Final Reflections on Greece

So, we have been home now almost 48 hours from Greece, and I have been thinking a lot about this trip. I have been lucky enough to have visited several different countries over the past 12 years -- Ireland, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Turkey, Austria, Canada and Greece, but Greece affected me differently than many of the other countries I have visited to date.

I was not sure what to expect with this trip. A week before we left, the public and private labor unions in Greece called for a nationwide strike on the third day of our visit, and we were warned that violence could occur. Some riots broke out, but the violence was not the problem for us. What affected us more was the impact of the strikes on our ability to see some of the sights. Our tour guide was incredibly candid in sharing with us the perception of many Greeks that unionized workers had unrealistic expectations for what benefits and working conditions should be provided them, especially in light of the incredibly unstable economic conditions in Greece. There seemed to be a widespread sense of disgust among non-unionized Greeks with the demands of striking union workers. Ironically, though, these same people who thought the striking union workers were being unreasonable and not helping the Greek economy were often the same people who closed their businesses for 1-2 hours each afternoon for siesta (afternoon rest). These siesta closures often occurred even in shops and restaurants in tourist areas around hotels. Many of us found it ironic that during hours when many tourists might seek to shop or buy something to eat or drink, it was often very difficult to do so because everything was closed for siesta. Many of our students (who are NOT business majors) noted that these closures seemed illogical for people living in an economy needing stimulation.
When many of these business were open, the shop keepers often were very surly if we failed to pay for things in exact change. We also found that they would double the price of items if we asked to pay with credit cards. What we learned was that many Greeks do not like to report income on their taxes (probably another reason their economy is in trouble!), so they prefer to get payments in cash so they don't have to report all of their income for tax purposes. Again, many of the the students seem to notice that while many merchants may have provided their customers with the incentive to pay cash, some merchants actually missed out on sales because when purchasers did not have cash on hand and were unwilling to pay with credit cards because of the jacked-up prices, no sale occurred.

We also noticed that because the tip was included in the price of items at restaurants, servers were generally not very interested in serving. When our drinks ran dry, it frequently took an act of God to attract a server's attention to get another drink. I learned a trick. Servers find it outrageously offensive when customers prop their feet up on another chair at the table. They will scamper over immediately to demand that you put your feet back on the ground. IMMEDIATELY! So, whenever we needed something at our table, I just propped my feet up on a chair, and when the server scrambled over to demand that I put my feet down, we would tell him what we needed. Worked like a charm.

The Athens Airport was most interesting. When we began our 28-hour trip home, we flew from Crete to Athens. That means we went through airport security in the Crete Airport. When we arrived in Athens, we had several hours before our flight to JFK, so we wandered around the main concourse of the Athens Airport. Like most airports, the Athens Airport has shopping and Duty-Free stores, but unlike many airports, you have to go through these mini-security checkpoints as you shop. You have to go through these gates and show your passport despite already having gone through security. You could buy food, drink, perfume, etc., but if you go to your gate after these purchases, you have to go through security AGAIN, and the security people will make you dispose of these food, drink, liquid, gels, or anything else you bought in the airport that is not allowed through security. Completely illogical. Moroever, even though we got all of our boarding passes in Crete, the lady at the gate in Athens made us get new boarding passes in Athens. I decided after all of this that if the Greek government is run like the Athens Airport then it is no wonder they have problems.

Now, lest you think that all of my observations of Greece were negative, let me share some of the really fantastic impressions I have about Greece. First, Greece legislates how much feta cheese must be included in every Greek salad, otherwise it cannot be called a Greek salad. You gotta love a country that legislates the quantity of cheese that must be included in a salad! The Greeks also make great cheese pie. I had never heard of nor tasted cheese pie before, but it is lovely, and it combines two of my favorite things -- cheese and pie!

The country's commitment to the preservation and restoration of its many historical landmarks is commendable. Moreover, it is impressive that Athens has been able to create any meaningful subway system when you consider all of the archaeological ruins that it probably had to navigate to develop such a sytem. Something several of us found intriguing about Greek culture is that people in Greece do NOT celebrate birthdays -- instead they celebrate their name day of the saint with the same name. Greece enjoys over 250 days of sunshine each year -- that is lots of sun! Greece is also the 3rd ranking producer of olives in the world -- gotta love a country that produces so many olives -- green, black, purple, etc.

