tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2738947494362726932023-11-15T16:08:08.836+02:00Athens Living DiariesA glimpse of life in Athens, Greece through a foreigner's eyes.
For videos about Athens visit my web site http://www.athensliving.netAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11845091467828468286noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273894749436272693.post-65425392595964856692015-01-11T19:45:00.000+02:002015-01-11T19:45:12.435+02:00Goodbye<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MJXK42QW1Uk/VLK2E27RZSI/AAAAAAAAAtI/NG9nqIsNgXk/s1600/camping%2B3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MJXK42QW1Uk/VLK2E27RZSI/AAAAAAAAAtI/NG9nqIsNgXk/s1600/camping%2B3.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">He left suddenly, unexpectedly, walking off
into a cold winter’s afternoon. Where was he going? Was it possible that, after
fourteen years, he could remember from whence he came and wanted to return?</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">His arrival was unexpected, too. A tiny
bundle of matted fur curled up in the road outside our house, weighing no more
than a ping-pong ball. That scrap transformed into a sleekly beautiful tabby
who was the apple of our eye and the king of his domain.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Our world became his. He patrolled the
garden perimeters with vigilance, keeping out interlopers with a bravery that
was often foolhardy. Occasionally he would appear with ears bitten, scratched
back and dented confidence, and then lay low until he felt back on form and
able to rule his small realm again with pride.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">For a stray, he never strayed. Not once. He
never left his private paradise, our home. The only time his proud valour
quavered was when he was forced to exit the front gate, safely boxed, on his
way to the vet. Then he would cry and shake until the gates of home opened
again, calming him instantly as they clanged shut against the outside world.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">He must have known his time was near. Was
it his pride that made him leave us? Did he not want to spend his final hours
here, in his home, his Avalon? Whatever the reason, for the first time in his
life, he voluntarily breached the walls of his kingdom and walked far, far away
to a place where we cannot find him.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">You didn’t let us say goodbye so I’m saying
it now. We love you, Pookie, and will remember you always.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11845091467828468286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273894749436272693.post-82577345158533796222014-11-13T13:40:00.005+02:002014-11-13T18:47:55.660+02:00Perusing Psirri<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vcnpiMVhdCo/VGSQk8kl0YI/AAAAAAAAAr4/IFWB_4Vrzj8/s1600/DSC08559.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vcnpiMVhdCo/VGSQk8kl0YI/AAAAAAAAAr4/IFWB_4Vrzj8/s320/DSC08559.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">“Psirri, psirri,
psirri, psirri”, repeat the name fast enough and you conjure up images of busy
people passing on a succulent secret in whispers. In some ways, Psirri <i>is</i></span><span lang="EN-US"> a tasty secret, its often dark side
streets hidden to many tourists who prefer to stick to the better-known,
brighter alleys of neighbouring Plaka.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> But that’s a real shame, as this is one
of the most interesting areas, both historically and culturally, in the whole
city. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Psirri has known
many incarnations throughout its long history. Even the origin of its name is
lost in the jumble of time, some saying it comes from early settlers who came
from the island of Psara, and others claiming that it arises from the wealthy
Pseirros family who once owned much of the land in the area. <span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0VZ-bA3mCwI/VGSQQdgYdcI/AAAAAAAAArY/xvHrQk1kDkY/s1600/DSC04062.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0VZ-bA3mCwI/VGSQQdgYdcI/AAAAAAAAArY/xvHrQk1kDkY/s320/DSC04062.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Understanding this
part of Athens requires a little knowledge of modern Greek history; although
inhabited in both antiquity and Ottoman times, Psirri rose to prominence during
the Greek War of Independence because many of the heroes of the revolution built
homes here. Their<i> </i></span><span lang="EN-US">names
are still commemorated today in the streets surrounding the main square, known
as “Hero’s Square”. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The spirit of this
fascinating neighbourhood carries on throughout the centuries. History and the
present merge on Pittaki street, named after a nineteenth century
revolutionary, Kyriakos Pittakis, and now adorned with a twenty first century
</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XZj1OXXINvc/VGSQ1mRAYYI/AAAAAAAAAsY/YHTSaTX_5gs/s1600/DSC08573.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XZj1OXXINvc/VGSQ1mRAYYI/AAAAAAAAAsY/YHTSaTX_5gs/s320/DSC08573.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">imaginative display of street lights produced by a local arts collective. All
praise to the residents of Psirri for maintaining these lights, which remain
shining nightly two years after installation- unusual in a city that often
takes no care protecting new installations and initiatives.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Romantics might
like to take a stroll down Thekla Street, where Lord Byron first spotted the
Greek beauty immortalised in his poem as the “Maid of Athens”…and even if your
soul doesn’t feel the pull of a poem penned in 1810, it can surely appreciate the fine <i>leather</i></span><span lang="EN-US"> soles made by the famous poet sandal maker
whose shop is also on Thekla Street.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">The neighbourhood
hasn’t always had a bright past, however. It gained notoriety following the war
of Independence when many of its residents became more armed and dangerous thugs than heroes
of the revolution. One group of criminals known as the Koutsakavides were so
powerful in the area they became a law unto themselves. The Koutsavakides had a
fashion sense of their own, too, sporting long mustaches, high-heeled pointy
toed boots (the precursor to the winklepickers, perhaps?) and tight trousers.
They got their name from their odd gait <i>(‘koutsos’</i></span><span lang="EN-US"> or lame) and were eventually suppressed at
the turn of the nineteenth century by newly determined authorities who clipped
the fifty year stranglehold the Koutsavakides had held over Psirri through
humiliation tactics, cutting off the pointy toes of their shoes, shaving their
mustaches and confiscating their weapons.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So it was that by
the beginning of the twentieth century Psirri had gained a reputation for
harbouring the underworld.</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> it was here that Rembetika, the urban Greek folk music that sings of hash, heroin and poverty grew to prominence. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But it also was
home to skilled craftsmen who lived productive, law-abiding lives working
predominantly in the leather and soap making businesses. Many of these families
came from Naxos, and even today, if you visit the main square in Easter week
you will be overwhelmed by dozens of Naxiots selling lamb and delicious Naxos
cheeses. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Architecturally,
Psirri is an intricate mish-mash of its past. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Its industrial history is morphing into new guises as many of the old factory and
workshop buildings throughout the area have been re developed and sold as loft
or gallery space. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i2_YJ4i4cTM/VGSQfAzgagI/AAAAAAAAArw/OulxgSo9P8k/s1600/DSC08548.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i2_YJ4i4cTM/VGSQfAzgagI/AAAAAAAAArw/OulxgSo9P8k/s320/DSC08548.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dA7G80lDYS0/VGSQZS-ESGI/AAAAAAAAArk/4VTvP5YSCbQ/s1600/DSC08534.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many of the mansions built after the war of
Independence now house museums and cultural centres. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OQCcI9jKxKQ/VGSWQQt1BTI/AAAAAAAAAs4/RiEKiE3nUwE/s1600/DSC08563.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OQCcI9jKxKQ/VGSWQQt1BTI/AAAAAAAAAs4/RiEKiE3nUwE/s320/DSC08563.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And keep your eyes peeled for
some beautiful iron worked doors and quite a few twentieth century Art Deco and Bauhaus apartment buildings.</span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pWW4ZZ2BUJM/VGSQqNMDKEI/AAAAAAAAAsI/fIaaJt2_9Nk/s1600/DSC08565.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pWW4ZZ2BUJM/VGSQqNMDKEI/AAAAAAAAAsI/fIaaJt2_9Nk/s320/DSC08565.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are dark
alleys and boarded up, decaying buildings that shadow Psirri’s murky past and
show its darker face.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a1uE4_hkzpQ/VGSQlHudGFI/AAAAAAAAAr8/GweEY_R9Dtc/s1600/DSC08555.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a1uE4_hkzpQ/VGSQlHudGFI/AAAAAAAAAr8/GweEY_R9Dtc/s320/DSC08555.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Turn the wrong
corner and you might see evidence of drug use, homelessness and civil
discontent. <span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But that’s not a
reason to dismiss this wonderful quarter. There is also a myriad of lively
bars, intriguing shops, restaurants and homes that have been lovingly restored.
