Thursday 2 October 2008

A country house kitchen


Greek people love to maintain their parents' and forebearers' village houses as summer homes. This is where they go on holiday in the summer, for Easter, to entertain friends, but not usually for Christmas, as the houses are found in remote areas and may not have adequate heating.

This is the kitchen of a family friend's village house in Vathi, the second-to-last village you come across on your way to the beautiful beach of Elafonisi. The rough walls have been whitewashed. As there are not enough cupboards, pots and pans have been hung up over a plastic tablecloth hung up on the wall. An old ceramic urn has been topped with a sprig of thyme to stop creepy crawlers form entering it. Everything has an air of old-worldliness, like a Beatrix Potter illustration; any minute you expect Mrs Rabbit to come into the photo wearing her checkered blue and white apron.

8 comments:

  1. It looks like my grandmother's house in Archanes. So many memories! The comparison with Beatrix Potter is fantastic.

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  2. Ha, I went back to check the photo again, to look for Mrs. Rabbit!
    Hey, that's my kind of house! Love it.

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  3. i love the look of that urn. :O

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  4. Many Indian homes have such kitchens even today. not all homes have modern and modular kitchens here.
    Beautiful photo.

    Drop by to see my Sky Hangout here

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  5. Thanks again for reminding me my grandma...

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  6. Like everyone has said that reminds me a lot of my grandma's house also. Ton of pots and pans everywhere and there is a rhyme or reason to the placement of everything.

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  7. It is charming. I love that the heritage is preserved as holiday homes. I think everyone but Americans must have some type of "summer home."

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