Yum…Me!! Froyo Bar

 

This is another example of Rethymno’s very popular frozen yoghurt bars, cited along the always buzzing Eleftherios Venizelos street. Yum…Me!! have a chain of restaurants in Greece, and have just opened a second cafe in Rethymno specialising in coffee and patisserie.

I love the decor of these bars, and particularly distinctive use of the company’s corporate colour scheme, which also extends to the multicoloured alfresco seating on the terrace outside the bar. What made this bar really stand out at night though was the widespread use of white and grey for the ceiling, walls, bar and floor which lent the place a modernist and almost science fiction-esque aesthetic.

RETURN TO PROJECT GALLERY

Through the Porthole

 

Goody’s is the only ‘conventional’ fast food diner in Rethymno, and is well positioned at the Square of the Unknown Solider to take advantage of the hustle and bustle of the harbour strip. It’s always teeming with people, and is very popular with families. There was a McDonald’s on the harbour strip for several years but it didn’t last very long – at least Goody’s, despite being fast food, is a Greek business, and not a massive multinational. I can’t say I’ve sampled the food myself, as the quality of the local food (plus the great home-made pizza & pasta restaurant just up the road) is just too good.

RETURN TO PROJECT GALLERY

Night-time Kiosk Stop

 

I think this is probably the most popular kiosk in Rethymno Old Town, and is right next to one of Rethymno’s Ottoman era minarets. The kiosk does a roaring trade in cigarettes and ice creams, making it an essential stopping off point on a night out. It is also opposite what is probably my favourite bar in the world.

RETURN TO PROJECT GALLERY

Cigarette Break

 

The lady supervising the kiosk in Rethymno harbour took advantage of the mid-afternoon lull in business to take a cigarette break and look out over the harbour water in contemplation.

The afternoon sun was very bright (particularly this close to the equator!) so I’ve used a radial filter tool to ‘burn’ the clipped background highlights, and added some slight dodging to the lady sitting in the shadow to bring out some details.

RETURN TO PROJECT GALLERY

Moped Delivery

 

Moped delivery rider during the mid morning rush in Rethymno Old Town. I was impressed that he managed to keep the ciggy on the go whilst he manoeuvred through the melee!

RETURN TO PROJECT GALLERY

Cat Sleeping in front of Marco Bicego Jewellers, Rethymno

 

I managed to capture the highly rare sight of a cat taking a nap here (!). I loved the look of his positioning underneath the poster advertising the jewellers, particularly as the model in the advert is very striking with her electric blue eyes matching the azure blue of sign for the ‘Sun Beam’ shop next door.

RETURN TO PROJECT GALLERY

Varda Kallergis, Rethymno

 

This is one of Rethymno’s side streets which links Eleftherios Venizelos (the marina strip) with the centre of the modern area of Rethymno. This street is full of shops selling all manner of tourist gifts – belts, bags, natural sponges and knives seeming to be the most popular.

Mannequins often prove a useful focal point in street photos (particularly as they stay still, so you can take your time framing them), and the ‘interaction’ and contrast between a mannequin and a real person in a photo can often be fun. As I composed this I realised that with the shopkeepers standing outside of their respective shops and the mannequin in the foreground there was an unbroken line of female subjects in the photo.

RETURN TO PROJECT GALLERY

Rethymno Old Town Street by Night

 

Drinking raki outside the jewellery shop, Rethymno Old Town.

RETURN TO PROJECT GALLERY

“Crush the Fascists” Anti-Fascist Graffiti, Rethymno Old Town

A back street in Rethymno Old Town. The graffiti to the right reads: “Crush the fascists”.  The upswing in popularity of the far-right party Golden Dawn in Greece has prompted a powerful opposition movement from left and far-left groups, who have rallied against Golden Dawn’s divisive views on race and the role of immigrants in Greek society.

The murder of the rapper Pavlos Fyssas in September 2013 by a self-confessed Golden Dawn supporter prompted a drive-by shooting reprisal by an anti-establishment group in November 2013 which killed two Golden Dawn members. On the 26th January 2014, Kathimerini reported that Golden Dawn members had returned to the spot where Fyssas was murdered, and “vandalised” the makeshift shrine there.

In the wake of the September murder of Fyssas, and with mounting controversy over Golden Dawn’s links to violent attacks, weaponry and neo-Nazism, numerous Golden Dawn offices were raided, and several of its representatives have been imprisoned over the party’s potentially ‘criminal’ involvement, with the future of the party being called into question.

On the 2 February 2014 Ilias Kassidiaris – a spokesman for Golden Dawn, announced the party would seek to re-brand itself as ‘National Dawn’, if, as predicted by some, the Golden Dawn party is to be banned.

The day before (Saturday 1st January) some 3,000 Golden Dawn supporters gathered in Athens to commemorate the 1996 crisis involving the contested Imia/Kardak islands, which prompted a diplomatic incident between Greece and Turkey. This Golden Dawn commemoration gathering sparked a resurgence of the animosity between Golden Dawn and far-left groups, with the Associated Press reporting “scuffles” between individuals on opposite ends of the political spectrum.

Sources:

Kathimerini – ‘Amid clashes in Athens, Kasidiaris announces backup name for Golden Dawn’

Kathimerini – ‘GD thugs return to the scene of the crime’

Guardian – ‘Golden Dawn photos shock Greece’

Guardian – ‘Greece’s Golden Dawn to form new party if banned from polls’

 

RETURN TO PROJECT GALLERY