Kafeneon in the Cretan villages.

‘Kafeneon’ is the greek word for coffee shop. You can find them in every village. We should say ‘kafeneons’, because even though the village is very small, there are always two kafeneons. This has to do with the political preference of the inhabitants. There is one kafeneon for socialists, also called ‘the greens’, who support the left party Pasok and the other kafeneon is for the new democrats, where the blue flag stands for support for the political party on the right wing. Often the men sit very close together so it is easy to discuss the politics. So a kafeneon is more than just a coffee shop, it is also a club house for social contacts.

A kafeneon is only an affair for men. If you meet a woman in a kafeneon, she is merely there to serve coffee. The women stay at home to take care of the household, they are knitting and talking to family members or girlfriends.