Athens, Greece

The Odeon on the southwest slope of the acropolis in Athens was built in the 2nd century and continues to host performances today. The 2nd-century Greek geographer Pausanias called it the finest building of its type. Pausanias traveled extensively and wrote a geography of Greece that is still used by archaeologists. [2006]

Athens, Greece

 

Greece has about 30 Starbucks per 10 million inhabitants. Compare that to Italy with its 2 per 10 million, and with the UK with its 111 per 10 million. Clearly, there is dramatic spatial variation in the distribution of Starbucks across Europe. Why? Look for explanations in the realms of economic, cultural, social, political, and environmental geography. [2006]

Athens, Greece

Flags come out on national holidays. In Greece, that means Independence Day. In fact, the Greek blue-white goes back to the War of Greek Independence (from the Ottoman Empire) in the 1820s. The cross represents Greek Orthodox Christianity: for sure. The stripes represent the nine Muses: not for sure. [2006]

Piraeus, Greece

Telamons: male figures that serve as columns. Since these four are in the heart of Greece, however, we ought to call them by their Greek name: atlantes, the singular of which is atlas. Remember Atlas? From his perch in the far west, he supported the whole sky on his shoulders (though he is usually pictured as holding up the spherical earth). [2006]

Aegina Island, Greece

Need a definition of 'pre-industrial'? Here it is. It seems like what pre-dated the fossil fuel era is now a fossil of its own. But not really, for these visual reminders of the past have been re-purposed for tourism. There are hundreds of mills like this across the Greek Aegean. [2004]

Aegina Island, Greece

Windmills built for milling wheat.
As scenic icons: can't be beat.
One down low and one up high,
Both turned toward the northern sky.
For from the north, etesians blow,
Sometimes strong and sometimes slow.
Enough to make the millstones grind,
But, now, alas, realigned
To catch the eyes of tourist hoards
Who seek rewards in landscapes scenic.
As antidotes to lives anemic.
[2004]

Athens, Greece

Whose voices are heard? Whose voices are unheard? Television stations make choices like these every day. Typically, though, they go with titles and uniforms, which always seem to add authority to authoritative comments. [2006]

Athens, Greece

The United States could have more compact cities, too, if everyone switched to motorbikes. Instead, as families have gotten smaller, automobiles have gotten bigger. We now supersize our cars instead of our families, all the while claiming that it is too expensive to have more kids. [2006]

Athens, Greece

The Parthenon was built 2500 years ago, but it still commands the world's envy. As a definition of Western civilization, it has been replicated again and again on every inhabited continent. That diffusionary process began with Alexander the Great. Albeit from Macedonia, he loved (and spread) the culture of the Hellenes. [2006]

Piraeus, Greece

Mullets eat detritus. Bigger and fleshier species eat mullets. Consequently, mullets make good bait fish. They may be found on every wharf and pier in Greece. [2005]

Piraeus, Greece

The setting is Greek; the chain is American; the seats are empty; and the waiter is bored. Is the price too high? Is the food too salty? Is the table too small? Is the name too English? [2006]

Piraeus, Greece

"I believe I can fly, I believe I can touch the sky, I think about it every night and day, spread my wings and fly away." So sayeth R Kelly and every skateboarder in the world. [2006]

Athens, Greece

There are four clans in the family of crosses: cruces quadratae, cruces immissae, cruces decussatae, and cruces commissae. The world knows the crux quadrata as a Greek cross. On the Hellenic Republic's flag, it symbolizes identity with the Greek Orthodox Church. [2006]

Piraeus, Greece

Don't dismiss scenes like this as ordinary. Repairing the nets on fishing boats has been going on in Piraeus's harbor for at least 2,500 years. How many cities have industries that have lasted that long?  Every morning, the Saronic Gulf beckons; every evening the catch is served in harborside tavernas. [2006]

Athens, Greece

Interpretation of the moment: Greece is getting ready for the Olympics and improving its infrastructure. Good. Interpretation of the decade: Greece spent so much money on the Olympics, and the sovereign debt crisis was the result. Bad. Interpretation of the century: Stick around and find out. Good or bad? [2004]

Athens, Greece

Looks like fun, doesn't it? And, who can say they've had a view of the Parthenon from that vantage point? The years leading up to the 2004 Olympics meant that Greece had to catch up with a lot of deferred maintenance. [2001]

Athens, Greece

All over the world (Middle East excepted!) hogs from Epicurus' herd are for sale. This one is looking for a buyer at Athens' Central Market. What friends pigs have been to the human family: They are food factories on cloven hoofs. No part should go to waste, not even the snout. [2005]

Aegina Island, Greece

Far more important than the island of Aegina is the body of water in which it is located: the Saronic Gulf. World history was forged here. If the gulf had gone to the Persians in the Battle of Salamis, 'western civilization' wouldn't be so western. Fortunately, the Greeks won and the Age of Pericles followed. [2004]

Athens, Greece

Street vendors congregate outside market places all over the world, at least until governments intervene to stop them. From the nearby countryside (Von Thunen's inner ring), they pack their morning's harvest into a bag and haul off for the city. He can't live too far away, can he? Otherwise, his greens would wilt. [2005]

Athens, Greece

Creative thinking is about conceptualizing alternatives: exactly what these strong-headed women atop the Acropolis have been helping us do for millennia. Their message to 'chief builders': Functional alternatives to pillars can also be aesthetic. A caryatid is a feminine statue which doubles as a column, in this case holding up the Porch of the Maidens. [2006]