{"id":1019,"date":"2022-02-09T21:41:31","date_gmt":"2022-02-09T21:41:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stuffbysofia.com\/blog\/?p=1019"},"modified":"2022-03-16T19:02:27","modified_gmt":"2022-03-16T19:02:27","slug":"the-london-years-the-way-to-anyones-heart-is-through-the-stomach-2-of-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stuffbysofia.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/the-london-years-the-way-to-anyones-heart-is-through-the-stomach-2-of-20\/","title":{"rendered":"The London Years: The way to anyone&#8217;s heart is through the stomach (2 of 20)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>I was sprawled on the couch, hair and makeup professionally done, exhausted and half asleep. The production assistant was sent out to get me some chocolate and he came back with a velvety patisserie sweet that put some fire in my belly again. I was soon up on my feet in front of the camera and thinking back, this was one of the most random and fun things I&#8217;ve ever done. Shooting promotional content professionally &#8211; I mean, what the hell had happened? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Don\u2019t know what\u2019s going on?&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stuffbysofia.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/the-london-years\/\" target=\"_blank\">I\u2019m leaving London soon<\/a>&nbsp;so this is one of my <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stuffbysofia.com\/blog\/tag\/20londonstories\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.stuffbysofia.com\/blog\/tag\/20londonstories\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">20 London stories <\/a>\u2013 a celebration of 20 years of my life here.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CZxab2HL-Wc\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\" style=\" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);\">\n<div style=\"padding:16px;\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CZxab2HL-Wc\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" style=\" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <p><\/p>\n<div style=\" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;\">\n<div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 19% 0;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display:block; 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font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;\">View this post on Instagram<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 12.5% 0;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;\">\n<div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: 8px;\">\n<div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: auto;\">\n<div style=\" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;\">\n<div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/a><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CZxab2HL-Wc\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" style=\" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CZxab2HL-Wc\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" style=\" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CZxab2HL-Wc\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" style=\" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CZxab2HL-Wc\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" style=\" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CZxab2HL-Wc\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" style=\" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CZxab2HL-Wc\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" style=\" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CZxab2HL-Wc\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A post shared by Sofia Gkiousou (@sofiagk)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async=\"\" src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n\n\n<p>I moved to London in 2022, skilled in the great arts of frying an egg and making pasta. I was 22 and had lived all my life in a country where food was abundant and relatively cheap. My mother lived  close by, the <em>souvlaki<\/em> place knew my order by heart and central Athens at the time was full of small restaurants with proper Greek food &#8211; nothing fancy, just what you&#8217;d find in any normal household &#8211; for a few Euros. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So here I was, in London with not a lot of cooking skills and very little money (and by that I mean almost non existent).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Maybe a little family history. I don&#8217;t remember my mum or my granny ever really enjoying cooking. There were no domestic goddesses in my immediate vicinity. Regardless though, I grew up around (and under) &#8220;tables&#8221;. The Greeks don&#8217;t give &#8220;dinner parties&#8221;, we invite people over to &#8220;a table&#8221;. It&#8217;s loud, messy, there&#8217;s always too much food and it takes hours. The kids are around and some (ahem&#8230; me) might hide under the table to listen to the gossip that comes only after good food and good drink. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Food is central to Greek culture. It&#8217;s rarely fancy but it&#8217;s always plentiful and if you are a kid who notices things &#8211; like I was &#8211; it always comes with stories. Some food is immigrant food &#8211; from Asia Minor, from Istanbul, from the Black Sea. Some food is secret food &#8211; a family recipe that&#8217;s never shared. Some food is special food &#8211; like white sweets and biscuits for an engagement party. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I seemed to have noticed all this when I was a child and then promptly forgot &#8211; only to be reminded when I came to London. To be honest, learning how to cook was a product of two necessities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>First, there was rarely ever any money for luxuries in those days. <\/strong>Expenses had to be tightly controlled &#8211; my salary for \u00a3900 per month and my rent was \u00a3350 (bills not included). As much as I hated lentil soup as a child, the adult trying to survive in London quickly appreciated its low cost. I wasn&#8217;t starving, but steak was not on the menu every day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Secondly though, food became a bridge<\/strong>, a tangible exploration of my old and new identity. A Greek in London. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Back in the early 2000s Greek London was extremely limited. There was North London with its Cypriot neighborhoods and tavernas and maybe a couple of Greek restaurants in West London &#8211; aka Onassis-wannabe central. The influx of contemporary Greeks and the exciting new Greek restaurants post-financial crisis were in the distant future. You wanted to eat <em>pastitsio<\/em> or <em>tzatziki<\/em>? You had better learn how to make them.