Greece Road Ways Two on the Loose TRAVEL HUMANITIES

Vergina, Macedonia, between Mt. Olympus and Thessoloniki

2011-11-18T13:12:00.000-05:00

Macedonia; a region of Greece; and, same name but different area, a country known as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and that had been part of the old Yugoslavia, and joined the United Nations as an independent nation with this name. Greece claims the single name "Macedonia" for its section; nationalism, history, identity, all collide, see http://www.historyofmacedonia.org/MacedonianGreekConflict/shea.html;
and then, http://www.unitedmacedonians.org/macedonia/stefov1.html

Macedonia. The total area was Macedon, and a great king, Philip II, born 382 BC, ruled 360-336 BC, made it great in the ancient world, see http://www.livius.org/phi-php/philip/philip_ii.htm (that site extends into four sections).

Philip was the father of Alexander the Great, Philip's Grave is believed to be at the Great Tumulus in Vergina, but little remains of its grandeur. See Archeology Odyssey magazine, March-April 2005 at p. 32ff, article by Greek archeologist Manolis Andronicos. The access to the tumulus is through a climate-controlled structure extending underground

Aegina Island - Octopus; pistachios

2009-12-14T07:17:00.000-05:00

Aegina is is one of the Saronic Gulf islands, a Greek island not far from Piraeus, the port of Athens, and is a splendid day trip. On the way, I looked over and saw a sea turtle below. Not huge, but on the way. See www.greektravel.com/greekislands/saronic.htm/Aegina">Aegina

Here is a corner of a fisherman's cottage - the whole thing being redone by our friends-family, as a retreat from Athens. Many homes are the blue and white shown on the house next door. Blue and white island.

Fisherman's cottage, Aegina Island, Greece

Octopus - hanging in the fish shops. Grill it. Goes in salads, or by itself. Just a little olive oil and garlic. To tenderize, the catch used to be pounded on rocks.

Someone said on Ehina that old washing machines can be or wee recycled to beat the (dead) octopus for tenderizing. Is this true?

Recipe: for grilled octopus, go to www.greek-recipe.com/. The rest of the address is modules.php?name=News&file=article484"

Aegina pistachios -- a variety among the best in the world. Yes. True. Bags of pistachios. We ate them most every day, sold on the streets. Especially famous on Aegina. See www.greekproducts.com/greekproducts/pistachios.

Big mess in the car. Loved it, but we did not leave enough time before getting the car back to clean it out. Mother would be horrified.

Aegina - Britomartis Finds Safety on the Island, Huntress. Name Migrations?

2009-12-13T03:39:00.001-05:00

Aegina is a small island about an hour by water away from Piraeus, the closest port to Athens.

We enjoyed a day there, and now look at its roots.

Topic: The roots of our names, and the course that those names follow from culture to culture. Here, Aegina the island features in the story of Bradamante, the female knight from the middle ages.

A. Tracing Bradamante, Female Knight.

1. The Italian tradition.

There is a tradition of female knights in the Italian "Renaissance Guerriera" tradition. In that tradition, the autonomous female knight is possessed of beauty and great strength (some in later years added the pejorative to take away some of the glamor, and portrayed here as a virago). Part of the tradition is Bradamante as a loner. She may or may not eventually settle down with her lover. See Italy Road Ways, Order of the Glorious Saint Mary.

Name derivation. Bradamante had been translated as a name, to suggest an untamed one, especially in love. See ://babynamesworld.parentsconnect.com/meaning_of_Bradamante.html/. Wild lover.

Finding Britomartis.

2. The earlier Minoan Tradition.

However, the Bradamante name also was suggested as rooted in the ancient Minoan myths of Britomartis, huntress of small game, says this site. The king, Minos of Crete, wanted her and chased.

She fled, leaped into the sea where she became entangled in fishing nets, and the fishermen carried her to safety to the Island of Aegina. See ://www.theoi.com/Georgikos/Britomartis.html/

3. Stag slayer; archer

Other versions of the story at that same site have Britomartis as slayer of stags. And a goodly archer. That story comes to us from the 1st century BC. As time passed, it, too, was watered down such that she became a mere hunter of small game, chipmunks?

