Reflections

Here is a bit of a reflection that I wrote for a Fulbright newsletter and shared with the folks back in Iowa. It was posted today in the University of Iowa's online International Accents.

Haircut

Those you who know me probably know that I get my hair cut quite frequently - every two or three weeks.  So, just a few weeks after I first arrived I started looking for a place to get my hair cut.  One night my upstairs neighbor Yanko (who is kind of like the mayor of Asen Zlatarov Street) told me he would take me to a little salon just across the street.  He asked me as best he could how I wanted my hair cut, and then said a word or two to the woman standing over me.  The result was one of the best haircuts I've ever had.

Since then, I go back every two or three weeks.  All but one time, the same woman has cut my hair.  I walk in, we exchange a greeting in Bulgarian, maybe communicate via gestures while she's cutting, and I walk out with a great haircut.  This has happened four or five times now.

Today I went in for a haircut, and while I was sitting there it occurred to me that this would be my last haircut in Bulgaria.  And then it occurred to me that I couldn't even really communicate this to her beyond saying "goodbye" like I do every time.  I felt kind of sad about this.  The best I could do was to give her a pat on the shoulder as I said goodbye this time.  But I think that may have been enough for her to know.

Olympics (Athens, part VI)

Temple of the Olympian Zeus, with the Acropolis
in the background.

Today was my last day in Athens.  After a leisurely breakfast, I got ready and checked out of my room, leaving my bags at the hotel.  I walked first to the Temple of the Olympian Zeus, which is in a level area some distance east of the Acropolis.  Only 16 columns from this temple still stand, but they convey its massive size.  The temple was started by one of the tyrant leaders of Athens, abandoned during democracy, and completed during Roman rule.  It was the largest in Athens. 

From there I walked to the Panathenaic Stadium.  This was the site of the ancient Panathenaic games, which we think of as the original Olympics.  The original stadium on this location fell into disrepair in Christian times, but was restored and rebuilt for the first modern Olympics in 1896. In one of those great sports stories, the marathon was held on the last day of those first modern games, and the first to cross the finish line inside the marble stadium was a Greek runner, who is still celebrated as a national hero.  The stadium is impressive, and has an interesting exhibit on the history of the Olympics.

My late morning and afternoon were spent wandering.  Monday is a common day for museums to be closed, and that was a case with those I was most interested in.  So, I took my time, walked through some side streets, had a nice lunch, and then walked a bit more around the Acropolis area.  Although I had already spent a fair bit of time there, this was the first time I had been there with sunshine and clear skies, and it was worth another look.

Panathenaic Stadium.

The Metro, buses, and rail to the airport all remained closed today do to strikes, so I was planning to take a cab to the airport.  As luck would have it, another guest happened to be departing at about the same time that I returned to the hotel, and we decided it would make sense to share a taxi.  This became even more economical when a third guest overheard us and asked if she could join us.  I enjoyed chatting with both of them, and the trip was fast.  This meant a bit longer at the airport than I expected, but under the circumstances I didn't mind.

The return flight went smoothly.  My taxi ride to the apartment was memorable.  My driver was really friendly and was turned around half the time asking me questions about America in broken English.  We talked about health care and my teaching.  He showed me a picture of his son.

It is good to be home.

Three Degrees of Separation (Athens, part V)

Many of the non-Iowans I know have heard me say that the so-called “seven degrees of separation” tends to be reduced to two or three degrees among Iowans.  I experienced this again on Saturday evening in Athens.  Walking back to my hotel, I noticed a restaurant just around the corner that looked promising.  I looked it up online and found some very positive reviews.  I also learned that it has been owned by the same Greek family for thirty years.

An hour later I went back to the restaurant and was greeted by a woman about my age who spoke very good English.  She asked me if I had walked by earlier, because she remembered my gold and black umbrella.  She explained that they cook a handful of dishes each day from which I could choose.  I walked up to the counter to survey the options, made my choice, and sat down.  While I waited, I overheard her mention to another English-speaking table that she was American.  She came back to my table a bit later and we started chatting.  She asked me where I was from, and after explaining that I was currently teaching in Sofia, I told her that I was from Iowa.  She laughed.  It turns out she is from Fort Madison.  Her parents now live in West Point.  She and her husband operate the restaurant with his parents, who have indeed been serving food in that spot since the 1980s. 

The food, by the way, was excellent and I would recommend the restaurant.  It is called Kati Alo and is located directly behind the Acropolis Museum.  See a review here, halfway down.  I was also very impressed with the food at Tzitsikas & Mermingas (The Cicada and Ant) where I ate with Aias last night, as well as Scholarhio Ouzeri Kouklis which I mentioned I had lunch in a previous post.

Incidentally, it was announced on Sunday that RAGBRAI XLI will end in Fort Madison this year.  I’ve already let the folks at Kati Alo know.

No Sun on Sunday (Athens, part IV)

I woke this morning with no particular agenda.   Over breakfast I considered two possibilities – a trip to the one of the harbor towns on the south edge of Athens, or a visit to the National Archaeological Museum.  Since it was overcast and much cooler today, I chose the latter.  I took the efficient Athens Metro (which is now running except for the airport line) near the museum and walked the last several blocks.