This is not a cold, uncaring part of town. Here, residents </span>know each other and
greet each other daily. <span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What makes Psirri
so endlessly fascinating to me is that it is a kind of microcosm for modern
Greek history and it is as vibrant, individualistic, engrossing, creative and
engaging as the country its</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">elf. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11845091467828468286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273894749436272693.post-69253800242380607242014-09-15T14:55:00.001+03:002014-09-15T14:55:12.726+03:00Videos on Athens, Greece<br />
<a href="http://www.athensliving.net/apps/videos/videos/show/18718366-farmer-s-republic#.VBbSmQFJYjU.blogger">The Farmer's Republic</a><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LHZ4Slakm8s/VBbTf3MKasI/AAAAAAAAAqM/a1RUTsVZ_88/s1600/DSC08422.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LHZ4Slakm8s/VBbTf3MKasI/AAAAAAAAAqM/a1RUTsVZ_88/s1600/DSC08422.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11845091467828468286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273894749436272693.post-71671112747861205272014-08-07T17:17:00.000+03:002014-08-08T12:28:33.129+03:00Skorpios has a sting in its tale<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3zakXwr9GXg/U-Nldx3ieMI/AAAAAAAAAoE/tuWLSotx0KE/s1600/DSC08398.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3zakXwr9GXg/U-Nldx3ieMI/AAAAAAAAAoE/tuWLSotx0KE/s1600/DSC08398.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the sandy beaches</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The island of Skorpios lies off the coast of Lefkada in the Ionian Sea. A serene, green oasis surrounded by the bluest of waters, the island was recently purchased by a Russian billionaire and was once the holiday home of Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis.<br />
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It appears to be a little bit of heaven on earth but its story is not one of perfect happiness.....<br />
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Great wealth, as we all know, is no guarantee of contentment and Skorpios has seen its share of struggle, grief, loss and
heartbreak.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QTlbhX58_hA/U-NlvOAeFII/AAAAAAAAAoU/8fjCMN9iKbQ/s1600/DSC08385.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QTlbhX58_hA/U-NlvOAeFII/AAAAAAAAAoU/8fjCMN9iKbQ/s1600/DSC08385.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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'Ari' Onassis bought the island for around $10,000 in 1962. In those days it wasn't the manicured retreat we see today complete with helicopter pad, sandy beaches, grassy lawns and several houses.<br />
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Then, the island was nearly barren and Onassis forested it by importing nearly 200 varieties of trees. There was no natural water supply so he had to buy a small neighbouring islet to provide Skorpios with water. Reportedly, he also had to ship sand in from Salamis island near Athens to create enough beaches to give easy access to the sea.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rFCk__Pu1BQ/U-NtI02H8YI/AAAAAAAAApM/dOym0uVodNw/s1600/Skorpios-Island4_0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rFCk__Pu1BQ/U-NtI02H8YI/AAAAAAAAApM/dOym0uVodNw/s1600/Skorpios-Island4_0.jpg" height="206" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Callas and Onassis on Skorpios</td></tr>
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The island became a holiday retreat for two of Onassis greatest loves- opera star Maria Callas and Jackie Kennedy. Callas was said to be heartbroken when Onassis broke up their relationship to marry the former US First Lady in October, 1968. (Callas never recovered from the separation and died a lonely death in Paris a few years later.)<br />
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The island was Jackie's favourite place. She often spoke of how much she loved the colour
of the Ionian Sea and the fragrant flowers that grew everywhere. It became a
sanctuary where she could fully relax and not worry about who might be
watching her.
Even so, Jackie and Aristo, as she called him, never really lived under the same roof for any length of time and their marriage was allegedly a turbulent one.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ari and Jackie's wedding on Skorpios</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a6Pa75Zp4qg/U-Nl25Gkj_I/AAAAAAAAAok/x3oFWdH1RQg/s1600/DSC08390.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a6Pa75Zp4qg/U-Nl25Gkj_I/AAAAAAAAAok/x3oFWdH1RQg/s1600/DSC08390.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Patrol Boat</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I3oXvbuHgyk/U-Nl_jNvO0I/AAAAAAAAAos/4kV9qO0_yBw/s1600/DSC08392.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I3oXvbuHgyk/U-Nl_jNvO0I/AAAAAAAAAos/4kV9qO0_yBw/s1600/DSC08392.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Imported sand!</td></tr>
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After Onassis' death, the island passed to his daughter, Christina, and then on to her daughter, Athina Roussel. Both Onassis' son and daughter died tragically young and never really spent much time on Skorpios. They are buried there, though, alongside their father in the family mausoleum.<br />
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Athina grew up out of Greece and has shown little interest in her mother and grandfather's country. Recently, she sold Skorpios to Ekaterina Rybolovleva, daughter of Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev.<br />
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This would not have sat at all well with Onassis, who stated in his will that the island should remain in the family as
long as they could afford to cover its maintenance expenses. According
to the will, if his descendants could not cover the upkeep costs, the island should be donated either to Olympic Airways or to the Greek state.<br />
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It is currently not a friendly place to visit as patrol boats circle the island twenty four hours a day warning visitors to keep their distance. To underscore this point, signs are posted on the shoreline at very regular intervals.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uN2HyS6RLRw/U-NmBmr5WQI/AAAAAAAAAo0/Ju3l3zk-c3A/s1600/DSC08393.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uN2HyS6RLRw/U-NmBmr5WQI/AAAAAAAAAo0/Ju3l3zk-c3A/s1600/DSC08393.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Keep Out!</td></tr>
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It's hard not to wonder if the Rybolovlev family will have better luck with their island than the Onassis family. Certainly, the legality of its sale is being debated in Greek parliament and there could be serious repercussions if the sale is pronounced illegal. <br />
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24 year old Rybolovleva is said to have paid around £100 million to obtain a one hundred year lease of the island. How much time she actually spends there remains to be seen.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HS-s0fgYnFA/U-N28iMXECI/AAAAAAAAApo/c0gke83QmSI/s1600/DSC08407.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HS-s0fgYnFA/U-N28iMXECI/AAAAAAAAApo/c0gke83QmSI/s1600/DSC08407.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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Onassis certainly visited as much as he could, and he still casts a long shadow on this island idyll. Much of the interest this tiny piece of Greece generates is due to the myth surrounding his legacy. It seems fitting, then, that a statue of '<i>Greece's Last Tycoon' </i>stands in the town of Nidri on the island of Lefkada, forever staring out across the bay at the place that brought him both immense joy and sadness.<br />
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Perhaps the bad luck that dogged the Onassis family will not shadow the Rybolovlevs. But there is already evidence that Skorpios has not lost its sting and its
tempestuous history could continue on. Apart from questions from the Greek state
over the legality of sale, Rybolovleva's ownership
of the island was challenged by her mother, Elena, as part of an
ongoing divorce case involving her parents.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JDraEn9idZE/U-OGaaTvXgI/AAAAAAAAAp4/04JIAeD9EaU/s1600/800px-Ekaterina_Rybolovleva.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JDraEn9idZE/U-OGaaTvXgI/AAAAAAAAAp4/04JIAeD9EaU/s1600/800px-Ekaterina_Rybolovleva.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rybolovelva at the 'Pink House' on Skorpios</td></tr>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11845091467828468286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273894749436272693.post-52654526397699870222014-06-13T14:08:00.000+03:002014-08-07T14:37:11.413+03:00Aristotle's Lyceum<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vdDC-rCKKAQ/U5rXhLQaPRI/AAAAAAAAAnA/wFuFZpHtCEw/s1600/DSC08310.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vdDC-rCKKAQ/U5rXhLQaPRI/AAAAAAAAAnA/wFuFZpHtCEw/s1600/DSC08310.JPG" height="200" width="150" /></a><span lang="EN-US">If Homer was correct in writing that “the
souls of the dead come to the Meadow of Asphodel where the phantoms of those
whose work is done abide" then surely Aristotle’s approving spirit must be
roaming here among the asphodel in the grounds of his lyceum.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Founded by Aristotle in 335 BC., the lyceum
was known as a <b>Peripatetic School</b> (from the Greek word <i>peripatos</i>,
which means stroll) as it is believed that Aristotle liked to stroll through
the school’s tree filled groves discussing philosophy and the principles of
mathematics and rhetoric with his students. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">This inspiring site was excavated by
archaeologist Effie Lygouri in 1996 and first opened to the public in June
2014.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The idea is to integrate the
Lyceum into Athens every day life as part park, part historical reminder of the
city’s glorious past. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">As this is the remains of a peripatetic
school it is especially meaningful to have created a natural looking landscape,
and as I entered from Rigilis Street one of the first things I noticed were tall
grasses rustling gently in the breeze and the sound of birdsong. Even the sound
of traffic on nearby Vasilissis Sophias Avenue became a distant hum as I got
closer to the excavations.</span> </div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Aristotle was himself a student of Plato
and, although he was Plato's most promising pupil he held opposing views on
several fundamental philosophical issues. These beliefs led him to found his
own school and</span> it was here in this incredibly significant
spot that he developed and taught his own method of inductive and deductive
reasoning, observing the workings of the world around him and then reasoning
from the particular to a knowledge of essences and universal laws. </div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The Lyceum was a school of unprecedented
organized scientific inquiry and, In a sense, the first major centre to put
forward the modern scientific method. It was from here, too, that Aristotle wrote
extensively on a wide range of subjects including politics, metaphysics, ethics
and logic.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">It wasn’t all intellectual pursuits for the
fourth century BC scholar, however. Athleticism was highly valued and there are
the remains of baths, a gymnasium and a palaestrae where students would box,
wrestle and compete in the no holds barred pankrateion.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">It seems as if history has almost come full circle here....with its well-tended walkways lined with
sweet smelling thyme, rosemary and lavender Aristotle’s Lyceum is once again a
spot for walking, an oases of calm, a setting for reflection, and still-
perhaps most importantly- a place for learning.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11845091467828468286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273894749436272693.post-88185161003478338192014-05-22T11:00:00.000+03:002014-05-27T10:19:30.668+03:00Take the Beach Train with the Athens Metro!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qRG3-MheDl4/U32mv2Ap4WI/AAAAAAAAAlY/we0B4HJRcts/s1600/photo+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qRG3-MheDl4/U32mv2Ap4WI/AAAAAAAAAlY/we0B4HJRcts/s1600/photo+1.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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How many years has it been since an advertisement captured your attention and fired your imagination? Can you recall a time when an ad campaign seized massive notice and people would hum a jingle or quote a catch phrase or line? Perhaps not, because those days are long gone and our world now moves like a speeding train flashing split second images across our consciousness.<br />
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Jaded and over stimulated by a plethora of images, facts and data, it is amazingly refreshing to feel truly wowed by anything any more. But these 'Outside Project' ads on Athens Metro system take you back to those '<i>Wonder Years</i>' when a commercial still packed a punch.<br />
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The Newtons Laboratory have created a stop and stare, in your face (or in this case, at your feet) all out, can't be missed experience. Taking Greece's beautiful sea into a hot, sweaty commuter train is pure genius. You can't help but admire the creativity that's gone into their creation and then wonder at the technical expertise of the very real looking sand and sea that laps against the sides of the carriage.<br />