Enjoy the description of the stag slayers, other nymphs of the hunt. Perhaps as Britomartis morphed into Diana:

"These were the first who wore gallant bow and arrow-holding quivers on their shoulders; their right shoulders bore the quiver strap, and always the right breast showed bare."

That also from ://www.theoi.com/Georgikos/Britomartis.html/

4. A Wild One.

Reducing her stature and power went on and on. She was reduced later to a mere "wild lover"

5. A Recluse.

But yet another story cited there has Britomartis avoiding the company of men. She does escape their ravaging intentions over and over.

B. Britomartis:

Britomartis, Did she morph into Bradamante. Did the two lines of stories blend.

Britomartis as a name comes from words meaning sweet or blessing, or sweet or blessed maiden. See later blends of characteristics with Artemis, or Diana. It may have been Artemis who saved her (Artemis also loved her) and who made her into a goddess. This gets complex. See site.

Lovely Aegina, island with the grilled octopus to die for. Another reason to love it, wildly.

New Parthenon Museum

2008-01-23T18:34:00.000-05:00

The Parthenon, 5th Century BC, and finally its own Museum at its feet, by Swiss architect Bernard Tschumi. Do an images search right now to appreciate it. Thank you, Greece. We have not seen it yet (parts of columns and other items were there on the grounds, but under shelters, so we have an idea where it is) but the descriptions put it among the great designs for museums, we think. See the article in the NYT 10/28/2007, article about p. 31 by Nicolai Ouroussoff: building was raised on columns to preserve an ancient village discovered below, "overscale concrete canopy" over the entrance, concrete and glass grid, corners of the top floor cantilever slightly, all creating an "instability" that serves the narrative as the goer goes through the exhibits. Yet, "calm and unobtrusive." Forms growing more precarious, says the article. "A montage of visual experience." The article directs us to slide show at nytimes.com/design.

Wish we had this for the old Iraq museum. We have little idea, and now it is too late, thanks to us.

Much of Greece's treasure of antiquities were taken to other countries in the last century, and even probably to now, with even half of the famous Elgin Marbles still at the British Museum in London - taken there by one Lord Elgin - still in London. Read about Lord Elgin at ://www.athensguide.com/elginmarbles/lordelgin.html; and the Elgin Marbles at ://www.athensguide.com/elginmarbles/index.html#menu. Mr. Ouroussoff went to London immediately after Athens, saw the Elgin Marbles there, and said they looked homesick.

Theft of heritage. See ://www.museum-security.org/artifacts-saz.htmWas Elgin the one who saved the marbles by taking them? See ://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/parthenon_debate_01.shtml.

Iraq. See ://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/middle_east/jan-june07/artifacts_04-30.html. The US not concerned or safeguarding another nation's heritage.

What is in our cultural narrative that so degrades the past. Even our own. Do we teach our real history. Read "Mayflower," by Nathaniel Philbrick, at ://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/04/books/review/04shorto.html?ex=1307073600&en=3ff4700633a5d05c&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss.

Human opportunism, here, in politics, there, and elsewhere. Mr.Ouroussoff writes that even he could see little reason at this late date to do any returning, but he changed his mind after entering the New Acropolis Museum.

A village was discovered during construction, and that is preserved because the structure is elevated above - excellent.

Parthenon and its Outlying Neighborhoods - Life Uncropped

2007-09-18T17:07:00.003-04:00

Parthenon, Athens, Greece

Most photos that show the Parthenon will focus on its antiquity and leave out its environment, its present context. But look further. There are real neighborhoods surrounding. Who is there? What is the Acropolis, the rock on which the Parthenon, Temple of Athena, patron goddess of Athens rises.

And what is the shortened story of Athena that comes to us? There is more out there. That is the point, see as to that issue, {arthenon, Athena, Athene Partheneia

Subjectivity and reporting, subjectivity and emphasis: what is the reality desired, and what can be done, like PR, to coax someone into a point of view. Cherry pick what you want out of the whole, and push that, like in politics, and hope nobody looks behind the curtain.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh: a quote somewhere that all writing is a lie, that the act of squeezing reality into words itself distorts.

The Parthenon - put past with present and for us the Parthenon becomes even more magnetic. What is the role of greatness in the past to the present. How does our present compare to the past - our present ability to build with beauty and balance, compared to present pressures.

