Xenia
(Greek: ξενία, xenía trans. “guest-friendship”) is the ancient Greek concept of hospitality, the generosity and courtesy shown to those who are far from home and/or associates of the person bestowing guest-friendship. The rituals of hospitality created and expressed a reciprocal relationship between guest and host expressed in both material benefits (such as the giving of gifts to each party) as well as non-material ones (such as protection, shelter, favors, or certain normative rights). – Wikipedia
We had a wonderful time in Greece and enjoyed much of this famous hospitality, some in those lovely Tavernas, as pictured above.
The famous Plaka District in Athens was right next to our hotel.
It offers a multitude of restaurants and shops:
Speaking of restaurants, the cuisine was good everywhere!
There’s something for every taste, whether you prefer meat or fish.
Of course, the food was just the proverbial “icing on the cake”.
We took a lovely day cruise of the Saronic Gulf and the on-board
entertainment included a demonstration of traditional Greek dance.
OPA!
The instrument heard most often in Greek music is called a Bouzouki:
Most hospitable of all, were the tour guides who showed us all the ancient splendours
and regaled us with historical facts and mythological tales. Unforgettable!
Did you enjoy this taste of Greece?
Looking forward to your comments!
Food photo credits: Greek Salad, Tzakiki, Calamari, Lamb Dinner, Pork Souvlaki, Moussaka, Baklava, Wine, Ouzo
#AtoZChallenge 2014: X is for XENIA #dogladysden Share on X
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Dog Mom and (retired) Canine Innkeeper in suburban Toronto, Canada, known as The Doglady. Former corporate workaholic. Writer, photographer, digital creator. Animal lover, music fanatic, inveterate traveller. Eternal hippie/rockchick. History, literature and cinema buff. Hockey and soccer fan. Dedicated night owl. German/Canadian binational, multilingual. Let me entertain you!
38 thoughts on “#AtoZChallenge: “X” is for XENIA”
the cuisine looks delicious… Coincidentally I went to a greek restaurant yesterday 😀 loved the sour bread and dips
Glad you enjoyed this! 🙂 I just love Tzatziki dip. Thanks for visiting.
OMG, that food is throwing me into spasms of joy. Would you believe I’ve not yet had Greek food even as I enter my fading years. Salads first then goat. I found a convenient place to get it. Some say it’s an acquired taste others that it’s much like lamb.
Thanks for the Greek delight.
Glad you like the food porn, Chi Chi! 😀 There’s some stuff I don’t like, such as lamb and feta cheese, (and I’ve not tried goat 😛 ) but they have fish and seafood there daily and I just love that! Plus, the yogurt is way better than any we have here.
I have still not had goat but I’ve had goat cheese and OMG, it’s wonderful. I put it on all my daily salads. It’s a bit sweet and strong but not overwhelming in any way so you need just a little.
Taste is, of course, personal but I recommend goat cheese to anyone even an old chedared guy like me.
I didn’t really like the goat cheese, but the yogurt they make from goat’s milk is fantastic! Tastes much better than the Greek yogurt we have here, which is made from cow’s milk.
That food looks delicious! I especially like baklava. I can taste it now. Yum.
Glad you enjoyed this, Stephanie. 🙂 Thanks for dropping by!
I thought it was just me but I noticed that someone else is having trouble commenting on your blog as well. Sometimes, after 3 or 4 attempts, I just didn’t try anymore. Even if you have a word with an apostrophe in it, sometimes, it will not allow the comment. Thought you would like to know
Sorry you had a problem, Carol. 🙁 I’m surprised that you’re having trouble, still. The other person was new to the blog and wasn’t approved yet, that’s why she had an issue. Never heard of a problem with apostrophes and they’re seen in comments here all the time. Very strange! It seems that the few people who have complained are all using Blogger as their platform. I wonder if there’s a compatibility quirk with my platform, which is self-hosted WordPress.
That is strange. Yes, I use Blogger but what I don’t understand is why that would affect my commenting on your blog. Also, just about every time, it tells me that I have not spent long enough on your site. That is really quite funny because I have read your blog, commented on it and it still says I wasn’t there long enough. Then, when you go back, you have to start all over. I’m not complaining, just reporting 🙂 This is the only blog site that I have had that happen.
I have learned that when I open your post, I go do other things before I comment so that I am on there long enough. Guess it wants me to SLOWWWWWWW DOWN.