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There are footprints in the sand at water's edge and a few seashells lay scattered here and there. Sitting in the carriage, I wondered how my fellow passengers were reacting to the images- were some annoyed by them, longing for a holiday they couldn't afford? Were some of the foreigners heading to the airport saddened by them, thinking they would miss the Greek seas and beaches? There must have been a few that were smiling inwardly, secure in the knowledge their holiday on a much loved island was booked.<br />
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<br />
The outside of these beach trains is much more pedestrian but still cheery. Images of surfers, beach bunnies and fun in the sun cover the entire length of the train. As I watched my train speed out of the station, it dawned on me that this wonderful campaign has a fatal flaw- it is so eye catching and interesting, you completely fail to notice the product it is promoting. I was brought down to earth with a bump when I learned that, as it turns out, all this innovative campaign is for....a lottery scratch card!<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11845091467828468286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273894749436272693.post-65714532884566818822014-01-15T15:23:00.001+02:002014-01-18T18:54:42.654+02:00My Little Pony<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Sometime in the
late seventies my mother bought a Pony. And no, it wasn’t one of the hoofed
varieties but a shiny red, made -in -Greece quasi jeep with a <i>really</i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> odd gear stick and a Singer sewing machine of an engine. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-movJi2R4bNc/UtaLB7dbt9I/AAAAAAAAAfA/r7MBn6IGtyg/s1600/namco-international-ag-store.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-movJi2R4bNc/UtaLB7dbt9I/AAAAAAAAAfA/r7MBn6IGtyg/s320/namco-international-ag-store.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Although sceptical
at first when faced with this odd looking vehicle, I have to admit it proved to
be one of my mother’s best buys ever and one that we would all come to love and
respect.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">The Pony was the
perfect transport for island life (my mother had a house on Skiathos) and could
boldly go where practically no car had gone before. But it was not quite so
ideal for long distance journeys and maybe deciding to drive three of us from Greece to
England in it <i>was</i> a tad overly optimistic on our part. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">We progressed through Italy with little difficulty- as long as we slowed down to let almost every single HGV or lorry overtake us safely we were just fine. We quickly saw that failure to reduce speed produced a strange ear popping skid towards the hard shoulder, so after a few near misses we metaphorically doffed our caps to the 'big boys' and slowed to snails pace. </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">In France we encountered a new challenge, discovering that a 2 stroke 600cc engine simply couldn’t propel the car forward when faced
with a steep incline and a strong headwind. This test of the Pony's horsepower occurred on an auto
route and I remember we just had to pull over and wait for the wind
to die down before attempting to reach the top of the hill!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Headwinds
notwithstanding, we slowly but surely made it all the way to the UK. Arriving somewhat triumphantly at Dover,
we were greeted by an incredulous customs officer who wasn’t quite sure if he
was witnessing a trio of eccentrics driving a golf cart or the latest in some
unknown form of home made technology. I remember that he called at least four
of his colleagues to gape at the spectacle, though, before waving us past a
gathering crowd of onlookers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">As my mother had
some paintings that she wanted to bring to Greece still in store in England we
duly packed them into the back of our stalwart little Pony. There seemed to be room for some household items so my mother added those too. Noticing that the
suspension appeared to be holding up under the strain, she bought a stone
fountain and chucked that in as well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-u2ZXu_nd4sg/UtaLP_izkXI/AAAAAAAAAfI/eXoMMzLLoAw/s1600/Grcorn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-u2ZXu_nd4sg/UtaLP_izkXI/AAAAAAAAAfI/eXoMMzLLoAw/s320/Grcorn.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Praying that we would have good tailwinds and that we wouldn’t meet too many headwinds, we set off back for Greece. It might have
been foolhardy to trust in the overloaded Pony’s brakes and suspension by traveling
down the Grand Corniche into Monaco but we survived the test and then
probably considerably diluted the high aesthetic of luxury vehicles usually
parked on the streets of Monte Carlo for a few happy days. Our Little Pony had
turned into a real pack horse and we could only sing its praises.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">The Pony did ten years or so of sterling service for
us, and was then sold on Skiathos to a friend who managed to drive it off a cliff.
Both he and the Pony survived (happily) and the car was dragged back up onto
the road, fixed, and put back into circulation!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">First generation Pony-Citroën like ours were made
until 1983 but Pony cars disappeared altogether in 1992 after the National
Motor Company of Greece (Namco) suspended production of their second generation
Super Pony. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">What a surprise,
then, to see that these amazing cars are trotting back to the production line. The 2014 new generation of Pony should
be great news for anyone who wants an economical, sturdy vehicle….ride, Pony,
ride!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">If you are
interested in learning a bit more about these Greek made vehicles, try visiting
this web site: <a href="http://www.thebestfromgreece.com/en/company/namco-international-ag.html" target="_blank">The Best From Greece</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11845091467828468286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273894749436272693.post-67616458035032425472013-09-09T18:30:00.001+03:002013-09-14T23:15:16.545+03:00Technopolis Industrial Museum<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aK7jy6iIPvE/Ui3muWkAqbI/AAAAAAAAAdQ/Hlpq8UunHuo/s1600/IMG_0142.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aK7jy6iIPvE/Ui3muWkAqbI/AAAAAAAAAdQ/Hlpq8UunHuo/s1600/IMG_0142.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The buildings and
gasometers of Technopolis at Gazi fascinate me. Over the last thirteen years
their hulking grey exteriors and mysterious almost sculptural interiors have
made the perfect space for hosting exhibitions, fairs and concerts and now the
city of Athens has launched its first industrial museum here too.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The museum has
been finely set up and you acquire some real knowledge of the
history and technology behind the gasworks while strolling through the thirteen buildings of
the old plant.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Coal gas first came to
Athens in 1857 when a French consortium undertook the task of lighting the
city's streets and squares.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br />
In 1938 the gasworks
administration passed from French hands to Athens Municipality and the
originally small plant continued to grow, adding gasometers, steam boilers,
steam engines, purification units and several other buildings to it's approximately thirty
acre site.</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aAuJ0UiEh1E/Ui3nWhD9Z8I/AAAAAAAAAdY/-vFrsm8nmZo/s1600/IMG_0140.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aAuJ0UiEh1E/Ui3nWhD9Z8I/AAAAAAAAAdY/-vFrsm8nmZo/s1600/IMG_0140.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">There are some
lovely mementos on show from the gasworks administrative history, including
this early photocopier that looks as if it belongs to the Jetsons!</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The plant provided
energy to the city until going out of operation permanently in 1984. Luckily,
these wonderful buildings were preserved and the first cultural events were
hosted in the newly named Technopolis (<i>meaning Art City</i>) premises in 1999.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><i>N.B. </i> Apart from the museum exhibits, all sorts of events now take place in Technopolis so it's well worth looking at their web site's <a href="http://www.technopolis-athens.com/web/guest/home" target="_blank">programme of upcoming events</a> There are quarterly Meet Market fairs that sell handicrafts and second hand items, hip hop festivals, tai chi and capoheira seminars, bicycle festivals and a whole lot more.<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11845091467828468286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273894749436272693.post-16788802778206689692013-07-31T13:09:00.000+03:002013-09-14T23:14:28.916+03:00What's needed? A Shot in the Arm!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CoN9Ppff0JQ/UfiQryKXnXI/AAAAAAAAAbU/r4t7cUBPIBw/s1600/408px-Ministry_of_Health_and_Social_Solidarity_logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CoN9Ppff0JQ/UfiQryKXnXI/AAAAAAAAAbU/r4t7cUBPIBw/s320/408px-Ministry_of_Health_and_Social_Solidarity_logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The Greek National Health system (IKA) is sick. It is badly in need of some intensive care and it's flickering pulse is fading fast.<br />
<br />
This is not news to anyone who lives in Greece or reads Greek news but I, like most people who are not brought into personal contact with the reality of the situation, would read the ever worsening statistics and think "oh how sad" before moving on with my busy life.<br />
<br />
My attitude changed this week when two incidents within two days brought me face to face with the realities of medicine in 2013 Greece.<br />
<br />
On Monday, a friend was admitted into Evangelismos Hospital (<i>see photos taken in AHEPA at Evangelismos,</i> <i>fifth floor</i>) and as she wanted a couple of friendly faces to accompany her to her angiography, I volunteered.<br />
<br />
Expecting the worst, and having heard tales of horror surrounding the general disintegration of care at Evangelismos (Athens biggest hospital complex with beds for 1,100 patients) I was surprised to see that in one respect, state provided Greek medical care hasn't
changed at all. The doctors (grossly overworked and underpaid) continue to be generally wonderful. They are highly trained, caring
professionals who are trying to do their job against almost unbeatable
odds. Due to the crisis entire hospitals have been shut down, the
number of intensive care units has been slashed and there have been huge
staff cutbacks and salary cuts. <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OiC6PwbBf3g/UfiQ8wHe7NI/AAAAAAAAAbo/RJFQ-zhWgu8/s1600/photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OiC6PwbBf3g/UfiQ8wHe7NI/AAAAAAAAAbo/RJFQ-zhWgu8/s320/photo.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
Having googled "angiography" before arriving at the hospital I knew that it is a fairly common procedure that investigates the flow of blood through the veins. It isn't really dangerous to the patient in any way but it does need careful post op care as you have to remain completely immobile in bed for 24 hours as any movement can cause an arterial wall rupture or other complication. I thought it odd that, after her procedure and as we (and by we, I mean literally me and another friend-there was no one else to do it!) were wheeling her up to her room, the doctor laid one of those typed pieces of paper on her bed with after-care instructions that are usually given to outpatients on their way home. I thought, "Why give us this? These vital precautions are only for the first critical 24 hours following the angiography and she will be here for those", but shrugged the thought away.<br />
<br />
I was to discover why this paper was important a short while later as the standard of
nursing in any state hospital could charitably be described as appalling. Most Greeks
know this and don't expect to receive much care from hospital nurses and
prefer to hire slightly more qualified private caregivers or rely on
their relations to perform nursing duties.<br />
<br />
Wheeling my friend into her none too clean looking room I noticed there was no nurse to greet her and make up an end of bed chart, or even read the piece of paper with the vital instructions on. After waiting a while I went to the nurses station and found the 'proestameni' or matron. She looked at me as if I was fairly barmy when I explained who I was, told her she had a new patient that, according to the written instructions, should have her vital signs checked right now. I also asked if her new patient could be allowed a drink of water as it wasn't clear on the instruction sheet. As she had no reply (at all) for me, I went and fetched the instruction sheet and showed it to her. "Ach," she said "I don't know, why not ask the doctor?" I hoped that in showing her the instructions, she might tell one of her nurses to follow them and check on my friend.<br />
<br />
No such luck, and when I called her later that day my friend told me that despite it writing clearly that her bandages, blood pressure, drip and all vital signs must be checked at three hourly intervals, she was still waiting for a nurse to appear <b>six hours later</b>. There were also no call buttons and as she was forbidden to move a muscle below her neck, it was lucky there were other people sharing the room who had the mandatory army of Greek relatives and friends who could walk to the nurses station and demand some attention for her.<br />
<br />
By the time I left Evangelismos that morning I had spent six hours in hospital corridors and "waiting rooms" (four or five chairs usually placed in corridors outside the elevators). I was
desperate to either wash my hands or use some of the alcohol gel that in most
hospitals is provided in every waiting area and outside every room.