Just before the museum I passed the Polytechnic University.  In 1973, students here protested against the military government that had ruled the country since a coup in 1967.  The protests were brutally repressed, but marked the beginning of the end of the government and a return to democratic rule.

The National Archaeological Museum is quite large and has an impressive collection.  The greatest amount of space is dedicated to classical sculpture, but there are also collections of Mycenaean, Cycladic, and Egyptian antiquities.  There was also a special exhibit of items from a shipwreck off of the island of Antikythera.  The ship, which sank sometime in the 1^st Century BC, contained a number of Greek art works bound for Rome, where they were in high demand. 

After a lunch break at the museum, I returned by Metro to Syntagma Square in the city center.  I walked by the Parliament building and then strolled through the adjacent National Gardens.  This was formerly a royal park and in the early 19^th Century was filled with exotic plants.  It is a lush, dense oasis in the middle of the city.

I then walked west from Syntagma Square through the city center’s pedestrian shopping area.  I popped into two small churches, listened to a busker, and found myself close to the Roman Agora, which I had walked to the day before from the other direction.  So, I decided to double back and complete the final third of the walk around the Acropolis through the Plaka neighborhood. 

This brought me back near my hotel, so I decided to return for a brief rest and a cup of coffee.  When I went back out a short time later it felt even colder and the wind was picking up.  I opted for a return visit to the nearby Acropolis Museum, which was a good decision as I discovered a number of interesting things that I hadn’t noticed, or hadn’t had the context for, on my first visit.

The day before I left Sofia, I ran into one of the Bulgarian judges I know.  We talked about my trip, and he told me he had a friend in Athens who I should meet.  So, after a few e-mails, Aias the Greek maritime lawyer and I made plans to meet for dinner this evening.   It was a fantastic time.  I always enjoy meeting new people, and I really like to meet people from the places I met.  Over five or six courses we discussed all sorts of topics ranging from the pros and cons of solo law practice to the settlement of rural Iowa in the 19^th Century.  After dinner we took a walk and talked some more.  It was a great addition to the weekend, and gave a personal dimension to my impressions of Greece.

The Agora and More-a (Athens, part III)

I woke this morning to partly cloudy skies, and decided that I’d better get moving before the forecasted rain started.  I had breakfast at the hotel, and chatted with a woman who I recognized as being with a large group of students the night before.  She was one of two professors from Whittier College in Los Angeles leading a group of 30 students on a two week tour of classical Greek and Roman sites.  In the course of our conversation, we discovered that she happened to know one of Sara’s colleagues at Coe College.  And later I talked with another person staying here who works at Chico State University, the alma mater of one of my closest friends.  It’s like four degrees of separation at this hotel, college style.

Church near Kerameikos

I left the hotel and walked west toward the main historical areas.  I was tempted to again walk up the Acropolis to see the Parthenon in the morning light, but opted not to when I saw the long lines of tourists walking up to the entrance.  It made me realize just how unique it was the day before when, at the end of the day and with rain not too far off, I was one of perhaps five people on the entire Acropolis.

Instead, I continued along the pedestrian boulevard that skirts the Acropolis and the Agora.  Athens is a busy, sprawling city, and most of the streets I’d been on felt fairly congested.  This walk presented quite a contrast.  On one side is the connected green space of the Acropolis and Agora, and on the other is the park of Philopappou Hill which then gives way to some pretty side streets. 


How awesome would it be to have this for your tombstone?

I first visited the Kerameikos, an archeological area that was home to the ancient city walls and gates.  The road away from the city, the “Sacred Way,” was lined with graves.  A later gate was built for another road which was part of the famous Panathenaic Way, and at one time led to Plato’s Academy.  At that point the sun was out and it was warm enough that I took of my fleece jacket.  After walking through the ruins, I went into the Keramikos Museum.  It was a great little museum filled with tombstones, pottery, and jewelry, some over 3,000 years old.  I think I was the only visitor to the Kerameikos during the hour I spent there.


I next walked to the Agora, the Athenian city center below the Acropolis.  I walked up the hill to the Temple of Hephaistos, a relatively minor temple in its time, but one of the most intact today.  While there aren’t really any other surviving buildings in the Agora, foundation excavations give a pretty good idea of how things were laid out.  I went through their museum, which is located in reconstructed market building from the 1950s, and learned a bit about the Athenian justice system.

 

View of the Agora.

From there, I walked to the ruins of the Library of Hadrian and the Roman Agora.  The latter was the “new” marketplace after Athens fell under Roman rule.  Both sites contained some interesting things.  Most notable was the octagonal Tower of the Winds built in the 1^st Century BC in the Roman Agora. 

By this time it was nearing 1:00 p.m. and I decided a break was in order.  I wandered a bit in the Plaka neighborhood before stumbling on an out of the way place that, interestingly, described itself as “The most traditional family restaurant.”  The menu outside was only in Greek, but I was able to ascertain that the prices seemed reasonable.  The restaurant, called Scholarhio Ouzeri Kouklis, was a good find.  Because I’d had a big breakfast, I only ordered a salad, but I’d be interested to go there again.