Archeology can tell us that there was indeed crowding and disease then, as we have now, see //www.archaeology.org/online/news/kerameikos, so enjoy the Parthenon in a fuller setting here, it is as it stands, with its neighborhoods, the warren of the market, the housing, rooftops, awnings against the sun, real people living nearby. Their houses, their colors at sunset. Hear the sounds, the smells of food - not just a sterile, if magnificent, ruin. Look for both. Know the hype of the cropped photo. Enjoy the reality.

But cropping sells. Crop the picture, crop the narrative, sell the agenda.

What else sells, despite negatives that you learn about later.

This gets beyond our Greek trip, but look at selling goods:

1. Our kitchens: sell granite. Shiny. Durable. But hard, expensive, cold to the touch, noisy. Wake up the house with a dropped cup. The ideal is sold as a cropped reality. Dear little pot lights, dear little appliance garages. But they are glarey, the garages for kitchen toys take up counterspace. Why not use Formica or something like it, resilient, warm and inexpensive, easy to replace if you burn a spot (use a mat!), and put our appliances away, or buy fewer appliances.

2. Our baths: sell double sinks. Everybody can spit together. Showers for three with shooting multiple jets! Lounge chairs! Do you really want a companion in there. And who is going to clean both sinks, all the bidets, showers, huge tubs. Guess. Why not simply turn around in our shower.

3. History: sell an epic about events, when the facts are not clear. When facts are not well recorded at the time, but events struck people's imaginations and hearts, the telling and retelling takes over. Belief in the cropped epic becomes the reality. Like religions. Truth in there somewhere, of course, but hard to say just where. The epic takes over.

4. Specific on selling history and epics: Thinking here about Kosovo - its actual battle, Serbian Christians against Muslims at Kosovo Plain, 1389. Who really won? Who did the epics say won, and why? Later interpretation and need for myth, filling in where the facts are not at all clear. See Europe Road Ways Themes, Kosovo I and Kosovo II.

The difficulty is that we cannot get back to the actual past to compare. So the tellers of tales dominate any time facts are concealed or cannot be accessed. Politics?

Nafplio or Nafplion - Peloponnese, Venetians

2007-08-30T13:31:00.001-04:00

Nafplio, Peloponnese, Greece

Update August 2007 - with the fires in the news, but I think mostly inland.

Nafplion is on the Peloponnese Peninsula, coast, southeast of Athens and the mainland. This is a beautiful resort destination. Imagine great romance. Not difficult in this setting. It was occupied by the Venetians, look up the place names associated with the old Venetian empire at //romeartlover.tripod.com/Salmglos., then to the History of Venice, then down to Napili di Romania, Port of Morea on the Gulf of Argos (Argos was the ancient town there), and see that its current name is Nafplion.

Click on the links there for the port and the fortress --there is a 15th century fort at the top of the hill. See //romeartlover.tripod.com/Argo; and //romeartlover.tripod.com/Nauplia.

The modern town: elegant Greek-Venetian architecture. Splendid for a cruise stop. See www.greecetravel.com/nafplio/ For other history and photos, see www.delboy85.tripod.com/ppenese/id6.

On the way: artichoke fields. In bloom. Read the historian Herodotus on the ancient world 450BC. or so, for an idea of the vibrancy and movement among peoples. Artichokes at that time in Mauritania, says Strabo - huge. //www.fordham.edu/Halsall/ancient/anc-nafrica.

Meteora - clifftop monasteries

2007-08-29T15:01:00.001-04:00

Meteora, Monastery, Greece

Monasteries on cliff-tops, many are free-standing geological formations. Air islands. If you look closely, you can see the ropes hanging down, that suspended the baskets that were the only way up for people and goods in the old days. There also was a suspended rope between the monastery and the cliff on the other side, for a way over. See www.in2greece.com/english/places/historical/mainland/acropolis.

This would be an excellent geo-tourism site because of the geological sites and attractions. See book "Geotourism" by Ross Dowling at this site: elsevier.com/wps/find/bookdescription.cws_home/706060/description#description.