Can you believe this challenge is almost over? I will continue to follow you and glad I connected with you 🙂
You add your blog’s address and it links up to Blogger. I just find it interesting that the only feedback I’ve received are from people who use that platform. The anti-spam program was set to 30 seconds, but I guess that’s too long? Everybody must read fast. 😉 Anyway, I’ve disabled it for the moment, so hopefully you won’t have any more problems. Still don’t understand the issue with the apostrophes though…..Thanks for the report. Always good to know when something isn’t working right.
I thought it was odd as well. Sometimes the apostrophes were fine – other times I would have to take them out. Thanks for letting me know how it links up with Blogger. Good info
Anyway, I’m so glad to have met you Carol! 🙂 Will keep in touch for sure. I’m flying down to San Diego later today to visit my 90 year old mother, so I’ll only be online sporadically. Great post about the horrors of dog food!
SO glad my hubby is downstairs cooking dinner at the moment, as your lovely pictures have my mouth watering! Thank you for sharing!
🙂 A veritable Greek feast. We really enjoyed mealtimes over there!
X foe Xenia! That’s a first. Greece is on my travel to do list. I’m hoping all the turmoil there settles soon though. I have forever been mesmerized by the images of Santorini and the likes. Good luck with the rest of the challenge!
Thanks for visiting, Aarthi! Yes, I hope things get better in Greece very soon. During our two week stay, we only encountered one little glitch, on the island of Rhodes. The main sites were closed, for a protest march later in the day. For the most part though, the tourism industry hasn’t been affected.
Fun to learn about Xenia which was a new word to me. Great concept, too. Loved your photos and commentary as always. You’re sure making me want to go traveling.
Finally trying to get caught up on comments; sorry for the late response, Cathy! Yes, I love the concept and we certainly had a wonderful taste of it in Greece. 🙂 Thanks for visiting.
Cool glimpse of Greece. I loved all the pictures you provided♥
Glad you enjoyed it, Kathy and thanks for visiting. Sorry for the late response, but, I’m out of town at the moment.
Thanks for a fab Greece tour, Debbie! Xenia is similar to India’s philosophy of Athithi Devo Bhava which means, The guest is God! 🙂
Glad you enjoyed it, Shilpa. 🙂 I’ve learned so much about India during this challenge and would love to visit your beautiful country one day.
I’m glad you have enjoyed your time in Greece. At its best, Greek hospitality can be quite overwhelming and not a little humbling when you consider the difficulties this country is going through at the moment. Καλή όρεξη!
Yes, I have a friend in Greece who keeps me updated on the troubles there. We also saw a little of that in Rhodes, but mostly, they did a great job keeping the turmoil away from the tourists. I hope things will improve for Greece very soon. Thanks for dropping by, Mark. ευχαριστώ
That’s one of those places I want to get to one day. One day–when we’re not worried about grubby little fingers and spelling tests. I’m thinking we’ll cruise the world.
(By the way, your blog is really hard to comment on. This the 4th time I’ve tried. Last time it told me I wasn’t on the post long enough to comment. Really? This after telling me I had too many referring url’s 3 times.)
Hi Crystal; Thanks for persevering! 🙂 Now that you’ve been white-listed, there won’t be any more problems, hopefully. I have a rather strict anti-spam plug-in that gets carried away from time to time. Sorry about that, but, I hardly have any spam because of it. URLs are not allowed in comments for a good reason – nothing personal. You get a “Do-Follow” link to a recent post of your choice when using the CommentLuv – should be satisfactory. Anyway, it’s nice to meet you and thanks for coming over. Cruising the world sounds wonderful!
THanks for giving a glimpse of Greece
Good to know this new word Xenia on many blogs today 🙂
Haha! Yes, there’s a limited number of words starting with X, so I’m not surprised that others have used it. Glad you enjoyed the post and thanks for visiting.
Xenia did cross my mind for X but Xyst beat it after a lot of consideration. I have heard exponents playing the bouzouki, it has a very tantalizing note
PhenoMenon
Another Greek word! 🙂 I will read your post when I get the chance, Pheno. Am currently out of town and don’t have much internet time at the moment.
I loved the definition of Xenia — never heard that before and your pictures were, as always, beautiful
Thanks Carol. 🙂 Sorry for the late response, but I’m in San Diego, visiting my mother and don’t have much time for online pursuits at the moment.
Those food pictures are making me hungry! We had some of our best fresh salads in Greece.
Greek cuisine has so much to offer, doesn’t it? I’m not much of a meat eater, but the fish was superb and I had some almost daily. Wouldn’t you love to go back some time, Sammy? I sure would! 😀