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that&#8217;s what I did. My mother offered advice from afar (we used <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Microsoft_NetMeeting\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Microsoft_NetMeeting\" target=\"_blank\">Netmeeting<\/a> in those days believe it or not) and she also sent me her only cookbook. A tattered wedding gift from the 70s with no photos but plenty of old fashioned Greek recipes. It even includes advice for the server &#8211; different from the advice to the hostess and a full list of necessary cooking utensils, pots and pans. It still has pride of place on my cooking books shelf.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Slowly, painstakingly, stubbornly, I learned. I developed a bit of a reputation for cooking amongst friends. I was not accomplished but I was one of the few people in my circle who could make what the Greeks call &#8220;home food&#8221;. Simple everyday recipes you could not find in the London restaurants. I hosted many dinners, lunches, BBQs and Christmas celebrations. It gave me incredible joy to have people over and recreate in London a little bit of something of that childhood magic &#8211; grown ups around a table, community in action. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One day, as a joke and a little bit as a bet to impress a boy I liked (what a disaster that was), I put a camera in front of me and hey presto became a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/DigitalsculleryEu\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/DigitalsculleryEu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">YouTuber<\/a>. I made grainy videos &#8211; I filmed on my laptop in those days &#8211; and loved them. As I was already blogging in Greek it was easy to slot those into my&#8230; normal programming as it were. A blog post about how to find a job in London and then a video about how to make <em>frappe<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UCVVtrKDIdc\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>It was all a bit silly but it did something magical for me. It helped me navigate being abroad.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Leaving home and finding a new home is a difficult process especially for a young drama queen. If you had asked me then I don&#8217;t think I would have been able to articulate it &#8211; this need to be connected to something that&#8217;s part of your core identity. An attempt to stay grounded, connected to something you know because London was wonderful and incredible and chaotic and VAST and sometimes really fucking <strong>SCARY<\/strong>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" style=\"background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CZxbRJhrY_B\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\">\n<div style=\"padding: 16px;\">\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 19% 0;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-top: 8px;\">\n<div style=\"color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;\">View this post on Instagram<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 12.5% 0;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;\">\n<div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: 8px;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: auto;\">\n<div style=\"width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;\"><a style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CZxbRJhrY_B\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A post shared by Sofia Gkiousou (@sofiagk)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Food became an incredible tool to find community, to be creative and &#8211; most importantly &#8211; to find a way to love London. The moment I became a more serious cook was the moment I also became a more adventurous eater and student of food. I went to the small and the big food markets, I tried to sample other cuisines, I read books and watched shows as well as YouTubers from other cultures.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Before I knew it, I had found comfort in London&#8217;s multicultural food scene. I had lists of restaurants I wanted to try, recipes I wanted to attempt. I went to the Turkish shops and the Chinese shops. I wasn&#8217;t always successful in my cooking but I was enthusiastic and persistent. As my actual career progressed, as the almost non existent money became a bit more existent, I managed to go to the restaurants I couldn&#8217;t before. I found places that do creative things with nostalgic food (of which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oklava.co.uk\/\">Oklava<\/a> is my current favourite). Above all, I found a type of home in food, a type of identity, a place again around (and under) the table.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The journey brought me to that couch in Athens, exhausted, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.athinorama.gr\/umami\/food\/articles\/to_facebook_mageireuei__-2112582.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">filming with Ogilvy Greece for Hellmanns<\/a>. It seems that yours truly was a bit of an influencer before that was a thing &#8211; do I sound old? I think I do.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/YJgsArhHYds\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n<p>It gave me <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S1071581913001055?via%3Dihub\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S1071581913001055?via%3Dihub\" target=\"_blank\">my first journal paper<\/a>, <em>&#8220;Hybridizing food cultures in computer-mediated environments: Creativity and improvisation in Greek food blogs&#8221;<\/em>. It sounds pretentious, like most academic papers, but it was the first time I sat down and thought about what cooking gave me. What cooking and writing about cooking and filming cooking and reading about cooking while being in London gave me. <\/p>\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CZxan3sL_kM\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\" style=\" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);\">\n<div style=\"padding:16px;\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CZxan3sL_kM\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" style=\" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <p><\/p>\n<div style=\" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; 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font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;\">View this post on Instagram<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 12.5% 0;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;\">\n<div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: 8px;\">\n<div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: auto;\">\n<div style=\" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;\">\n<div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/a><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CZxan3sL_kM\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" style=\" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CZxan3sL_kM\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" style=\" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CZxan3sL_kM\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" style=\" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CZxan3sL_kM\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" style=\" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CZxan3sL_kM\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" style=\" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CZxan3sL_kM\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A