Meteora view, Monasteries, Greece

These monasteries were built around 1100 AD and thereafter, by hermits and monastics fleeing from the invading Ottomans, or for their own reasons - preferring isolation. There is an entire area of these. See www.orthodox-monasteries.com/greece/index5. See also www.in2greece.com/english/places/historical/mainland/meteora.

Conglomerate rock formations, and medieval monasteries on top, Meteora, Greece

Rock formations, monastery at summit, Meteora, Greece

Clifftop monastery, Meteora, Greece

How built: there are many stories. One is that a hermit made his way to the top of one summit, and wondered just that. An eagle came by and dropped him a feather. Then a piece of twig, and then enough materals to fashion a rope. Most are accessible by car to a reasonably close place, then you walk long steps up or over on pedestrian bridges. We had two pairs of day shoes - one to get muddy and then let dry, while the other pair saved the day. Sneakers are not good. Too slippery on wet smooth stone. In bad weather, we got used to taking off our shoes in the bathrooms and rinsing off the soles.

These are World Heritage Sites. The area is on the list for many tour groups. See www.great-adventures.com/destinations/greece/meteora.

This is also an orthodox area. Ladies, wear a skirt (I had a denim one, mid-calf, for easier climbing), or bring a light shawl wrap, square-ish, to wrap like a sarong and cover your jeans. If you are dressed inappropriately, and that means long pants or shorts, the monastery will loan you a shawl from a large stack in the corner. Ladies in shorts or pants not allowed. Also, cover your shoulders. Easier to carry around your own silky covering, jammed in your shoulder bag in case. Also helpful for sudden rain, or wind, or using as a picnic tablecloth, or on your lap as you snack in the car. Just wash it out, use the back seat as a dryer.

Fires on the Peloponnese.

2007-08-28T07:28:00.000-04:00

August 2007. Fires on the Peloponnese peninsula. Homes, people, animals, thousands of acres gone. Something whispering that you could help? The one world, common humanity idea? For an idea of the scope, see the New York Times slide show today at //www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2007/08/28/world/20070828GREECE_index.html?th&emc.
If you are inclined to contribute, idea: Find a trusted local conduit and learn something of the people in your area from there. Visit Greek Orthodox churches for leads, or local schools that may have Greek exchange students, or find a trusted American project and follow through to check it out - example, try The American Farm School in Thessaloniki, Greece. Go to www.afs.edu.gr/. An advantage here is the English-speaking.

If that still makes you nervous, give to a charity at home - in your own. Anyway. Assurance that all your money or things will get there? Of course not. We didn't do so well with Katrina either. Letting things go is good for your health.

Ioannina and Metsovo area - Orthodox, Vlach and Turkish roots, and hilltop village area

2007-06-18T14:53:00.001-04:00

Ionnanina area, monastery, Greece

This area is north and west, from the Athens area, toward Albania. To the left here is an Orthodox monastery: one of many.

Metsovo area, village, Greece

There are numerous hilltop towns.

Metsovo is a large town, with a substantial Vlach and Turkish influence. Vlachs apparently were/are a shepherd, nomadic culture. See www.vlachophiles.net/liddell. We found Vlachs in Romania, see Romania Road Ways;.

Update 2007. We read about their migration to Poland, but they were deported from the Magurski National Park and Low Beskid regions, says this site, for political reasons in 1947. Few survive. See http://www.staff.amu.edu.pl/~zbzw/ph/pnp/magu.htm. See populations post in Poland Road Ways.

The picture here is a small mountain town heading from Metsovo to Ioannina. Roadsign: See a fine photo album at www.galenfrysinger.com/metsovo_greece. The area is highly traditional, old Turkish influence also there.

Then, at Ioannina, is the administrative capital of the region, there are palace-castle ruins, and Turkish homes now open as museums. There is a lovely mosque. See www.arafura.net.au/greeksnt/ioannina; and www.metsovo.gr/.

Thermopylae - Spartan King Leonidas vs. Persian Xerxes, and "300"

2007-03-18T15:09:00.001-04:00

Thermopylae, King Leonidas, Greece

I have just seen the film, "300." It does no honor to King Leonidas, or Sparta, or those who pass off Hollywood's black-white view of history as history.