Okay, that is enough. Not sure where I will be going next (except for a wedding in Wilmington, Delaware later this summer). Would LOVE to visit India, Egypt, Poland, Russia, England, Iceland, Finalnd, and Kenya, to name a few. Whether I will ever get to some of these places remains to be seen, but I would encourage anyone reading this who has yet to travel outside the U.S. to do it!

Exploring Crete

Our tour guide from Crete, who appears to go by the singular name of Vangelis, arrived promptply at 9am this morning to take us to Knossos. The Palace of Knossos is one of four Minoan Palaces on Crete that remain from the Minoan Civilization. The Minoans lived during the Bronze Age from about the 27th century B.C. until about the 15th century B.C. They were a very advanced civiliation for their time. They had paved roads, a system of plumbing and irrigation, a well-organization agricultural plan, and a strong navy (which is probably why they were never colonized by the Greeks.)
Among the most interesting rituals the Minoans observed (beyond choosing to worship goddesses instead of male gods), was the Minoan Bull Dance. During this ritual dance, the participants would take an acrobatic leap over a bull, grasp the bull's horns, and the bull would violently jerk his neck upwards thus giving the participant the momentum necessary to perform all sorts of acrobatic tricks and stunts. It is believed that many Minoan young men had to participate in this ritual to prove they were ready to enter into manhood.
In 1450 B.C. it is believed that much of the advancement and growth of Minoan civilization on Crete began to dminish when a major earthquake occurred. Many of the Minoan palaces were heavily damaged, although much of the Palace of Knossos remained intact.
After our visit to the remains of the Knossos Palace, we visited a gallery of the Archaeological Museum that exhibits some of the most important artifacts from the Minoan Palaces. I have included photos of some of those artifacts with this post.
Many of the folks from the group have left for dinner. Tony and I are having dinner here at the hotel, and many of the students are playing cards here in the lobby and planning to have gyros or pizza for dinner. We have to leave at 5:30 am in the morning to fly back to Athens to catch our flight back to the states. We have learned SO MUCH on this trip, and I think this trip has really made an inpact on many of the students.
As I have done in the past, I will do my lists.
5 things I will miss about Greece:
1. The gorgeous color of the sea
2. The Greek salads (especially the Feta!)
3. Mythos Beer
4. Watching people argue politics in the coffee shops
5. Watching history blend with today in one city

5 things I will not miss about Greece:
1. The frequent worry that I will be hit by a car or motorcycle everytime I cross a street
2. The way servers in restaurants practically ignore you (unless you put your feet on a chair, and then they run over and scream at you!)
3. The merchants double the prices of things if you use a credit card
4. The terrible sewage system
5. All of the cigarette smoke

Crete

Not much to tell tonight as we are going to sleep very soon. Just wanted to let you all know that we arrived in Heraklion, Crete, safely tonight after a 6 1/2 -- hour ferry ride. I have included a photo of the SuperFast Ferry with this post. The ferry had multiple levels, restaurants, bars, game rooms, and more. Tony and enjoyed several drinks from the bar and dinner as we watched the sun set over the water and some of the smaller Greek Islands. It was gorgeous and quite relaxing. Many of the students relaxed and played cards in one of the smaller lounges, and seemed to have a great time. We have a long day ahead of us here in Heraklion, Crete, so we will post more tomorrow.

Joanie

An Ambitious Agenda in Athens

Tony and I planned a long day of activities today, and I think most were skeptical that we would conquer our list of visits, but we did that and more. The morning began with an adventurous ride on the Metro to Ancient Greek Agora. We were amused that while we waited on one of our Metro trains, the music playing in the Metro station was from the movie "The Godfather." It struck as funny. Anyway, we got off the train and hoofed it to the Ancient Greek Agora.

The Ancient Greek Agora was once the center of Athenian government. An "agora" is a central marketplace. [This is why the term "agoraphobia" means fear of going out in public or fear of public places, because an agora is the "public place."] The ancient agora in Athens includes a drainage system, fountains, and temples to Olympian gods, including the Temple of Hephaestus (also known as the Hephaisteion), which is considered the best-preserved ancient Greek temple. From the 7th century until 1834 this temple served as the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George Akamates. I have included a photo.

After hiking through the Ancient Greek Agora (which was huge), we moved on to find the Pnyx, which is one of three hills in the middle of Athens that was the meeting place of the one of the world's earliest known democratic legislatures, the Athenian assembly. The Pnyx has a flat stone which was the speaker's platform, and many consider the Pnyx to be a physical representation of the idea that every citizen has an equal right to debate matters of public policy. The Pnyx was used for popular assemblies as early as 507 B.C., and Pericles, Aristides, and Alcibiades all spoke here, within sight of the Parthenon.

