What Did You Smoke Today? (Pipe Edition)

[Cool Breeze]

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.

[Sid.Stavros]

'Dayyy from Athens-Greece, we have sun with few clouds and 65 'F here.





Planta Black Vanilla.

[Lostmason]

So,,, today was a bulk blend identified only as " English Blend" in a Bellmont Whitehall pot. Delightful smoke accompanied with a "Clan McGreggor" scotch.

[Sid.Stavros]

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).



We have sun and 66'F here in Athens-Greece, i smoke Vanilla Hausmarke.

[Sid.Stavros]

Hello from Athens-Greece, we have sun and 73 'F here.



Black & Elegant Vanilla.

[Nature]

Hello from Athens-Greece, we have sun and 73 'F here.



Black & Elegant Vanilla.

Beautiful pipe


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Sid.Stavros]

Beautiful pipe

Thank you sir, it's a modified Olive wood pipe, the bronze ring and the blue mouthpiece are ''extra''.

[Cool Breeze]

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.

[Sid.Stavros]

Salute from Athens-Greece with 75 'F, those days we wish to everybody here ''Happy Resurrection and Happy Easter''.




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Mac Baren 7 Seas Regular Blend.

[Sid.Stavros]

Already mentioned in ancient Greek Iliad at 8th century BC, here is from a ceramic of 500 BC.





We keep our traditions ''alive", we ate it yesterday in family supper.





W.O Larsen Indigo.