After visiting five different floors and six waiting rooms, I can say
that Evangelismos, as far as I know, has many locked bathroom doors and precisely one gel dispenser
outside the entrance to outpatients and nowhere else. <i><b>One, for the entire hospital</b></i>.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-19MLevbmpvc/UfiQ2RUlHdI/AAAAAAAAAbg/glJjhjwK4t8/s1600/photo2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-19MLevbmpvc/UfiQ2RUlHdI/AAAAAAAAAbg/glJjhjwK4t8/s320/photo2.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
When you cannot pay staff, when there are massive lay off's, when hospital wings are shut down and when there is no money to pump into better nurse training and education you see the sights I saw in Evangelismos.<br />
<br />
Something that struck me hard was the ugliness of the surroundings and the lack of privacy. I watched a nervous patient wait to get some results from her doctors. I don't know what her ailment was but she wore a brightly coloured headscarf to cover her obviously bald head. After a ten minute meeting with doctors in a room off a depressing, dingy corridor (<i>pictured above</i>) she reappeared in floods of tears. There was nowhere for her to go for privacy. She was told to wait on one of the five chairs outside the elevator banks. There she sat and cried and cried. <br />
<br />
I am happy to report that my friend survived the lack of follow up care and the undoubtedly a germ ridden environment and was released from Evangelismos the next day.<br />
<br />
That same day I received a tearful phone call from an Albanian woman who has lived in Greece for twenty years and has raised her seventeen year old son here. Between sobs she told me he had collapsed in the street from an unknown cause and had been admitted to, where else?, Evangelismos. Neither he nor she had state or private health insurance and after a morning of tests, her bill was already over 700 euros, a small fortune for a lady in her circumstances. This sum will keep mounting as the doctors perform more tests to determine the cause of her son's collapse. If she can't pay, no drugs can be given if needed and perhaps the cause will never be diagnosed.<br />
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The official government stance is that if you have no money to pay for medical care, the state will always cover the costs. This seems to be blatantly untrue and there are hundreds of patients with life threatening diseases that are dying simply because they are uninsured or can't afford treatment.<br />
<br />
Greece is a European country in the twenty first century but in visiting a state hospital here you would be forgiven for thinking you had dropped into the 1900's in one of the farthest reaches of the third world.<br />
<br />
My recent experience this week with the Greek health care system has shown me
that it is a body that is dying slowly as its limbs are amputated and
its vital organs slow down. The European Union seems to have blithely overlooked the growing health crisis here and those old clichés of uncaring New Yorkers stepping over bodies on their way to work seem to be resonating strongly with me at the moment. IKA is hanging on by its last
breath and it needs help <b>NOW</b>.<br />
<br />
I am attaching a link to the Metropolitan Community Clinic and I would ask anyone reading this who thinks I might be exaggerating the problem to have a look at what they have to say on the current state of Greek medical care.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://mkie-foreign.blogspot.gr/" target="_blank">Metropolitan Community Clinic</a><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11845091467828468286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273894749436272693.post-27767864186427135032013-06-18T17:29:00.001+03:002013-06-19T12:29:56.378+03:00Pelagia Kyriazi<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2yi5DWLqpEU/UcBuivrcK5I/AAAAAAAAAaU/6CZL29hr3Wk/s1600/DSC07580.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2yi5DWLqpEU/UcBuivrcK5I/AAAAAAAAAaU/6CZL29hr3Wk/s320/DSC07580.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">These are some of the hauntingly beautiful
images that make up Pelagia Kyriazi’s latest exhibition “The Dream and the
Familiar”.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Themes of solitude, loss and an underlying
sense of foreboding are echoed throughout the collection now showing (<i>June 2013</i>) at the
Cultural Foundation of the National Bank of Greece.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"> In this collection, which spans work from 1973 to the present, images are sometimes outlined clearly but often the subjects
are elusive, asking us to study the jewel like swirls of colours or canvases of shadowy black until we
gradually recognize a shape or form.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Kyriazi’s work is very much a dialogue
between artist and viewer. Nothing is made too obvious and no conclusions are
drawn. Instead, we are invited on a journey of discovery through the masterly,
fluid worlds of the dream and the familiar.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">For more information on this artist visit <a href="http://www.pelagiakyriazi.com/" target="_blank">PELAGIA KYRIAZI</a> </span></div>
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<a href="http://www.athensliving.net/apps/videos/videos/show/17993898-pelagia-kyriazi#.UcBtsnnziqU.blogger">Videos on Athens, Greece</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11845091467828468286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273894749436272693.post-57778810869905389392013-01-01T13:21:00.001+02:002013-01-01T13:21:24.259+02:00The List from France<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y0SStvDdbe4/UOLFgwmy8-I/AAAAAAAAATc/EOgSiSQRHDA/s1600/33A832E9B95968AAA1F26B433360E469.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="124" width="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y0SStvDdbe4/UOLFgwmy8-I/AAAAAAAAATc/EOgSiSQRHDA/s200/33A832E9B95968AAA1F26B433360E469.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<br />
You better watch out<br />
You better not cry<br />
You better file straight<br />
I’m telling you why<br />
<br />
The list from France has come back to town.<br />
<br />
She made a long list<br />
They’re checking it twice<br />
They want to find out <br />
Who’s naughty or nice<br />
<br />
Cos the list from France has come back to town.<br />
<br />
This list shows what you’re hiding<br />
Now they’re checking your receipts<br />
They know if you’ve been cheating<br />
So you can’t just press delete!<br />
<br />
Oh you’d better watch out<br />
You better not cry<br />
You better file straight<br />
I’m telling you why<br />
<br />
The list from France has come back to town.<br />
<strike></strike>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11845091467828468286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273894749436272693.post-28513061020661204332012-11-21T20:33:00.001+02:002012-11-21T20:33:15.107+02:00Athens GraffitiHave a look at some of Athens more interesting graffiti:<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.athensliving.net/apps/videos/videos/show/17349574-athens-graffiti#.UK0d_qPyilU.blogger">Videos on Athens, Greece</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11845091467828468286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273894749436272693.post-10268040669622949462012-06-10T15:48:00.001+03:002012-06-10T15:48:03.989+03:00Videos on Athens, GreeceAthens Pride Festival 2012<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.athensliving.net/apps/videos/videos/show/16611692-athens-pride-festival-2012#.T9SW3VshZnI.blogger">Videos on Athens, Greece</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11845091467828468286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273894749436272693.post-19819130289925385682012-05-23T19:40:00.000+03:002013-09-14T23:18:15.983+03:00The Dance of Zalongo<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--e6Ycm0JBDI/T70C14SlgqI/AAAAAAAAASc/geHGVg7OCtI/s1600/220px-Statue_of_dance_of_Zalongo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--e6Ycm0JBDI/T70C14SlgqI/AAAAAAAAASc/geHGVg7OCtI/s1600/220px-Statue_of_dance_of_Zalongo.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Statues marking the Dance</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
As Greece faces another election the results of which could well decide it's fate within the Eurozone, any parallels drawn with perilous cliff tops and fatal jumps into the unknown are apt. None is quite as pertinent to me, though, as the "<i>dance of the Souliot women</i>" who, in order to escape capture and enslavement by the Ottoman ruler Ali Pasha, threw themselves off the mountains of Zalongo and committed suicide en masse.<br />
<br />
Historically, the Souliot women are seen as brave heroines
who threw themselves and their children onto the rocks below rather
than succumb to a nasty fate. I admire the heroism and patriotism of the
act but have often wondered if perhaps they weren't a bit rash and
certainly a bit unfair on the children (who presumably had no say in the
matter). That brave, almost reckless sense of 'give me freedom of
give me death' that is so much a part of the Greek identity and character is now placing the country in a perilous situation with it's European partners.<br />
<br />
Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras has captured the imagination of many Greeks with his campaign to end the 'enslavement' of the country to the international banking sector, the IMF and the EU chiefs who have called for austerity, austerity and more austerity. Voting Tsipras and his left leaning coalition into parliament would be a little bit like taking a leap into the unknown. And it could be a fatal one.<br />
<br />
Watching Tsipras' speech before Greece's first parliamentary election was probably very much like watching the first Souliot calling on his companions to rise up against the Ottomans in 1803, a call for the 'Davids' to take arms against the 'Goliaths'. It was a call that resonates as much with modern day Greeks as it traditionally has throughout this small country's long history, and his party gained massively in popularity. But Tsipras is a young, untried politician who has, as yet, to offer a concrete solution to Greece's problems other than a refusal to accept the (already signed) memorandum.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m93Ee73T5Is/T70I18Aw93I/AAAAAAAAASo/DHsYLVQHOCU/s1600/220px-The_Souliot_Women_1827.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m93Ee73T5Is/T70I18Aw93I/AAAAAAAAASo/DHsYLVQHOCU/s1600/220px-The_Souliot_Women_1827.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Les Femmes Souliot" by Ari Sheffer</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Greece is now dancing the dance of Zalongo with the rest of Europe, threatening to metaphorically throw itself off the cliff if the memorandum of austerity and cuts is not revised. EU leaders were shaken by Syriza's lead in the last election and concerned that Tsipras will achieve a governmental majority this time. He just might. Angry and frustrated by a succession of inept and corrupt governments, Greeks are refusing to give their votes to the old established parties, feeling that this is the one act of defiance and democracy that is left to them by an overbearing EU. Many would rather throw themselves into the unknown than accept what they perceive as a lifetime of endless servitude and bondage to the international banks.<br />
<br />
This song is still sung while dancing the "Dance of Zalongo": <br />
<br />
<i>Farewell poor world,<br />
Farewell sweet life,<br />
and you, my poor country,<br />
Farewell for ever<br /><br />
Farewell springs,</i>
<i><br />
Valleys, mountains and hills<br />
Farewell springs<br />
And you, women of Souli<br /><br />
The fish cannot live on the land</i>
<i><br />
Nor the flower on the sand<br />
And the women of Souli<br />
Cannot live without freedom<br /><br />
The women of Souli</i>
<i><br />
Have not only learnt how to survive<br />
They also know how to die<br />
Not to tolerate slavery</i><br />
<br />
<u><i><b>I am so sad to report that after writing this post the next morning the newspapers were full of this story:</b></i></u><br />
<i><a href="http://www.athensnews.gr/portal/1/55771" target="_blank">Mother and son jump to their death</a> </i>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11845091467828468286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273894749436272693.post-79461534582064822742012-03-28T13:20:00.003+03:002012-03-28T13:31:27.790+03:00Kalazaar<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vjUfg5UQGCI/T3LfjhhAgbI/AAAAAAAAAR8/D3z0Y18rAoQ/s1600/270px-WiseMenAdorationMurillo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vjUfg5UQGCI/T3LfjhhAgbI/AAAAAAAAAR8/D3z0Y18rAoQ/s320/270px-WiseMenAdorationMurillo.png" width="248" /></a></div>
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It sounds like one of the biblical Magi... Caspar, Melchior, Balthazar ....but I think that anyone who has owned a dog in this part of the world knows that this will bring no great gift. Kalazaar is a potentially fatal disease that has struck many Athenian pets in the past.<br />
<br />