The thefts of concept from "Star Wars" and Tolkein's "The Ring Cycle," and the likenesses of RuPaul in a Chariot, are a humiliation.

No wonder Europeans are leaving the film in mid-thrust, and in disgust, as a recent news article noted. I know of no historical source that says the Greek betrayer, Ephialtes, was the grotesque as presented. Gollum-Quasimodo mix? This is ridiculous, and people will believe it.

So: If you must, see it for the men in speedos, the beefcake, and the fiction . The underlying battle (Sparta was no democracy - Athens' ideas of governmental participation did not take even with its militaristic neighbors or elsewhere) is better researched on your own.

Thermopylae now. Here is the statue of the Spartan King Leonidas who held off the Persians until finally the last Greek was dead, and at the Pass at Thermopylae.

Do your own research. Don't believe what is on celluloid or the partisan news loops. Sparta was a city-state in the ancient world whose cultural focus was the military. The cultural focus of Athens, a neighboring city-state, was the exercise of Democracy. The Spartans never converted.

The history of Greece is filled with profiles in bravery - famous battles. The Medes and the Persians; the Thebans and the Spartans. Here at Thermopylae: strategies, fallbacks, recoveries, treachery, hopeless odds, bad luck, secret paths, betrayals of the paths' locations and traps and defeat - Persian Xerxes the victor. Legends and historical accounts. See www.joseph_berrigan.tripod.com/id28. That site is labeled "Bible History," and I have not researched who the site people are, but the chronologies and comments look thorough and are not religion-oriented. Look at a site's content, then check it against its sponsors to see if there may be biases. This one looks ok.

Imagine battles in this battle non-dress, military equipment as shown not on Leonidas. So I looked up Greek battle dress and found that they did clothe themselves more sensibly: see livius.org/a/battlefields/thermopylae/thermopylae. I do not object to the total beefcake, so long as people don't think that was the uniform du jour.

Bad history. The Discovery Channel 3/2007 showed the Greeks at Thermopylae looking just like the Romans of 500 years later, but that must be with hopes noone cares to look it up. The Discovery Channel also ignores why the Greeks lost - they were betrayed by one of their own, Ephialtes, who told the Persians about a back pathway around them to attack from behind. See the livius.org site above.

For more on the Spartans, how they raised their children (military rigors), the battle and the times, see www.library.flawlesslogic.com/leonidas. There is also a map there, and famous quotations that have come down to us. For example, the Spartans were told that the Persians had so many arrows that the sky was darkened. The Spartan response: Fine - we can fight in the shade, or similar words.

The area is now farther inland than at the time of the battle, making the pass much wider now, so it is harder to visualize the setting. Thermopylae means "hot gate" because of some hot springs in the area, says this site: www.livius.org/a/battlefields/thermopylae/thermopylae. There is a fine photo archive there.

Old questions. Did Leonidas remain at Thermopylae, even after learning of the Persians' intent to attack from the rear, because Leonidas believed an Oracle? The role of oracles - what is coming. Every culture wants to know. See debate at Delphi post here.

Current: With our talk about wanting to spread democracy, and assumptions that other people yearn for it, we forget that even the original Athenian Democracy did not spread beyond its own city-state walls. Its neighboring city-state, Sparta, never took it up. Instead, it stayed focused on the military way of life. Am looking up if any other city-states at all took up democracy. It is not easily transplanted. We should give history exams to our decision-makers before they launch.

More blogs about Greece Road Ways.

Driving tips, foreign alphabet

2007-01-07T07:29:00.001-05:00

The Greek alphabet is difficult for most of us. So is Cyrillic (parts of Bosnia, in particular. See Bosnia Road Ways). Not all signs will have English on them, or an anglicized alphabet, especially in rural areas. This is their country. Expect and respect their language.

1. Write down the basic signs as you see them. Or get them out of your guidebook in advance. Start immediately. Keep a pad close by the driver's seat. Don't rely on guides - the print is little and you will not have time. Do know the international driving signs, but in addition:

EXIT
DETOUR
BY-PASS
CENTER CITY

All that. If you write them on the backs of your hands, wash carefully.

