevate our souls to the sky and make a wish: May it be the last Clean Monday we celebrate indoors, and may the pandemic soon be reduced to a bad dream for all humanity.
My wife and I were just reminiscing our October trip to Greece. We both felt that one of the highlights was our tour of the Acropolis with Dimitris and thought he deserved a review. Super friendly and knowledgeable, paced the climb as to be manageable for all and answered every question in an accent even us Californians could understand!Would highly recommend!
Doug Bowman | Jan 24 | Acropolis of Athens & the Acropolis Museum
Our walking tour of Athens and the Acropolis was fantastic. I highly recommend it but make sure you have comfortable shoes. It is a long day but totally worth it. Our guide Maria was really knowledgeable and helpful
Pam Constantine | Jan 24 | City, Acropolis & Acropolis Museum
A perfect way to discover Athens and his ancient wealth. Guide Rina has an excellent knowledge of Greek history and manages to put it all in context and engages the group in her story. I feel i know more about Athens, the Gods, but also the relationship to modern life.Walk goes at a slow pace and easy to hang in there, also up the acropolis. Thank you!
Dirk and Carol | Jan 24 | Athens City Tour & Acropolis Tour
Our tour guide Niobe was amazing! She had the most interesting facts, which made all the difference! She was open to questions and knew all the answers to what we asked. Without this guided tour my experience would not have been the same! It is definitely a must!
Isabela | Jan 24 | Acropolis of Athens Tour
A fantastic tour courtesy of Stella, who was incredibly knowledgeable, friendly, and entertaining. A small group of just myself and an Australian couple (Paul and Kathy), it was a wonderful experience and a real culinary treat of a tour. Stella even organised a couple of little surprises for me as it was my birthday! Five stars!
Tom | Jan 24 | Athens Food Tour
We were expertly guided through multiple recipes by the wonderful Stella, and found ourselves with more food than we could possibly get through. It was a fantastic experience and a great insight into authentic local cooking.
Brian Calcutt | Jan 24 | Athens Cooking Lesson
I joined the 7.45 tour, and I loved it! Very few people were around and the morning light was beautiful. We were a small group, our guide Despina was extremely friendly and very excited to tell us all about the Acropolis and much more. She made the tour really enjoyable, and gave also a lot of suggestions about things to do later.Highly recommend it!
Silvia | Nov 23 | First Access Acropolis Tour
Our tour guide name was Charoula, she was fantastic, extremely knowledgeable and friendly. We did a tour of the Acropolis and the Acropolis Museum. Really enjoyed the tour and would highly recommend!
Nikola Romer | Oct 23 | Acropolis & Acropolis Museum
Margarita was the best tour guide we could have gotten!Knowledgeable, passionate, and natural teacher.Learned a lot because of her!
Katie | Oct 23 | Acropolis of Athens Tour
Excellent tour. Apollos was a true expert and great story teller. Everything we saw was made so much more meaningful and entertaining. Highly recommend.
Steve | Oct 23 | City Tour & Acropolis Museum
We went on this tour today and had the BEST time. Our guide Giota was incredible, so knowledgable and passionate and honestly made the tour for us. She answered all of our questions, went at a comfortable pace in the heat and made a 6 hour walk feel like nothing. Thank you so much Giota! Highly recommend this tour if you don’t have long in Athens - you will see and learn so much in such a short space of time!
Katie Comber | Sep 23 | City, Acropolis & Acropolis Museum
Our tour guide was excellent - knowledgeable, funny and patient. When you see the Acropolis from the ground you think you can’t climb that much, but our guide paced our group perfectly
Matthew_S | Sep 23 | Athens Acropolis & Parthenon
Excellent, the perfect mix of casual and structured morning. Loved learning the history from Theodora.
Samantha | Sep 23 | Athens Highlights & Acropolis
Nicholas was amazing! With his guidance we prepared a 7 course meal! He was hands on and very engaging. The best part was dining outside with a view of the Acropolis. Wow!
Lonnie | Sep 23 | Athens Cooking Lesson
Easy to book, excellent instructions pre tour. Lots of thunderstorms before we were due to leave but the company returned my very early email promptly which was comforting. Tour was amazing. No crowds this early. Guide Niobe was informative, passionate and entertaining.
Karen | Sep 23 | First Access Acropolis Tour
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