Known in medical terms as Leishmaniasis, it is transmitted by the bite of a carrier mosquito or sand fly. At first there are little or no symptoms, but left untreated this horrible disease wreaks havoc on the internal organs or skin of the unfortunate animal and leads to a painful death.<br />
<br />
Why am I writing about this bleak subject? Well, I would like all pet owners to be aware of the latest updates in the fight against this disease.<br />
<br />
Yesterday was time for my much loved dog, Louis, to have his biannual blood test to determine whether or not he has been exposed to Kalazaar.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0RP9Ny3IM6w/T3Lh-zf7kwI/AAAAAAAAASE/DnlRE0OdX10/s1600/make+that+a+double_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0RP9Ny3IM6w/T3Lh-zf7kwI/AAAAAAAAASE/DnlRE0OdX10/s320/make+that+a+double_2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Luckily, he was fine and his test was negative. While I was waiting for the results, the vet told me about a new anti Kalazaar vaccine that has just come out. Apparently, it is expensive (€100 a shot) and has to be administered in a specific way. The first time you use the vaccine, the animal has to receive three shots spaced out at twenty day intervals. The following year it is just one shot along with the other routine vaccinations. <br />
<br />
As there are obviously no long term studies done on possible side effects and long term efficacy, I'm afraid I decided to wait till next year at least before trying it out on Louis. This decision has already made me anxious and I might change my mind. Vets say it is advisable to do the shots early on in the year as they need three months to fully take effect, so time wise the window of opportunity for this year is narrowing. In Greece, the most dangerous months for possible Kalazaar infection are June, July, August and September so be prepared either by vaccinating, or by using products such as ©advantix plus nightly anti mosquito sprays.<br />
<br />
A friend of mine has gone through the nightmare of dogs with Kalazaar and has chosen to vaccinate her dogs this year. She told me it gave her peace of mind and added that, although expensive, it is nothing like the huge cost of Kalazaar treatment which can run into thousands of Euros.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kiBKVkqjypc/T3LoIxthYDI/AAAAAAAAASQ/kQrUvUlVD6Q/s1600/DSC04508.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kiBKVkqjypc/T3LoIxthYDI/AAAAAAAAASQ/kQrUvUlVD6Q/s320/DSC04508.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">♥LOUIS♥</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11845091467828468286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273894749436272693.post-81672901162529064642011-12-24T22:43:00.001+02:002011-12-24T22:44:02.687+02:00Merry Crisis, Happy New Fear<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: large;">I would normally have posted this video on my web site, but there seems to be some Christmas gremlins</span></span></span> <span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">obstructing that, so here it is instead!</span></span></span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11845091467828468286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273894749436272693.post-39650806136910386592011-10-13T12:08:00.002+03:002011-10-13T12:11:38.782+03:00Erotokritos<br />
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<span lang="EN-US">For once I’m not writing about an Athens
Living video, but one I came across on You Tube the other day.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">In this video, 77 artists in 40 different
locations throughout Attica take part in “<i>Erotokritos”. </i></span><span lang="EN-US">This was a piece<i> </i></span><span lang="EN-US">originally written
by Vincenzos Kornaros in early 17th century Crete. It consists of over ten
thousand fifteen-syllable rhymed verses covering themes of love, honour,
friendship and courage. </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">This video caught my imagination for some
reason, and made me want to find more about the poem and it’s author. That
wasn’t easy, as </span>not an awful lot is known about Kornaros’
life. </div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Relying heavily on Wikipedia, it seems he
was the son of a Venetian-Cretan aristocrat and was born near Sitia, Crete
around 1553, moving later to Candia (Heraklion) around 1591. </span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-f4NkJKdVLio/TpaloJOvNjI/AAAAAAAAAHM/RIXtrUO8Cwc/s1600/220px-Maona_a_Herakleion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-f4NkJKdVLio/TpaloJOvNjI/AAAAAAAAAHM/RIXtrUO8Cwc/s1600/220px-Maona_a_Herakleion.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9YhaM7X4P-U/TpalwBQmrsI/AAAAAAAAAHU/kIheYFZq_Ls/s1600/220px-El_Greco_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9YhaM7X4P-U/TpalwBQmrsI/AAAAAAAAAHU/kIheYFZq_Ls/s1600/220px-El_Greco_01.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The island was then occupied by the
Venetians and thus influenced heavily by the Italian Renaissance, having a mini
renaissance of it’s own known as the Cretan Renaissance. Domenikos Theotokopoulos (El Greco) was
born in Candia during this time (p<i>ainting by El Greco during his years in
Crete, right)</i></span><span lang="EN-US">, and Kornaros’ “<i>Erotokritos” (written
circa 1600 in Candia) </i></span><span lang="EN-US">is considered to be one of
the most important pieces of Greek literature.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Inspired by an earlier French poem, <i>Paris
et Vienne</i></span><span lang="EN-US">, the poem has an odd mixed Hellenic and quasi Medieval setting where
knights come to joust in a pre Christian ancient Athens. It tells the story Aretousa, daughter of the King of Athens and </span>Erotokritos, son of the King's advisor. Erotokritos disguises himself and begins to court Aretousa by singing love
songs outside her window every night until she slowly falls in love
with him. Many trials and
tribulations ensue but I gather there is a happy ending!</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Originally written in the Cretan dialect,
the verse has the type of rhyme used in traditional “mantinades” ( serenade
style love songs). According to my father in law, mantinades were popular in
Greek courtship until the 1950’s, and even today musicians continue to write
and sing these ballads, although probably not outside their loved ones window!</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">So, after all this preamble, I hope you
enjoy this video as much as I did. The artist’s involved are a collective who
believe that the arts (primarily music) are powerful enough to inspire and
unite people in a common goal. I think it’s a great idea, and I really enjoyed
trying to guess the various locations throughout Attica. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://youtu.be/FcpoGuC44Ck">Erotokritos Video</a></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">Here is another (short) video with a couple of verses about Erotokritos' despair at being exiled from his beloved Aretousa (with English subtitles).</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://youtu.be/jou_Sx6aF-M">Exile of Erotokritos</a><br />
<b> <o:p></o:p></b></span><br />
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<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11845091467828468286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273894749436272693.post-24622583572045276672011-09-15T00:04:00.003+03:002011-09-16T13:25:24.898+03:00"Marathon or Bust"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xDhSJluQjvI/TnED5P8t5AI/AAAAAAAAAHA/V45A8YdZ4UY/s1600/DSC04849.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xDhSJluQjvI/TnED5P8t5AI/AAAAAAAAAHA/V45A8YdZ4UY/s320/DSC04849.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
I stood for a while, looking at a white van belonging to a band of historical re enacters, keen to get
to Schinias Beach to re play the final minutes of one of the most famous
battles in Greece's long history- the Battle of Marathon. <br />
On the bonnet of the van, written probably with wry humour in homage to almost every hitchiker anywhere was the sign "Marathon or Bust". As I stared at it, I wondered if its authors knew just how apt their slogan was to modern day Greece. Perhaps, I thought, they don't care about Greece today and think only about its illustrious past, not its unstable present. It would be a shame, I thought, if they don't care because that silly sign seems to sum up Greece right now so well. <br />
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Later, when I met with some of the re enacters I realised that by and large, they are a thoughtful, respectful group of people who love history (Greek history in particular) and enjoy experiencing life in ancient times through recreating it as best they can. I got the impression that they are very aware of the financial crisis here, and do care very much how the country will fare in the coming months. They are convinced that if they are given some encouragement and support from the Greek government, their particular type of tourism will bring much needed revenue into the country in the future. Historical re enactment is an untapped source in Greece and they see boundless opportunities for future events- the Battle of Thermopylae, the Persian wars, the Athens-Sparta conflicts all bring a gleam to their eyes.<br />
So far, the official response to all this has been nil. The event received no advertising and no help with organisation from the goverment or any official source. Only the mayor and townspeople of Marathon seemed to offer any type of assistance to the one hundred or so foreign re enacters who had travelled from as far away as Canada to take part in the three day happening. Most locals didn't even know it was taking place and the spectator turnout was poor.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-K7h1jvX6VhU/TnEYFVrqLZI/AAAAAAAAAHI/z6pYnFazPbc/s1600/DSC04778.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-K7h1jvX6VhU/TnEYFVrqLZI/AAAAAAAAAHI/z6pYnFazPbc/s320/DSC04778.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Watching the re enactment of the battle, I realised not just the sign but the whole event was a bit symbolic of the current situation. Two and a half thousand years ago and against all odds, a small army of Athenian led soldiers defeated the much larger army of the Persian Empire. To a betting man, the odds for an Athenian win must have been dismal, and today's odds look just as gloomy for Greece. It is engaged in an economic battle against bankruptcy that will take a Herculean, Marathon style effort to win. Like those ancient Athenians whose chances looked pretty slim at the onset of combat, I hope it finds the courage to face its massive problems head on and to believe that it is possible to come out victorious.<br />
To see the video on the Battle of Marathon follow this link:<br />
<a href="http://www.athensliving.net/apps/videos/videos/show/14774351-the-battle-of-marathon">Battle of Marathon</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11845091467828468286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273894749436272693.post-27433371173037696442011-09-05T19:49:00.001+03:002011-09-05T20:33:28.585+03:00Athens First Cemetery<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3mVIoOXC9Zo/TmT-0PSXF8I/AAAAAAAAAGk/nhHCPeUGph8/s1600/DSC01056_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3mVIoOXC9Zo/TmT-0PSXF8I/AAAAAAAAAGk/nhHCPeUGph8/s1600/DSC01056_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3mVIoOXC9Zo/TmT-0PSXF8I/AAAAAAAAAGk/nhHCPeUGph8/s320/DSC01056_2.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">Those voices
are the sweeter which have fallen</span><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">forever
silent, mournfully</span><span lang="EN-US"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">resounding
only in the heart that sorrows.</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>
</i></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">In dreams the
melancholic voices come,</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Thonburi;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">timorous
and humble,</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Thonburi;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">and bring
before our feeble memory</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>
</i></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">the precious
dead, whom the cold cold earth</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Thonburi;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">conceals;
for whom the mirthful</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Thonburi;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">daybreak
never shines, nor springtimes blossom.</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>
</i></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">Melodious
voices sigh; and in the soul</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Thonburi;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">our life’s
first poetry</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Thonburi;"><br />
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">sounds —