2. Use a tourist attraction as your anchor. If you want to get somewhere in Athens with a street address, go to the map and find the nearest big tourist attraction to it. Say, the Acropolis. Then, when you get lost, as you will, do not try to ask directions to the street address too soon. Really. There are too many little streets and turns and one-ways. You may even be told that you can't get there from here this time of day.

Find or ask for a motorway heading to the attraction near your destination - like the Acropolis. If you are in a smaller town, just ask for the destination attraction. Cruise around pleasantly while you look for someone to ask about the Acropolis, or find the motorway with the tourist attraction signs - the large green overheads like we have here. Once on a motorway, see if the Acropolis is going your way. If not, get off and on again until you are headed for the Acropolis. Get off there, and you will be closer to where you really want to go.

We did not do this at first, and were very late for dinner.

Athens, Unknown Soldier, Evezone Guard, and Acropolis

2007-01-02T07:57:00.001-05:00

Acropolis, Greece

There is Athens at sunset, with the Acropolis, from our friends' roof garden.

Evezone Guard, Syntagma Square, Athens, Greece

And the Evezone Guard at Syntagma (Constitution) Square, at the tomb of the unknown soldier. There is a stylized march step and the uniforms are based on an 1821 war of independence.

Full details of the Guard, and the 400 pleats representing the 400 years of Ottoman rule, says the site, is at www.wright-photo.com/evzone3. Click back a few pages for more on the Guards there.

The Acropolis is a World Heritage Site. See the Ministry of Culture site at www.culture.gr/2/21/211/21101a/e211aa01. There are photos, and a historical account.

Parthenon, Acropolis, Greece

The Parthenon at the Acropolis is being restored in an ongoing process. That same site is good also for a brief look at some of the Acropolis - www.wright-photo.com/acropolis1. This continues for two more pages at the site. The full websites photo gallery for Athens, including the old Plaka market/residence and historic structures at the base of the Acropolis, is at www.wright-photo.com/athens0.

See also www.in2greece.com/english/places/historical/mainland/acropolis.

Links, posts, archives

2006-12-20T09:31:00.000-05:00

No underlined links to third-party sites here, just written addresses. Please take the time to follow up on the details, even though we have to slow up. Why slow us up like this? See www.bitlaw.com for overviews on internet law and copyright. These things are more complex than we ever dreamed, and nothing seems clear. In transition.

Post dates show the itinerary chronology - from arrival, to departure. So, do read the Archives - they show the continuing trip, not necessarily earlier posts. A new or revised post may appear at the beginning, to draw attention to it, but the plan is to incorporate it later elsewhere, if it fits better there.

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Thessaloniki area: American Farm School

2006-12-05T15:01:00.000-05:00

Everyone involved with the campus and programs at this secondary school (boarding school) should be very proud. Many American teachers and their families. The school teaches a broad curriculum to boys and girls in the context of also teaching modern agricultural techniques and issues. We went to a graduation and the top student is given a calf that is proudly led right on the stage.

They also have an exchange program for summer high school students from the US, who then live with Greek families (farm? I believe so)and a friend's daughter loved it. Other friends (really like family) are committed to its growth as well. With all the bad press Americans get from other activities abroad, this one deserves huge kudos. There is physical sense of relief to come across things like this, as an American. And to see the deep commitment of the Greek adminstration and trustees. See www.afs.edu.gr/en/index. Also see www.americanfarmschool.org/.

I am not involved with any of this other than cheering on the people we know who have been instrumental in its success - just very, very, impressed.

At that graduation, we noticed that so many of the parents were short-statured, while the children were much taller. We were told that the improvement in diet has made a big difference in the height of the young people, and were reminded that many of the parents and their parents lived through the food and health deprivations of wars. That makes sense.

Old Jewish Quarter - Near Thessaloniki

2006-12-03T14:43:00.001-05:00

Old Jewish Quarter, near Thessaloniki, Greece

In so many towns there is an old Jewish quarter that is either still abandoned, or -- as here -- becoming rejuvenated, re-lived in. Walking around, there may be just an alley heading into a square, and you go through and suddenly find a world there, and easy to imagine the sights and sounds of a busy community before the horrors.

