Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Monday, March 31, 2008
AN AMERIKANAKI IN ATHENS
Yiasou! Here is my new baby blog dedicated to my trip to Greece 2008. I hope to post many stories and pictures for you to enjoy.
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Athens' newest musical extravaganza
The old "Rex" theater on Panepistimiou Boulevard is the site of a fantastic show put on by singers Elefteria Arvanitaki and Dimitra Galani
Elefteria is one of my Favorite singers-period and Galani sings some songs I've liked for a long time, though I didn't know her
Elefteria's voice seems to get better every year and Galani has that classic greek smokey voice (not that greek singers smoke) and is a wonderful comedienne
In Blue Light
The show was extremely well done: lighting, music, staging
In Red Light
Most of the theater has been turned into a restaurant with spacious tables. It can be pricey at 100 Euros a person in some seats, but that includes complimentary bottle of wine. Food is extra
She wows you
I don't know how old Arvanitaki, but she is a musical babe
The sold out--every night--audience loves her
They dance up a storm in the balcony bar--where you must stand ( and can dance) but admission is only 20 Euro and includes a free drink
Voice Like the Goddess
Ainos Athanatisi Thea Eis Ora Eoiken (see Homer)
A day trip to Corinth--first: the modern city. Cathedral of St. Paul in Corinth
Corinth was the first city visited by St. Paul in Greece and he found a ready audience in that cosmopolitan place. A rich city built on trade and surrounded by fertile plains, its was destroyed by Roman armies and then rebuilt by wiser Romans who regretted it. Corinth remained important in the Byzantine period, boasting one of the largest Christian basilicas in the world and it was an important stronghold for the prinicipalities built on the post-fourth crusade ruins of the Byzantine Empire. The fortified Acrocorinth is an imposing presence overlooking the green valleys
A main street in modern Corinth
Greek religions
It bears repeating over and over again that Christianity was not imposed on the ancient Greeks by conquerors. The Olympian worship died a slow death over hundreds of years, undermined by the criticisms of philosophers and the boredom of the people. Among the streams that fed into Christian worship were Greek philosophy and the greek mystery cults, especially the Eleusinian and Orphic mysteries. St. Paul found ready audiences in places like Crete and Corinth.
On the way to ancient Corinth.
Art mimics nature--and vice versa. This magnificent olive tree seems to be spreading its branches in immitation of the great statue, the Winged Nike (Victory) or Samothrace. The modern copy is imprisoned in a marble workshop at the site of ancient Corinth (the modern city is a couple of miles away)
Another noble olive tree
A stately cypress tree in Corinth
A panoramic view of the valley below the Acrocorinth, with its peaks topped with Frankish walls and battlements
Poppies!
On the road to the Emerald City, er, the Acrocorinth. There are no wizards in Greece, but there is a whole bunch of Prime Ministers
Lemons!
This reminds me that if life gives you lemons, make lemonade (this is related to the comment about Greece's many ex-prime ministers
A blasted tree
A reminder not to piss off the Prime Ministers
A more favored tree
The biggest fig tree I've ever seen,
the great fig trees roots deep in the side of the hill
When you get to the fork in the road...take it
Further down the road to the Acrocorinth, one is reminded of the ancient wisdom of Yogi Berra
Finally, ancient Corinth
Here are the remains of a Greek temple in Corinth...but the Acrocorinth is still far away
The Roman Odeon in ancient Corinth
Odeons were used by Greeks and Romans to listen to music and public lectures. Amphitheaters which were originally built by Greeks for the presentations of tragedies and high comedies, gradually were used for less sophisticated comedies and animal shows. The great Greek tragedies were read by the educated classes throughout the Roman and Byzantine periods but began to be performed less and less in Hellenistic times
The row of arches in the center look early Byzantine, reminding us of the importance of Corinth in that period
The Roost
Roosters have seen them all come and go: Persians, Romans, Franks, Turks (don't buy the addition of "Byzantine" to such lists, they were Greeks whose society gradually became Christian from eastern asia minor to southern Italy to the Balkan mountains. In fact "Byzantine" is a 17th century term. By the time of Constantine, the Hellenes were all citizens of the Roman Empire and they called themselves "Romaioi" until after the fall of Constantinople
A snake!
It doesn't look like much in this picture but on the right is the tail end of the first snake I've ever encountered. As I was looking through the bars of the Corinth archaeological site I felt something run across my shoe. In New York, that would usually be one of our four-legged rats. I looked down and scooting away was teh biggest snake I ever saw. Not a python but at 3 feet long and three inches wide, it was a sight. How I had the presence of mind to snap this photo, how I didn't drop my camera I'll never know. The better question is why I was dumb enough to take shortcuts through the neighboring fields but no harm done. It must have been a friendly snake.
Most of the animals I had previously see in Greece...
look like this.
On the road again
I ain't 'fraid o' no snakes--jeez! What was that!