like music, in the night, that’s far away. </span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">C.P. Cavafy</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>
</i></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">It may sound odd, but I think Athens First Cemetery is one of my favourite places in the whole city. </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;">I think of it as Athens ‘secret garden’,
peaceful, green, and full
of surprising beauty. </span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mCj8wK6EiOw/TmT0NFykb1I/AAAAAAAAAGg/G4ck3wYxR1Y/s1600/DSC01012.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mCj8wK6EiOw/TmT0NFykb1I/AAAAAAAAAGg/G4ck3wYxR1Y/s200/DSC01012.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Many
Major Greek figures are buried in the First Cemetery including the country's most famous politicians, poets, artists, and heroes of the Greek Revoluton. (There are also some very
well known foreigners... Lord Byron and Heinrich
Schleiman both have monuments within its walls.) My father-in-law is buried there, too- another
hero- not just to me, but to the country he fought so valiantly for in
WWII. Although he's never far from our thoughts, </span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;">we don't go to his grave very often</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">,
but when the time rolls round for the annual "mnimosino" (memorial
service) it's comforting to visit this tranquil and elegant graveyard. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NJUUTuKAZ4Q/TmTtsfhZH3I/AAAAAAAAAGU/yJWlOz214cs/s1600/DSC01047.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NJUUTuKAZ4Q/TmTtsfhZH3I/AAAAAAAAAGU/yJWlOz214cs/s200/DSC01047.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">One
of the most famous monuments in the First Cemetery is the Sleeping
Maiden. This beautiful work by Yiannoulis Halepas captures the
imagination of almost everyone who sees it- chiselled for the tomb of Sofia
Afenadakis, it was to be his last work before succumbing to schizophrenia
shortly after completing it. Rumour has it that he could never come to
terms with the realisation that his masterpiece was imperfect- if Sofia
had stretched out her legs they would have extended far beyond the couch
he gave her. Personally, I think he captured an image of death as an eternal, dreamless sleep beautifully.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Anyone
who has visited some of Athens oldest neighbourhoods will know that
when Greeks are given enough money and a free reign, they will create amazingly quirky houses that are idiosyncratic flights of folly and a pure delight. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, walk
around Tatoi Street in Kifissia and have a look at the summer houses
built around the turn of the nineteenth century)</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QW1go5VTwlo/TmTt0D9O6qI/AAAAAAAAAGY/L-jd-x1VWPM/s1600/DSC01049.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QW1go5VTwlo/TmTt0D9O6qI/AAAAAAAAAGY/L-jd-x1VWPM/s200/DSC01049.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The
First cemetery is no exception, the monuments range from the bizarre to the beautiful. Many are very
personal and relate directly to the deceased's family. There are stone
tributes to boy scout leaders, shipping magnates, Masons, dancers, pilots and
politicians. There is even a Greek <i>Romeo and Juliet</i>, Michail Mimikos and
German born Mary Weber who lived in Athens around 1890. The story goes that Mary threw herself of the
Acropolis when she thought that her lover, Mimikos, had deserted her. He
hadn't intended to, of course, and when he heard of her death he shot
himself in the head. They are now buried together, under a plaque that
reads "May our hearts be joined never to part again. In February
departed, celestial lovers, Mimikos and Mary".</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">My
much loved ballet teacher, Leonidas De Pian, is also buried in the
first cemetery. One day, when I'm brave enough to say goodbye to him, I
want to leave the last pair of pointe shoes I wore on his grave. I know
this is OTT and theatrical, but it's something I feel I have to
do. I was relieved to read later that people still leave half smoked cigarettes
on Director Karolos Koun's grave in tribute to the Greek theatre's most
notorious chain smoker, so I know I'm not alone!</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> Strolling along the First Cemetery's well tended pathways I feel connected to the lives commemorated here, and not seperated by the grave. Maybe that sums up what </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">makes the first cemetery so special... there's no
feeling of lonely abandonment in this place that makes death so much a
part of life.</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11845091467828468286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273894749436272693.post-14909053387966933042011-09-02T11:01:00.003+03:002011-09-02T11:10:20.359+03:00The Sunflower's Song<style>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Thonburi;">September is usually the month in which farmers harvest their sunflower crops. Greece produces quite a lot of sunflower oil, and I think that anyone who has seen those magnificent fields of golden sunflowers turning black before harvest time will relate to the following poem written by my mother. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: Thonburi;">The Sunflower's Song</span></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CrL4kOkZ1ak/TmCKfPOIoKI/AAAAAAAAAEE/k-0g6qlist8/s1600/DSC04492.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Thonburi;">The
earth caressed me, and gave me force </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Thonburi;">To
grow upwards and to find the source</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Thonburi;">Of
light, and bursting through the warming soil,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Thonburi;">I
found the sun, and so began my life.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qnjxz1QrBTA/TmCLCsQdm6I/AAAAAAAAAEI/xaj4otsn5pA/s1600/DSC04492.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qnjxz1QrBTA/TmCLCsQdm6I/AAAAAAAAAEI/xaj4otsn5pA/s200/DSC04492.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Thonburi;">First
my back grew tall and strong,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Thonburi;">And
green with leaves that opened up,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Thonburi;">To
help me stand and turn about</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Thonburi;">So I could move my glowing head</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Thonburi;">To follow on that fiery sun</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Thonburi;">From dawn till dusk across the sky,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Thonburi;">So
with my brothers tall and strong</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Thonburi;">We made a dazzling countryside.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Thonburi;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bzHG2GrBo9w/TmCKEHlCIVI/AAAAAAAAAEA/kAYJz4GFKUw/s1600/DSC04473.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bzHG2GrBo9w/TmCKEHlCIVI/AAAAAAAAAEA/kAYJz4GFKUw/s200/DSC04473.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Thonburi;">And then one day I felt so frail,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Thonburi;">My neck was weak, my head bent down,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Thonburi;">I could not turn – Oh! Where’s the
warmth?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Thonburi;">I’m falling forwards to the ground.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Thonburi;">I
know that all my beauty’s Past,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Thonburi;">My
golden face is blacking fast,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Thonburi;">And then we hear the awful sound,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Thonburi;">A shuddering noise that shakes the
ground,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Thonburi;">And
then I know the end is near, </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Thonburi;">But suddenly I cease to fear,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Thonburi;">For
then I know that I’m not dead </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Thonburi;">From
my sad and darkened head,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Thonburi;">Will
spring to life a host of seeds</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M-3pcBZm410/TmCJg3OnihI/AAAAAAAAAD8/xnKVcY8unQg/s1600/DSC04493.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M-3pcBZm410/TmCJg3OnihI/AAAAAAAAAD8/xnKVcY8unQg/s200/DSC04493.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Thonburi;">Though
some be killed and turned to oil,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Thonburi;">Some will tumble on the soil,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Thonburi;">To flower again, a golden sight,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Thonburi;">That turns sad darkness into light.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Thonburi;"><i>Prudence
Chandler, 2011</i></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11845091467828468286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273894749436272693.post-46959141269569615792011-09-01T12:26:00.001+03:002011-09-01T12:28:11.674+03:00Dive! Zouberi - ATHENS LIVING VIDEOS<a href="http://www.athensliving.net/apps/videos/videos/show/14668395-dive-zouberi#.Tl9MwCBrs10.blogger"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Dive</span>! <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Zouberi</span> - <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">ATHENS</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">LIVING</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">VIDEOS</span></a><br />
<div><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sBqqRinBoBA/Tl9QIbT0ZNI/AAAAAAAAAD0/rxVkXvNBtJM/s1600/IMG_0409.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sBqqRinBoBA/Tl9QIbT0ZNI/AAAAAAAAAD0/rxVkXvNBtJM/s320/IMG_0409.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
</div><div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">The</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">sandy</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">well</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">appointed</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">beach</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">at</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Zouberi</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">is</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">about</span> 31 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">kilometers</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">from</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">the</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">center</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">of</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">Athens</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">between</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">Nea</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">Makri</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">and</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">Marathon.</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">It</span>’s <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">long</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">been</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">one</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">of</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">my</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">favourite</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32">spots</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33">for</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_34">swimming</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_35">as</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_36">it</span>’s <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_37">not</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_38">usually</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_39">too</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_40">crowded</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_41">and</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_42">the</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_43">sea</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_44">always</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_45">seems</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_46">inviting</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_47">and</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_48">crystal</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_49">clear.