The reconstruction here is beyond the main square of the town, hardly noticeable as you walk on the more traveled street, and is in a walled-in area. Some things are best seen on your own, while just out walking off a good meal. The town is between the area where the father of Alexander the Great was buried, and Thessaloniki. It is not far from the American Farm School,

Thessaloniki - Northern Greece - Ossios David

2006-12-03T14:12:00.000-05:00

This is a late 5th century church, Ossios David, with a famous mosaic inside showing a clean-shaven Christ in a vision to prophets.

The city is cosmopolitan, with a well-known university, a busy port, and large pedestrianized mall area with students and more students. This is said to be one of the "hippest" cities in Europe. For shoes, I understand you can see more in Thessaloniki shops than most anywhere else. Also, beaches, and an old city area at the top of the hill that is full of all the things in this site and more: see www.uranus.ee.auth.gr/new/eng/thessaloniki. Carry a daypack, leave your larger stuff in the car and trust, and you will find that the guidebooks and maps are quite enough to tote, thank you. Some guidebooks, even though compact, are enormously heavy - meant for the coffee table when you get back, not the tote when you are there.

Language, signs, ouzo, mezze,

2006-12-01T08:38:00.000-05:00

We had the usual guide book language guide. Signs were more difficult because of the different characters and diphthongs, but just coast along. Body language works fine in most cases. Food: the rough equivalent of the Spanish tapas is the Greek mezze - bites, sequential little plates of things. They mey be called appetizers, but for us made an entire meal most of the time. For more on mezze, the Greek appetizers, see www.gourmed.gr/greek-food/show. The rest of the address would be asp?gid=9&nodeid=7889&arid=3806. Click around the site to the Mediterranean section, and find how to cook squid. A fine dish.

Ouzo (a splendid pine-pitchy liquor) may be served with a little colorful tin cup, short (maybe 3 1/2"?) and narrow, for refills. Try the lamb with lemon, oregano. Lamb fricasee. Octopus (see post here for Ehina). It is easy to order foreign ingredients and see what food there looks like - toggle around, or as a start for pictures and how to order, see www.greecefoods.com/ordering. No connection, it just looks like a good starting point for getting authentic ingredients.

Kavala - Northeast - Aqueduct, fortress

2006-11-25T14:30:00.001-05:00

Aquaduct, Kavala (Philippi), Greece

Kavala is northeast from Thessaloniki, but we took the scenic route around a fine peninsula first because the weather was so good and we enjoy poking about. There is a major motorway we could have followed. Too many trucks.

Kavala is the newer name for Philippi, the city where the apostle Paul is supposed to have first landed. Its aqueduct here is not Roman, but dates from the time of Suleiman the Magnificent, constructed 1520-1530 or so. That little sign on the left that you can barely see, says that Constantinople is 480 Km away (take 2/3 of that for miles, approximately. So, 250 +/- miles?)
Castle at Kavala, Greece

The castle at Kavala was begun in in the 5th century BC, with Byzantine additions. See www.superbgreece.com/Makedonia/Kavala/index.

Mt. Olympus - in the distance

2006-11-20T14:00:00.001-05:00

Distant Mount Olympus, Greece

Mount Olympus. The home of the gods, believed to be so because it is so high. The mythology of the Greeks is extensive - get a start at www.loggia.com/myth/olympus; and at www.pantheon.org/areas/mythology/europe/greek/articles.

There is an entire history site - for multiple countries and topics, including Greece and its mythology, at historylink101.com/index.

Delphi and the road to it. The Oracle and the Horseradish

2006-11-18T08:24:00.002-05:00

Delphi is the mountainous site where heaven and earth were said to meet, the center of the world, and where the Oracle foresaw the future.

Delphi oracle and horseradish.

The Oracle also dealt with mundane matters: The Oracle told Apollo, god of the sun, something like this: That the radish is worth its weight in lead; the beet its weight in silver; and the horseradish its weight in gold. See The Big Book of Herbs, by Arthur O. Tucker and Thomas DeBaggio, Interweave Press, 2000 (as reported in the New York Times somewhere, didn't write down the cite properly). See it at ://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=The+Big+Book+of+Herbs&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=10638887543693337901&ei=q_q9S6DWO4OClAfonaXdBg&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CBsQ8wIwBA#ps-sellers/
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Its story, Delphi in its glorious past, is told well at www.greecetravel.com/delphi. For a photo gallery, here are some signposts: see www.galenfrysinger.comdelphi, and www.in2greece.com/english/places/historical/mainland/delphi.

