The Lives of Others- Villa Bianca

The days before Christmas are usually filled with activity- holiday parties, shopping, preparations for all kinds of festivity. Between Christmas and New Year's, days take on another pace. Most of us still have a little more free time, and high-octane prep is out of the way. They are perfect for revisiting things that really matter, but seem to get lost in the happy chaos of day to day life the rest of the year. Catching up on cinema is popular, and in our own family, it was always a week of more museum going than usual. The tree at the Met, with the origami, was spectacular. This year's museum going has taken on a personal cast.

Right up the street we have one of those grand mansions that make you wonder who used to live there. It's a museum now. I've been a couple of times- for the architecture (Art Nouveau Gem!), the beautiful details:

and the story- a Jewish/Christian-Juliette/Romeo love story that was a juicy headline scandal at the time (with a happy ending- the elopement began a marriage of 50+ years.) An intimate space such as a private home is an idea setting for an intimate story. Grand works of art in grand galleries inspire, but life is not always about the Napoleonic wars- sometimes it is about love stories, long lost messages in bottles:

Did Aline Fernandez Diaz really write a message to Spiros Aliberti,
seal it in a bottle and toss it into the bay of Thermaikos in December of 1913,
only to be found over a hundred years later by artist (and winter swimmer)
Cynthia Gerothanasiou? 
(Truth should never be obscured by facts.)

the baths of children at nighttime in their nursery:

Dreamy bath of illumination by Maria Xinopoulou

and gifts the family Fernandez-Diaz presented with affection to their children's nanny, Euphrossini Papadopoulou, who cared for Jean, Robert, and Blanchette in the period between the wars:

Glimpse of the sweet value of sentiment by Katerina Rachmani

The afternoon was rich with imagination- a glimpse of beautiful things behind a closed door, and a chance to reflect on the treasured objects, tattered and splendid, that comprise our own sentimental lives.

The Villa Bianca is open Tuesday – Friday 10:00 – 17:00, and Saturday 11:00 – 15:00. 180 Vasilissis Olgas. (+30) 2310.427.555. Admission Free.

This charming exhibition is temporary. The exhibition galleries on the top floor- fabulous pitched roofs and ornate round windows- hold a permanent exhibition of religious icons, the likes of which you may never have seen. Open weekdays only.