Don't look back...
there may be snakes ahead! A nice view of the temple and Corinth's Aegean coast
Closer to the Acrocorinth
When you around you in places like this and see fertile valley's all around you can see how history's conquerors could not resist grabbing one more region, one more valley. And you can see the need for hilltop fortresses like Acrocorinth
Powerful Cyprus trees stand guard
A little hill as we approach the Acrocorinth
A reminder to me of how green parts of Greece can be
The fortress
A closeup shot of the Frankish walls. The Franks were crusaders from Frankland --France, but the Byzantines tended to cll all westerners Franks. They found the French to be less than "frank" but the westerners didn't find the Greeks/Byzantine/Romoioi to be too honest either. On the other hand, the world famous Greek hospitality never was meant to apply to invaders. In other photos you will see that the fortifications resemble Byzantine walls rather than the Venetian structures in places like Crete
Near the top
More walls to the left, guarding the approach up the hillside below
Another fertile valley behind the Acrocorinth
At the very gates
Some towers next to the main gate
A peek inside...
because the Acrocorinth closed at 3 PM (beware, that is a common closing time in Greece). I'll see what's inside another time, but next time I'll take the bus up--though there was some evidence on the road that donkeys also take you there
Clang clang clang
Athens' new trams are very nice. Sometimes they go slow through the narrow streets of some interesting neighborhoods, sometimes they zip along the coast. On weekends they operate 24 hours, keeping cars and inebriated kids off the roads
The great new Acropolis Museum
As I've long suspected
...the gate to Purgatory is in Greece
My Relatives
A bit blurry (there was a lot of wine) here are my Theia Rena and her husband the irrepresible Thano, My Theio Niko's wife Kaiti, my sweet Theia (um, that means aunt) Athina and her husband Yanni
My dear Theia Sophia and Theio Dimitri
Views of Panepistimiou-- University Boulevard at Night
The Grand Grande Bretagne Hotel
The fantastic new pedestrian way below the Acropolis
The walkway is built on the street named for Dionysius the Areopagite, the ancient Greek intellectual who was one of St. Paul's first converts to Christianity in Greece
A Santouri Player.
Dressed as a "tsolia" like the irregular soldiers of the 1821 war for Greek independence, Dimitri plays the ancient instrument variations of which were played throughout the Mediterranean and the middle east. You gotta give credit to anyone who would wear that outfit--even in modern Greece. Although The guards of the Tomb of the unknown soldier are as impassive as palace guards all over the world, a nearby Greek will beat you up if you laugh at their white stockings. Dimitri's santouri playing was OK but his accent betrayed an origin slightly more northern than he's likely to admit. Is he a spy from Skopia--dressed as a tsolia like the british agent "Bunny" in Corelli's Mandolin? No. Most likely Bulgarian. Oh, that's right, so are the Skopians.
More views from the walkway.
The building in the lower right corner is the little Church of the Aghia Sophia--The Church of Divine Wisdom. Here and there you'll hear other street musicians: accordions playing french and greek songs, a barrel organ. A balkan woman singing a mournful but powerful song probably hundreds of years old.
The renowned Plaka neighborhood
Turn left off the Dionysos Areopagitis and walk around the base of the acropolis and you will run into the old quarter of the Plaka. Restaurants, nightclubs, shops and lots of tourists
Plaka at dusk
Plaka is the site of a wonderful about the great Leon Stavrou of AHEPA and AHI fame, the founder of the AHI Business Network. Its about "people helping people", a sentiment probably inspired in his Amerikanaki soul by Athenians who will either refuse to give you directions or deliberately give you bad information. No problema. You won't be far from a place that serves ouzo or retsina.
First Views of the Sacred Rock
The glorious Herodion Theater
Built by the great 2nd century AD patron of the arts Herodes Attikos, whose villa in Marathon I visited April 15
Herodion and the Stoa of Eumenes
This stoa (covered walkway) resembles the magnificent rebuilt Stoa of Attalos that Eumenes' brother and successor as King of Pergamum built in the nearby Athenian Agora. After the Peloponessian wars shattered Athens' military and political power the city remained the cultural center of the Mediterranean world. Hellenistic Kings and powerful Romans competed for the informal title of patron of the great city.
Tower of the Winds in the Roman Agora
One of my favorite Athens monuments
Gazi--Pictures of Total Transformation
Former city gasworks turned into an Athens hotspot: clubs, coffee houses, galleries
Grafitti
In Athens today you will find a lot of grafitti. some is good grafitti: real artists on walls in abandoned construction sites or industrial building where artists were invited to paint. Some is bad: some bozo's "tag" on newly restored landmarks or private houses.
My Theio Vasso's Home
This is my favorite house is all Athens--designed and built by my dear late Theio Vasso
Theio Vasso was from Tripolis in Arcadia, the place where some of the most remarkable people in my life come from. He also designed the modern amphitheater in Piraeus. I love how he designed the balcony in the corner of the house with the Byzantine-inspired columns. His favorite philosopher was Henri Bergson and he always stressed the importance of l'intuition
A Steam Locomotive!
I have always been fascinated by trains--my Lionel train set was the joy of my childhood. But I have never actually seen a steam locomotive...until now. I jumped into the engineers cabin and pretended to "fire her up". This train is now a museum with completely restored passenger cars which serve as a restaurant and as the theater for plays
Some Houses in Glyfada
The Beautiful Glyfada Golf Club
With new friend: The incomparable Connie
An Interesting Church--Sts. Constantine & Helen in Glyfada
Glyfada--Swimming on April 7 and Starbucks in Greece!
There are LOTS of Starbucks here. I have seen 7 so far but there must be at least 10! Why? This is the land of cafenia and cafeterias. Anyway, I'm staying away from them. If I'm loath to pay $2 for a cup of coffee in the state I certainly am not going to pay 2 euro in Greece.
First day in Athens
Its called "Kaki Thalassa" "Evil Sea" because of the winds of August, but its Beautiful in April
Looking up from the Bad Sea to a nice house
Panorama of Kaki Thalassa
A Picturesque Women's Monastery Near Kaki Thalassa
