give me a sign

I have always loved signs here in Greece.  Maybe it goes back to when I was first learning Greek, and I loved that signs were short and sweet and to the point.  Even if I had only managed to read a few words, I had read something complete and absorbed whatever information it had to give me.  We’re surrounded by signs in our daily lives, but how many of them do we really notice and appreciate?  Here are a few photos I’ve taken over the years of signs here in Greece.

This sign is on a back road not far from where we live now.  It says “Medieval Bridge,” and the little yellow sign on top says “Hunting Forbidden.”

A classic Greek street sign.   There are thousands of signs just like this, all over the country.  This one is from the most charming and beautiful old neighborhood of Athens, called Anafiotika.

This is a cafe sign; the cafe is called “Anemelo,” which means Carefree.  The line on the bottom reads “Cafe – Bar – Patisserie.”

This a street sign, believe it or not.  It’s in the countryside near the town of Megalopolis in the Peloponnese, a region in southern Greece.

This charming sign is near the village of Langadia in the region of Arcadia.  It reads, “Dear passersby, trash in the bin.”

This sign is on the door of a 17th century church on the island of Milos.  It’s written in an archaic form of Greek called “puristic” Greek, which is very similar to ancient Greek.  It reads “cast your obol.”  An obol, in ancient Athens, was something like a quarter or a 50-cent piece.  There are no obols anymore, but it means any coin, by analogy.

This sign is built into the wall of a monastery on the island of Sifnos.   It reads “Here lived and wrote the poet Aristomenes Provelengios.”

Don’t you wish your town had darling street signs like this?

Why replace an old sign, when it starts to age?  This is so much more charming anyway.

The sign for a snack bar called the “New Loggia.”

I love all these signs – hand-painted, hand-carved, or standard government-issue, they all add to the unique atmosphere in Greece.

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