Excited about the weather warming up and being able to smoke my meerschaum again.
I enjoyed a bowl of McClelland Red and Black last night in it.
https://i.imgur.com/mik6OBVl.jpg
Printable View
Excited about the weather warming up and being able to smoke my meerschaum again.
I enjoyed a bowl of McClelland Red and Black last night in it.
https://i.imgur.com/mik6OBVl.jpg
'Dayyy from Athens-Greece, we have sun with few clouds and 65 'F here.
https://i.imgur.com/G3laB1i.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/HKiIaOn.jpg
Planta Black Vanilla.
So,,, today was a bulk blend identified only as " English Blend" in a Bellmont Whitehall pot. Delightful smoke accompanied with a "Clan McGreggor" scotch.
Café categories in Greece, part 1.
It is not something ''official'' but over the years it has been established, depending on the area and the decoration you expect and the corresponding service-quality of the environment and coffee. The owner has decided in advance where he will open the shop and what customers to expect and the customer sees at first sight what decoration it has and what to expect in terms of comfort etc. For example if you open a Café in a poor neighbourhood with low cost equipment and cheap coffee you will expect as customers young people or couples with kids playing around, if you open a Café in a rich neighbourhood with classy equipment and expensive coffee you will expect customers with suits-ties and some newly rich and not students or grandpas with low pension.
1) Cafeneio, is the place to go to have coffee mainly in the villages. Small marble or iron tables, wooden chairs with wicker seats, no music. They serve mainly Greek coffee (boiled or frappé) or a refreshment or ouzo-raki. The customers are mainly older people, they play cards or backgammon, they smoke cigarettes and there is a lot of noise, customers discuss various topics and there is also gossip. In the old days, there was a lot of cigarette smoke in the interior and then the wives would complain to their husbands about the smell that came from their clothes (coats). As you can understand, i don't go to such a place to smoke a pipe.
2) Bakery/Coffee shops, many large bakeries have tables and chairs outside, but they are self-service, there is no waiter. Also some shops that sell coffee beans have tables and stools outside but they are very uncomfortable (mainly for one person) and also self-service. They are all close to a main road, there is a lot of noise from people passing-by and cars. The only time to go to a shop like the first place is when it is in the middle of a journey. You stop for a little rest, go to the toilet, get coffee-water-pie and sit outside at the table, sometimes when i have time i sit and smoke a pipe if the place is quiet although the decoration isn't something great. In a shop like the second one, never.
3) Take-away, although the title says it, some of them with the annoying tolerance of the government and the Municipal Police, also put tables and chairs outside on the sidewalk. The environment is not nice, no waitress, the seats are uncomfortable, it is usually close to a traffic light so there is a lot of noise and pollution from cars-trucks-buses. The customers usually are young people, non-locals which often arguing each other or middle-aged people who do not want to go to a Café. Some shout or laughing loud, others talk in their mobile phones with the speaker On (no hands-free), others listen to music from a YouTube video even though the Cafe already has music and it is loud (modern songs or folk songs in the evening), often beggars coming etc. There is no way i would sit in such a place like this to smoke a pipe!
The part 2 in a next post plus what happens if there is a ''troublemaker'' in a Café (not a bar of nightclub).
https://i.imgur.com/zTAvV9M.jpg
We have sun and 66'F here in Athens-Greece, i smoke Vanilla Hausmarke.
Hello from Athens-Greece, we have sun and 73 'F here.
https://i.imgur.com/ifUxSFj.jpg
Black & Elegant Vanilla.
Beautiful pipeQuote:
Originally Posted by Sid.Stavros
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thank you sir, it's a modified Olive wood pipe, the bronze ring and the blue mouthpiece are ''extra''.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nature
No pictures for me today, but I hung out at my local B&M most of the morning and had 2 bowls.
First was some of the Half and Half from the 1960s I posted about the other day
The second bowl was C&D Haunted Bookshop.
Salute from Athens-Greece with 75 'F, those days we wish to everybody here ''Happy Resurrection and Happy Easter''.
https://i.imgur.com/0ckweMy.jpg
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Mac Baren 7 Seas Regular Blend.
Already mentioned in ancient Greek Iliad at 8th century BC, here is from a ceramic of 500 BC.
https://i.imgur.com/0gE8IlP.png
We keep our traditions ''alive", we ate it yesterday in family supper.
https://i.imgur.com/AVnHJHz.jpg
W.O Larsen Indigo.
Captain Black original in a Dunhill canted Dublin with Scotch on the side https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...aeb2df13a3.jpg
Sent from my QTAXIA1 using Tapatalk
Hello from Athens-Greece, we had clouds and light rain in the early morning, now few clouds with sun and 69 'F.
https://i.imgur.com/VL5zD2M.jpg
Poeschl Exclusiv Plum & Rum.
Hello Ladies & Gentlemen from Athens-Greece, we had clouds and strong wind but now sun and less wind with 70 'F.
https://i.imgur.com/UBC1IAD.jpeg
Skandinavik Regular.
Fellow pipe smokers, i have been absent from the forum lately and for a reason. My father had a problem with one of his heart valves, we had a coronary angiogram in November 2024 but neither the local cardiologist nor the one at the public hospital we went to told us anything. The local cardiologist was very reassuring, "it's nothing...it's a minor operation...it won't take long...you'll be back the same day" etc. Suddenly my father's health deteriorated, we brought him here to Athens to a private hospital for a pre-operative check-up, the results were very bad and then we were forced to admit him for hospitalization, we spent a fortune and after 15 days the doctors told us "there's nothing we can do" because the damage was unreversed.
We took him home to the village and he passed away the next day in front of my mother. Yes, he was 87 years old but he walked with minimal help from a cane, he drove normally, he went shopping alone - to the pharmacy etc, if the doctors had warning us earlier he could live few years more, God rest his soul.
https://i.imgur.com/Hc0EAF2.jpeg
I am travelling tomorrow for the funeral's final preparation, few puffs with Captain Black Royal.
https://i.imgur.com/NLfGliS.jpeg
I will be ''Out of Forum'' for the next weeks too.
Sorry for your loss, praying for peace and healing. In the arms of Jesus now!Quote:
Originally Posted by Sid.Stavros
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I am so sorry to hear this Sid. My prayers are with you and your family.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sid.Stavros
Sorry to hear this sad news, Sid. Prayers for your father, you, and those that love him.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Good morning Gentlemen, thank you for your kindly words, the shock from my father's loss is huge. Lot of bureaucracy here in cases like this and the worst is that my mother has mobility problems and now is almost alone.
Here in Athens we have sun with few clouds and 81 'F.
https://i.imgur.com/KK7DsF2.jpeg
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Skandinavik Vanilla.
Greetings from Athens-Greece, we have sun and 94 'F, the Summer already started here.
https://i.imgur.com/as5FJdf.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/c8XSw6h.jpeg
Planta No1.
Major-General Lindsay Merritt Inglis, New Zealand (1894 – 1966)
https://i.imgur.com/Er4YD4N.jpeg
Orlik Club Mixture in a Breebia.