</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_50">It's</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_51">also</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_52">got</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_53">some</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_54">great</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_55">cafés</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_56">and</span> a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_57">wonderful</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_58">taverna</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_59">that</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_60">serves</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_61">crispy</span> '<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_62">kalamarakia'</span> (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_63">fried</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_64">squid</span>) <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_65">and</span> a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_66">perfect</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_67">Greek</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_68">salad.</span>..<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_69">who</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_70">could</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_71">ask</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_72">for</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_73">more</span>?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_74">Zouberi</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_75">is</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_76">quite</span> a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_77">long</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_78">beach</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_79">and</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_80">is</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_81">kind</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_82">of</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_83">divided</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_84">into</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_85">parts</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_86">by</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_87">the</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_88">taverna.</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_89">To</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_90">the</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_91">left</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_92">is</span> a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_93">hotel</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_94">and</span> a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_95">few</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_96">houses</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_97">and</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_98">to</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_99">the</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_100">right</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_101">are</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_102">the</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_103">cafés</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_104">and</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_105">beach</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_106">bars.</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_107">If</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_108">you</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_109">walk</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_110">up</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_111">to</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_112">the</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_113">far</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_114">right</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_115">end</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_116">of</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_117">the</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_118">beach</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_119">you</span>’<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_120">ll</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_121">come</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_122">across</span> a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_123">beachcombers</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_124">hut</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_125">that</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_126">is</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_127">the</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_128">home</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_129">of</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_130">the</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_131">Treasure</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_132">Divers</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_133">dive</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_134">school.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_135">Scuba</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_136">diving</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_137">has</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_138">really</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_139">taken</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_140">off</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_141">in</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_142">Greece</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_143">over</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_144">the</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_145">last</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_146">five</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_147">years</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_148">as</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_149">until</span> 2006, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_150">the</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_151">Greek</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_152">Government</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_153">attempted</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_154">to</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_155">protect</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_156">unsalvaged</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_157">undersea</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_158">archaeological</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_159">sites</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_160">by</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_161">limiting</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_162">diving</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_163">to</span> a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_164">few</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_165">approved</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_166">areas.</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_167">After</span> a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_168">lot</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_169">of</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_170">underwater</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_171">archaeological</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_172">research</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_173">there</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_174">are</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_175">now</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_176">only</span> 30 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_177">areas</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_178">where</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_179">diving</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_180">is</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_181">prohibited</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_182">and</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_183">luckily</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_184">Zouberi</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_185">is</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_186">not</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_187">one</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_188">of</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_189">them.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_190">Have</span> a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_191">look</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_192">at</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_193">my</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_194">video</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_195">through</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_196">the</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_197">link</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_198">above</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_199">to</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_200">find</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_201">out</span> a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_202">bit</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_203">more</span>!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11845091467828468286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273894749436272693.post-64546597096419020182011-02-13T15:41:00.001+02:002011-02-13T15:42:17.092+02:00The Booze Market<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_5UGW6ohDGc/TVfe6RnbBNI/AAAAAAAAADo/M3lLaI2I7MQ/s1600/booze_market.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_5UGW6ohDGc/TVfe6RnbBNI/AAAAAAAAADo/M3lLaI2I7MQ/s1600/booze_market.jpg" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Thonburi; font-size: 14pt;">If you walk down Kolokotroni street and stroll through <i>Booze </i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Thonburi; font-size: 14pt;">bar into the Kourtaki Arcade you might be able to catch a <i>“weekends only</i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Thonburi; font-size: 14pt;">” event known as the Booze Market. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Thonburi; font-size: 14pt;">This eclectic little market is the brainchild of Marina Coriolano Lykourezos and her partner, Yiannis Yiannakos, co founders of The Crafts Factory. Marina and Yianni have joined forces with the owner of <i>Booze</i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Thonburi; font-size: 14pt;"> bar, Nikos Louvros, to make best use of some wonderful old buildings in the centre of Athens.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Thonburi; font-size: 14pt;">Although most retailers in Athens are currently reporting low sales, since it’s first appearance over the Christmas holidays, the Booze Market has been doing pretty well. That’s not too surprising, really, as its stalls are packed with quirky, unusual items that are mostly hand made by local craftsmen, and if you are looking for a gift I don’t think there are many better places to go.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Thonburi; font-size: 14pt;">The market is open on Saturdays and Sundays and I definitely recommend you try to visit the next one. Make an afternoon of it and stop to have a drink in <i>Booze </i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Thonburi; font-size: 14pt;">before going home. It’s a fun and relaxing way to while away a few hours and possibly pick up a bargain or two and make some new friends!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Thonburi; font-size: 14pt;"> (Check the facebook page: <i>The Booze Market by the Crafts Factory</i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Thonburi; font-size: 14pt;"> for dates) <o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11845091467828468286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273894749436272693.post-10854032275321912092011-02-12T12:30:00.000+02:002011-02-12T12:30:59.128+02:00Atenistas "Fix my City" Map<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZHeR-Cj1IHc/TVZfxfAm7dI/AAAAAAAAADk/jdxt-OxbM1Q/s1600/atenistas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZHeR-Cj1IHc/TVZfxfAm7dI/AAAAAAAAADk/jdxt-OxbM1Q/s1600/atenistas.jpg" style="background-color: #f3f3f3;" /><span><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"></span></span></span></a></div><span><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"></span></span> <i>(photo from Atenistas clean-up on Phaliro beach, 2011)</i><br />
