Modern
Greece
Most architecture here looks classical.
This mural
and statue
of Athena decorate
the
Academy built less than 150 years ago making it modern by Greek
standards.
The Greek food and drink
we had were
outstanding. The owner of this restaurant was showing several
of
us examples of what we could have for lunch. Pick anything
offered, add a small pitcher of wine and you won't be disappointed.
When we got away from
the cities and
off the superhighways we often saw sheep in the fields. Even
with
no fences these were staying out of the vineyard and off the
road. We would occasionally see shepherds but we didn't see
one
near this flock.
Along both minor and
even some major
roads you would see these little structures. People build
them
where there was an accident. Sometimes to honor someone who
lost
their life or to give thanks that no one did.
This "Smart
Car" seems to be a
popular urban car. It is tiny, about 4 feet wide and 8 feet
long.
With high gas prices, narrow streets and limited parking it fits right
in.
This fellow was
wandering through a
park in downtown Athens. He wasn't an exhibit, just looking
for a
shady spot with tender green grass.
This archeological
display of a Roman
style bath was along a major road in downtown
Athens. It
was discovered when an air shaft for the subway was being built prior
to the Olympics. Since then it has been carefully
excavated
and a roof built to protect it from the elements. The columns
held a raised floor that allowed heat from fires to pass underneath and
up through channels in the walls. Signs in English, Greek and
other languages explained the various rooms. The tepidarium would have
been pleasantly warm and the caldarium would have been quite hot.
This small chapel was
along a back
road north of Athens. It is quit a bit smaller than you would
guess. The door was only about 4 feet high.
A visitor to this page explained why the small door.
He
said The reason
that the entrance door are very
low in the Greek and Russian orthodox churches build
in the
Middle Ages, it was that the believers as they were entering
the
churches had to "Compulsory
kneeling for
respect to the
sacred place of God".
My
thanks to
you Xenophon.
I was surprised to see
this gentleman
get out of the pickup truck. I don't know for sure but he is
probably a Greek Orthodox priest.
Shopping is another
common activity
and not just for the foreign tourists. You could
find
nearly anything you could think of in one of the
small
shops. This display shows just a few of the hundreds of kinds
and
colors of glass beads that one had for sale. Rugs like these
were
another common item.
We would often see men
with strands
of these amber, metal, glass, or semiprecious stone beads working them
through their fingers. While often called "worry beads" we
were
told that a better translation would be thinking or contemplation
beads.
These Evzones, honor
guards for the Greek unknown soldier, wear their traditional
garb. The first two have on winter uniforms and the other one
we
saw when we returned to Athens later is dressed for summer.
We had a very pleasant
and nearly
private ferry ride to the island of Evias.
Olive trees are
everywhere.
They are all severely pruned so only the trunk gets very
large.
The the first one is nearly two feet in diameter and the second is more than 3.
We learned
that in some cases these trees will survive for more than 400 years.
These kids were playing
football
(soccer) and just hanging out.
This cable stayed bridge
connects
Rion and Antirion across the gulf of Corinth. It was an engineering
challenge if there ever was one. More than 1.5 miles long with
challenges to be considered including a deep soft sea bottom, high
winds, and ship traffic. Tectonic activity makes the
separation
between its ends increase by more than 1 inch per year. That
doesn't sound like much until you realize what that means in terms of
the potential tsunamis and earthquakes.
The Corinth canal is 80
feet wide
with rock walls up to 260 feet high.
The bridge over the
canal provides an
excellent spot for this sport. There were folks lined up that
seemed anxious to try it.
Our bus tour had to move
on so we had
to miss the experience --- Darn it!!
We saw this tapestry in
the Athens
Folk Art Museum that was an easy walk from our hotel. Articles like
this are still being made in some areas.
We were in a small town
for their
independence day celebration. There was a parade through town with the
kids from each class of each school dressed in traditional
clothing. This was followed by speeches by the town's
dignitaries
and then music and dancing.
A couple of pictures of
folks on our
tour, I had challenged these kids with a rope
puzzle. She
was more than a little frustrated when she thought she had the solution
only to discover that it didn't work out the way she thought it
would. The fellow looking on is a music teacher from Hungary
now
living in New Jersey. The last picture is our whole tour
group.
Two of the folks, front row 7 and 8 from the left, have particularly
big smiles. That evening they were to get their
luggage. It
had been lost as they left the US 5 days before.
Some more
pictures from our
Greece and Turkey
trip.
Click on these links
for
Modern
Greece, Ancient Greece, the Greek
Islands, our Greek
Eclipse, Greek
Eclipse Attire, Greek
Flowers, and Turkey.
See
other places we have visited here.
Go
to our Personal
home page
Go to our Community
page
Go
to our Science
Fun page
E-mail Nancy
and
Alan