After the Pnyx, we hiked further to find the Prison of Scorates. If you recall, Socrates was found guilty of impiety and corrupting the youth of Athens. As he is led off to jail, he said: "The hour of departure has arrived, and we go our ways--I to die, and you to live. Which to the better fate is known only to God." Many attribute this last quote to Plato and not to Socrates -- who knows? He spent his final hours in the jail cell that we found today, and he was executed with hemlock -- dying painfully as the hemlock slowly shut down his central nervous system. I have included a photo of me outsie the jail cell.


After the jail cell, we found the Arch of Hadrian and the Temple of Olympian Zeus. The Arch was supposedly built to celebrate the arrival of the Roman Emperor Hadrian in Athens around 131 0r 132 AD. The Temple of Olympian Zeusis enormous. It is a temple in the middle of Athens that was dedicated to Zeus, king of the Olympian gods. Construction of the temple began around the 6th centry B.C. but was not completed until the 2nd century AD. I have included a photo of this temple, too.


After the Temple of Olympian Zeus, we found the Panathinaiko Stadium, of the Olympic Stadium of 1896. The first International Olympic Games of the Modern Era were held here. Tony ran a lap around the track, and I sat in the throne seat where Queen Amalia would watch the games. Quite a thrill, I must say. I have included a photo of one of us on the medal stand.

We did LOTS of walking today, gots lots of sun, ate some fried feta and some gelato and had a wonderful day. I will share with you several things I have learned while I have been in Greece:

1. Greek salads are so much better without lettuce.

2. If you do not pay for things with exact change, merchants are likely to scream at you.

3. Traffic is like a big, scary game of "Chicken."

4. Many men here do not seem to realize that heavy cologne does not mask body odor, it just smells like heavy cologne on top of body odor.

5. Fried Feta is to die for.

6. If you look remotely like a tourist, all sorts of people will try to sell you crap.

7. Accordion players fight for street corners almost as hard as drug dealers.

8. Since the gratuity is already factored into the price of things, waiters are seldom in a hurry.

9. If you use a public toilet in Greece, you would be wise to bring your own toilet paper. Seriously.

10. If you smile a lot, people automatically know you're American. Apparently, we smile more than anyone. Go figure.

We have loved hearing from home. Ruthie, I know you cannot read, but Mommy and Daddy miss you bunches.

Joanie

More From Athens

Sunday in Athens was a free day for the group. Tony and started the day with Latin Mass at on the few Catholic Churches in Athens -- the Cathedral of St. Dionysus (St. Dennis). It was standing-room-only inside the church. I could not believe it. Since I am still weak from this respiratory infection that I have picked up over here, we stopped at a cafe for some drinks after Mass, and then headed for the National Historical Museum.
The Museum is housed in the Old Parliament Building, which was founded in 1835 by Queen Amalia. The Old Parliament Building was home to the Greek Parliament from 1875 to 1935. In earlier times it was the home of King Otto.
The exhibits in the National Historical Museum cover Greek History from the fall of Constantinople until World War II. Among the exhibits we saw were:
* The reign of Otto, first King of Greece (1833-1862)
* The reign of King George (1864-1930)
* The Balkan Wars (1912-1913)
* The Asia Minor Campaign (1919-1922)
* The Greek-Italian War of 1940-1941
We arrived just as some sort of fund-raising event appeared to be ending so there were several rooms open that apparently are not ordinarily open, so I had a chance to sneak in and see exhibits that are not normally open to the public. It was awesome!
After the that leisurely stroll through the museum, my sick and tired self could take no more, so we caught the next shuttle back to the hotel, and I took a nap.
Dr. O'Dea and Debbie Bell had worked with the travel agency to arrange an extra free dinner at the hotel last night to compensate us for all the travel snafus we have had to endure. So the students were able to enjoy a very nice buffet dinner at the hotel last for free.
Tony and I are heading out soon to see many sights southwest of the Acropolis. The students are doing a variety of things today -- the Archaeological Museum, the Flea Market, the Agora, the beach, shopping, etc. Everyone is still having a good time, and we leave for Crete tomorrow.
Hope you all enjoyed Tony's post!
Joanie