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Wow! What a great idea! If you are fed up with graffiti, tagging, garbage, cars parked on the pavements or painted over road signs, now you can let the Atenistas know about the problems on a street near you. Just click on the link: <a href="http://www.atenistas.gr/map/">Atenistas Map</a> and take it from there!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11845091467828468286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273894749436272693.post-35690837345425754982011-02-11T14:43:00.003+02:002011-02-11T15:35:40.810+02:00The Ilias Lalaounis Jewelry Museum<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZqVDYYahZfw/TVU3A-hAR7I/AAAAAAAAADU/OGQXPVJGGfw/s1600/DSC03393.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5572420603861813170" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZqVDYYahZfw/TVU3A-hAR7I/AAAAAAAAADU/OGQXPVJGGfw/s200/DSC03393.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 150px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="maintext"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Thonburi; font-size: 14pt;">The Ilias Lalaounis Jewelry Museum first opened it’s doors to the public in 1993. Since then, it has been educating, enlightening and enchanting almost everyone who visits this unique space dedicated to jewelry and the decorative arts.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="maintext"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Thonburi; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="maintext"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Thonburi; font-size: 14pt;">I was completely captivated by this 'boutique' museum from the moment I stepped foot inside. I loved the jeweler, making jewelry inside the foyer in his own small workshop- I loved the fact that he was obviously a long term employee of the Lalaounis family business and would probably have been retired years ago from any other company- and I loved the sense that this is very much a ‘working’ and ‘living’ museum.<br />
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</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="maintext"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Thonburi; font-size: 14pt;">Talking with Ioanna Lalaounis later, she reinforced that first imression by stressing that the main emphasis within the museum lies on learning, and to that effect they house a large research library that is open to the public in the building next door. There are also many cultural and educational programmes on offer both for children and adults.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="maintext"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Thonburi; font-size: 14pt;">When I visited the museum, I was lucky enough to see a wonderful temporary exhibition which celebrated outwardly traditional stereotypes of femininity through three quirky and off beat private collections.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="maintext"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Thonburi; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="maintext"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Thonburi; font-size: 14pt;">Liza Gramatikop<u>ou</u>lou Moussi lent a collection of Japanese hair ornaments and objects d’arts. Also on show is Maria Totomi's amazing collection of thimbles- almost any type of thimble imaginable- some with famous faces, some made from precious metals, and some carved roughly from wood for the more humble seamstresses.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="maintext"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Thonburi; font-size: 14pt;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="maintext"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Thonburi; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="maintext"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Thonburi; font-size: 14pt;">But my favourite collection must be the miniature shoes lent by Sofia Barbaresou. There is almost every type of shoe represented, from 17<sup>th</sup> century satin slippers to Cinderella’s glass slippers to ballet slippers! Even the humble flip flop has a place. I'm not a collector, but I have to say that this show of shoes <span style="font-style: italic;">did</span> make a little jealous!</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="maintext"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Thonburi; font-size: 14pt;"><br />
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</span><span class="maintext"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Thonburi; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Thonburi; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11845091467828468286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273894749436272693.post-6092258736401342492011-02-09T21:00:00.000+02:002013-09-15T00:28:24.305+03:00The Duchess of Plaisance<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_V0ybR54hzrQ/TVLk67i3ZOI/AAAAAAAAABo/3VLa6V34IQA/s1600/duchess_of_pleasance.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571767390078199010" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_V0ybR54hzrQ/TVLk67i3ZOI/AAAAAAAAABo/3VLa6V34IQA/s320/duchess_of_pleasance.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 240px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 180px;" /></a><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There is a sense of mystery and magnetism clinging to the figure of the Duchess of Plaisance. I, like most people, was captivated by her story from the moment I first heard of her but really, I knew almost nothing about her. Most Athenians are familiar with her name and there is even a metro station named after her but most of us have heard only the myths and legends surrounding the duchess, not the historical facts.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> I think the hugely popular winter 2011 exhibition in the Byzantine and Christian Museum really dispelled the myth and brought this fascinating figure into a clearer perspective. </span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> This museum was an ideal venue to get to know the duchess as it was once her residence, but I’m getting ahead of the story……</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sophie de Marbois-Lebrun was born in 1785 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where her father, Francois Barbé Marbois, was serving as the French Consul General.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">At around seventeen Sophie married Charles Lebrun, who inherited the title of Duc de Plaisance, or Piacenza as it is known in Italy. In October 1804, Sophie gave birth to a daughter, Eliza LeBrun de Plaisance. There were to be no other children as their marriage was an unhappy one and by</span><span lang="EN-US"> the early 1820s it had reached crisis point. By then, matters had degenerated to such a</span><span lang="EN-US"> </span><span lang="EN-US">degree that Sophie claimed her husband wanted to kill her and soon after, the</span><span lang="EN-US"> couple wisely decide</span><span lang="EN-US">d to live separate lives. Sophie chose to live in Italy and Francois in Holland.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Possibly, the duchess's personal unhappiness found an outlet in</span><span lang="EN-US"> </span><span lang="EN-US">her championing of the cause of Greek independence. After meeting the man who would become the first head of state of a newly liberated Greece, Count Ioannis Capodistrias, in Paris in 1826, the duchess became a generous benefactor to the Greek liberation effort. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Within a few</span><span lang="EN-US"> </span><span lang="EN-US">years of the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence, both the duchess and</span><span lang="EN-US"> </span><span lang="EN-US">her daughter Eliza were well known champions of the Greek cause and found themselves at the forefront of the wave of Philhellenism which was sweeping across Western Europe. Mother and daughter were united toward donating</span> large sums of money to the Greek effort and one source records that Eliza raised a significant proportion of the funds herself by selling her jewelry.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">In January 1830 the <i>Genike Ephimerida tes Ellados</i></span><span lang="EN-US"> announced that the</span><span lang="EN-US"> '</span><span lang="EN-US">Duchesse de Plaisance' and her daughter had arrived in Nafplio, the capital of Greece at this time. Their old acquaintance</span><span lang="EN-US"> I</span><span lang="EN-US">oannes Capodistrias had been president of Greece for just over two years, but, for whatever reason, the relationship between Capodistrias and the duchess soured rapidly, and she became outspokenly opposed to his political views and left for Italy.</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After a four year absence, the duchess returned to Greece in 1834 and settled in the new capital of Athens. Greece now had a Bavarian King, Otto, but the duchess chose not to mix freely in court circles and lived at first in a rented mansion on Pireos street. During this period, the duchess seized the opportunity to travel to the middle east and Beirut, where, sadly, her daughter Eliza died. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Devastated by her daughters death she returned to Athens carrying Eliza's embalmed remains. True to the promise she made to her dying daughter never to leave her</span><span lang="EN-US"> </span><span lang="EN-US">side, she kept her coffin in the house where she took up residence.</span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This caused some concern amongst the Athenians who whispered that she would hold long and animated conversations with her deceased daughter.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">Perhaps the duchess's greatest legacy to Greece is through all the building work she commissioned during her life in Athens. Her construction work began when she </span>purchased huge tracts of land from the monastery of Pendeli and engaged the architect Stamatios Kleanthis to design a palace for her on the slopes of Mount Pendeli. According to records, she purchased 1700 stremmata of land off the abbot for seven and a half thousand drachma.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I find it so sad that today this mansion in Pendeli looks forgotten and shuttered, and it’s not an easy task to find it as the signposting is dismal. I know I had visited the mansion many years ago but I really couldn't remember how to find </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">it, or even in what part of northern Athens it was. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Following a friend's advice to "drive up Pendelis avenue, and keep on driving" I eventually arrived in a plateia where I could ask directions from a local grocers shop. Even so, I still managed to miss the single tiny sign that points to the duchess's Pendeli residence. </span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I am sure that unless someone in the Ministry of Culture (or wherever) sits up and takes notice fairly soon, this mansion will crumble and slowly degenerate into a pile of rubble.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Luckily, the Villa Ilissia, completed by Kleanthis in 1848 is not suffering the same fate. Today it houses the Byzantine and Christian museum and, when I visited in 2011, was in the process of external renovation work. However, you can see the similarity in architectural styles between the two palaces. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The duchess was a central figure in the social life of Otthonian Athens. Her generosity was legendary and her love of learning meant she sponsored many young Greek women, enabling them to get an education. She also loved to host symposia on topics such as religion and politics.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But the duchess was just a bit too unconventional for Athenian society of her time. Her probable conversion to Judaism, and the sponsoring of the building of a synagogue in Evia would not have been a popular move and would have alienated her from the mainstream.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Later in life Sophie commissioned Kleanthis again, this time to build a final home and resting place for her daughter's remains. Sadly, she would never live to see this Castle of Rodanthi completed as it caught fire and burned to the ground while still under construction. Following the fire the duchess withdrew from public life until her death in 1854 at the age of 69.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US"> I</span><span lang="EN-US"> think she probably encouraged the legends and rumours that grew up around her. Obviously, she was a bit of an oddball and some of the outrageous sounding stories were probably based on some semblance of truth. She definitely did have her daughter embalmed and placed in the basement of her house, she did grant titles of nobility at whim to those she liked, she dabbled in mysticism and she had contact with many of the bandits that roamed the hills surrounding Athens but to me, all these traits just add to her glamour and appeal as one of the liveliest and most fascinating figures in early modern Greek history.</span></span></div>
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