Delphi is a World Heritage Site. See sacredsites.com/europe/greece/tholos_temple_delphi.

Delphi, Greece

Getting to Delphi: Delphi plants. Find broom, poppies, a flowering pink bush. Surprising color in the dry.
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Delphi, view of landscape, Greece

Is there any culture that has not tried to foretell? Individuals came to Delphi for that purpose. What about Nostradamus? Did he ever do individual prophecies,as did the Oracles?

What makes an oracle different from a soothsayer, a fortune teller? Search on those.

A good overview on oracle-ing is at www.en.wikipedia.org, under Oracle. There is another section there for the specific Oracle at Delphi.

This source suggests that part of the mystique of Delphi stemmed from certain earth-gases seeping into the underground cavern, and inhaled by the Oracle. See news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/08/0814_delphioracle.

Corinth - Peloponnese - old city, high fortress

2006-11-15T13:48:00.001-05:00

Corinth, Greece

Corinth is on the other side the the canal that now separates mainland Greece (with Athens and Pereus) from the Peloppenese peninsula. Read the newsletter of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens at //www.ascsa.edu.gr/newsletter/ASCSAwinter2003FINAL.pdf , and scroll to Corinth.

There is a busy town below, and elaborate ruins at a lower level and then more at a higher level.

Think defense, and recourse if the first level fortress falls.

Well area, Corinth, Greece

The descending stairs here are for an underground well and water disbursement system for the entire city - tubs collect the water, and sluice it all around. Here is a touring family's photos - www.stutzfamily.com/travelpix/greece/corinth.Sometimes real people's pictures are easier to follow than the professional websites.

The more level town area has been inhabited since about 3000-5000 BC. There is a brief history; and more photos at www.culture.gr [the rest of the web address is /2/21/211/21104a/e211da.05.]

The old city castle-fort on the cliff is built to make invasion on horseback, or by great numbers of enemies, almost impossible. Not also the narrow doorway at the top. More defense, make it difficult to arrive on horseback, or two abreast. Always conscious of how precarious life was - and defenses had better work, because somebody was at the door much of the time. Also conscious of what the ordinary sounds and smells would be there - horses, hoofs, animals, shouting, markets, people just being people.

Site for Photo gallery, someone else, an excellent few

2006-11-01T09:13:00.001-05:00

Sometimes the photo galleries on the net are so good that they deserve a special round of applause. Go to, for example, www.pbase.com/bauer/greece. This is a road sign only, not a direct blue-link, and is not an "incorporation," or other internet no-no referred to at www.bitlaw.com., as far as I can tell. This area of copyright is a minefield.

Admire the poppies in particular. Then go to www.sound-effects.com and follow the instructions for hearing real applause.

Mycenae - Death of Agamemnon; Peloponnese

2006-10-31T09:59:00.001-05:00

Mycenae, Greece

The palace ruin at Mycenae - a town connected to the some of thegreatest myths and historical references and cultural works in Greece. See www.in2greece.com/english/places/historical/mainland/mycenae.

Sometimes ruins can look alike when we get home, but to my best recollection this is the baths area on the Peloponnese peninsula where the Queen Clytemnestra is to have murdered her husband, Agamemnon. Agamamnon was the brother of King Menelaus, whose wife, Helen, went with/was abducted by Paris, the son of King Priam of Troy. The Trojan war commenced. For the summary of the story of that, read "The Virtual Iliad" - go to www.velocity.net/%7Ejutman/virtiliad.; or Homer's original Iliad,the tale of Troy, available at your local library.

Itinerary After The Fact

2006-10-05T15:16:00.000-04:00

Athens (and staying with splendid friends who also loaned us a car), Piraeus, day trip to Aegina, an island, then north to Thebes, Livadia, Mt. Parnassus - Delphi, Lamia, Larisa, , west to Kalambaka, Inannina, Metsovo, Kozani, Thessaloniki, south to Karyes, north and east again to Kavala, Drama, back to Thessaloniki, south to Delphi, Athens, Korinth, Mycenae, Argos, Nafplio and back to Athens.