post shared by Sofia Gkiousou (@sofiagk)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async=\"\" src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n\n\n<p>One year, a Greek girl I had &#8220;met&#8221; through the blog messaged me on Christmas eve. She was in London with her mum for a little holiday. London, if you&#8217;ve never been, is completely shut down on Christmas day and I knew they would be alone with a sad slice of Christmas turkey at their hotel, served by people who honestly would prefer to be somewhere else. I made her take a taxi and come over. I had cooked a HUGE turkey that year &#8211; which in all honesty was a bit dry. The table was laden with too much food &#8211; some of it yummy &#8211; and friends were there to eat, to drink and to play music. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Her mother sat on the couch, looking around, singing along with us, kindly complimenting the turkey . I think she was one of the few people who absolutely got me. She had spent many years in the United States and I always like to think that she knew, how a new home is home and how far away from home it can be. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014-<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">My #20LondonStories<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stuffbysofia.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/the-london-years-grexit-brexit-1-of-20\/\">Grexit\/ Brexit&nbsp;<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stuffbysofia.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/the-london-years-the-way-to-anyones-heart-is-through-the-stomach-2-of-20\/\">The way to anyone&#8217;s heart is through the stomach<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stuffbysofia.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/the-london-years-the-night-bus-3-of-20\/\">The night bus&nbsp;<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stuffbysofia.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/the-london-years-words-save-our-lives-sometimes-4-of-20\/\">Words save our lives&#8230; sometimes&nbsp;<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stuffbysofia.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/the-london-years-the-rest-is-noise-5-of-20\/\">The rest is noise&nbsp;<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stuffbysofia.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/the-london-years-how-not-to-bite-your-nails-in-the-officials-box-6-of-20\/\">How not to bite your nails in the Officials&#8217; Box&nbsp;<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stuffbysofia.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/the-london-years-always-have-a-sister-7-of-20\/\">Always have a sister&nbsp;<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stuffbysofia.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/the-london-years-greek-london-8-of-20\/\">Greek London&nbsp;<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stuffbysofia.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/the-london-years-this-green-and-pleasant-land-9-of-20\/\">This green and pleasant land&nbsp;<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stuffbysofia.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/the-london-years-the-bridge-of-aspiration-10-of-20\/\">The bridge of aspiration&nbsp;<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stuffbysofia.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/the-london-years-the-knight-in-well-travelled-armor-11-of-20\/\">The knight in well travelled armor&nbsp;<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stuffbysofia.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/the-london-years-carpets-in-the-toilet-and-other-adventures-in-housing\/\">Carpets in the toilet and other adventures in housing<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stuffbysofia.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/the-london-years-moments-in-art-13-of-20\/\">Moments in Art&nbsp;<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stuffbysofia.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/the-london-years-the-nhs-hunger-games-14-of-20\/\">The NHS hunger games&nbsp;<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stuffbysofia.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/the-london-years-in-nocte-consilium-15-of-20\/\">In nocte consilium<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stuffbysofia.com\/blog\/2022\/03\/the-london-years-the-friends-we-found-the-friends-we-lost-16-of-20\/\">The friends we found, the friends we lost<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stuffbysofia.com\/blog\/2022\/03\/the-london-years-blogging-tips-for-beginners-17-of-20\/\">Blogging tips for beginners&nbsp;<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stuffbysofia.com\/blog\/2022\/03\/the-london-years-lord-of-gondolin\/\">Lord of Gondolin, Bane of Gothmog, mighty beater of his headboard, conqueror of the slide, aka our child<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stuffbysofia.com\/blog\/2022\/03\/the-london-years-temet-nosce\/\">\u03b3\u03bd\u1ff6\u03b8\u03b9 \u03c3\u03b5\u03b1\u03c5\u03c4\u03cc\u03bd<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stuffbysofia.com\/blog\/2022\/03\/the-london-stories-how-to-leave-london-20-of-20\/\">How to leave London<\/a><\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I was sprawled on the couch, hair and makeup professionally done, exhausted and half asleep. The production assistant was sent&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1023,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[282,12],"class_list":["post-1019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-the-rest","tag-20londonstories","tag-featured"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stuffbysofia.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/13747586794_130ea46154_k.jpg?fit=2047%2C1365&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4xPqU-gr","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stuffbysofia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stuffbysofia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stuffbysofia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stuffbysofia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stuffbysofia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1019"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.stuffbysofia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1304,"href":"https:\/\/www.stuffbysofia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1019\/revisions\/1304"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stuffbysofia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stuffbysofia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stuffbysofia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stuffbysofia.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}