Frikasé a la Yaya...in Elassona!

A wonderful supper of "Arnaki Frikasé", salad, tzatziki and bread.This is a very traditional Greek dish, usually eaten around Christmas time. It is made from lamb, romaine lettuce with parsley, dill and lemon for flavor. It is perfect to warm you up on those cool winter evenings, but i love it anytime. If ever you are lucky enough to be invited to a Greek home for this dinner you may never want to leave. 

My Yaya prepared it for me as a special treat when i went to visit her in Elassona last night. Elassona is a town in northern Thessaly at the foot of Mount Olympus. It is a very ancient place that has been occupied for at least a few thousand years. Even Homer mentions it in his writings. There is not much in the way of archeological sites here, i believe it is because the modern town is built upon the old as it has always remained inhabited. 

The town has two rivers, Elassonitis and Titarisios running through it with four bridges, one being a very ancient foot bridge. This is a great place to use as a base camp for exploring the western side of Mount Olympus. For those of you interested in a longer (permanent ?) stay there is the beautiful Virgin Mary of Olympus Monastery that sits upon the hillside above the town.

The Virgin Mary of Olympus (Παναγία Ολυμπιώτισσα) Monastery over Elassona.

Elassonitis river running through the town.

Bridge over Elassonitis river.

The central square of Elassona from a café.

Ancient footbridge over Elassonitis river.

St. Dimitrios church from across the town square.

River from above the town.

Shrines - Rooftop view of Mount Olympus!

I am so well loved by my fellow countrymen that they have built thousands of small roadside houses throughout Greece in the hopes that i will come visit them. Just joking ! These are roadside Greek Orthodox shrines, a custom "borrowed" from earlier pagan days.They usually have candles, bottles of consecrated oil and water, religious icons and sometimes pictures of loved ones. These shrines often mark a place where a fatal accident occurred (in remembrance) or where an accident was miraculously prevented (to give thanks). There are a wide variety of styles of these shrines adding much character to the Greek landscape. Last week out of curiosity,i counted roadside shrines for one hour and the total reached 118. Thanks to this tradition i have saved thousands of Euros throughout the years in hotel costs.
This particular picture has the stunning background of Mount Olympus!

Blue and white are very common colors here in Greece.

So many icons, so little space...

The skyscraper of shrines!

Heavy-metal shrine!

Old-school shrine! And Mount Olympus in the background...!