After a break, I walked back toward my hotel the long way, counterclockwise around the Acropolis.  Because the lines were shorter, I decided to go up the Acropolis again and have another look.  I’m glad I did, since I learned quite a bit more at the museum last night.  On my way down I took a path that runs past the Theater of Dionysos and almost to my hotel.  I stopped for a look at the theater and, since I was close, decided I’d stop at the hotel for a cup of coffee and to change into boots.

The change was a good idea, as there was a light, but steady, rain when I came out.  My plan was to head up Philopappou Hill.  The views from the top were worth the effort, and I didn’t mind the rain.  I then walked to the Pnyx, where Athenian citizens gathered to vote in the early days of democracy.  By then, the rain was a bit heavier, so I made a retreat to the hotel to relax and regroup before dinner.

Acropolis (Athens, part II)

I arrived at my hotel in Athens a bit before 1:00 p.m. today and was happy to be able to check into my room right away.  While it’s not the newest of places, the hotel is pleasant and is in a great location about five minutes’ walk from the base of the Acropolis.  I dropped my things, changed into tennis shoes, grabbed a quick lunch, and hit the bricks.

With gray skies and rain threatening, I initially thought that my best bet would be to head to a museum for the afternoon.  But as I started walking, it occurred to me that it wasn’t raining yet and I was just minutes away from one of the greatest places in Western civilization.   A quick check of my guide book informed me that the ticket to the main archeological sites is good for four days, which sealed the deal.  I doubled back and walked the short distance to the entrance of the Acropolis.

At the ticket office, I saw something about a student discount and found my NUI Galway student card on the odd chance that it applied to middle-aged Americans.   I was delighted to find out that not only was I entitled to a student discount, I was entitled to free admission because I am a student at an European Union university.  Now that’s a deal. 

As I started up the path, I felt the slightest bit of drizzle and debated opening my umbrella.  As it turned out, it was unnecessary – the rain held off.  However, the Acropolis is a rocky hill, and most everything built on it is marble, including the stairs.  After I slipped on a step and then stepped in a puddle, I realized that I may have been better off leaving my hiking boots on.

The Parthenon. They really loved Athena.

The path up the western approach of the Acropolis takes you above the Odeion of Herodes Atticus, a 2^nd Century AD theater, as well as the Theater of Dionysos from the 5^th Century BC.  You pass through a fortified gateway, and then walk up the stairs of the Propylaea, the grand entrance to the sacred hill.  And then, there it is in front of you on the rock: the Parthenon.  A building that is immediately familiar even though you’ve never been anywhere near it.  You think about just how familiar it is – because of all of the monuments, courthouses, libraries, and government buildings that have the same lines, the same columns.  And this is what started it 2,500 years ago.

 

View of the Agora from the Acropolis.

Right now, there is a lot of restoration work underway, so the entire western half of the Parthenon is filled with beams and scaffold and cables.  And the building itself is pretty skeletal – it has been repurposed, blown up, and large chunks carted off – but is still very, very impressive.  I walked around it counterclockwise, enjoying the views off to the south.  I took most of my photos from the east end, since it is currently less impacted by the restoration work.  On the north side is the Erechtheion, a smaller temple that marks the holy spot where Athena planted an olive tree.  The north side of the Acropolis provides great views of the Agora, the commercial center of ancient Athens.

I walked back down the hill and over to a smaller rock outcropping, the Areios Pagos.  This was the site of the first aristocratic assemblies in Athens, before they invented democracy.  It was also the seat of their court of justice.  And apparently someone named Paul used to talk to Athenians about a new religion from this point.

The wind had been picking up throughout this time, and I decided that I had probably pressed my luck far enough.  In any event, it was already after 3:00 and most of the outdoor sites were closing.  So, I walked back toward my hotel and the new Acropolis Museum.  Once again, my NUIG Cárta Aitheantais Mic Léinn did the trick.

This museum, which opened in 2009, is spectacular.  Architecturally, it is fantastic.  It was built over an early Christian settlement, which has been excavated and is visible through the glass floors of the museum.   This provides some great views as you stroll through the first floor galleries.  (But when you are on the fourth floor and realize you can still see all the way down through the glass floor, it throws you off a bit.)

The fourth floor is set at a 23 degree angle from the floors below to provide an optimal view of the Parthenon on the hill just to the north.  The fourth floor consists of an interior rectangle surrounded by columns, all matching the exact measurements of the ancient building above.  The walls hold the friezes that have been recovered and reconstructed from the matching interior walls of the Parthenon, while the columns hold the reliefs from the outer edge.  At either end are the pediment sculptures. 

The museum’s collection is quite impressive.  On the fourth floor, where the original reliefs are not present, replicas take their place.  But if they don’t have the originals, how did they know what to make the replicas look like?   And why is every other place occupied by a replica that is labeled with “(BM)”?  Well, as some of you may know, much of the Parthenon was carted off to London in the late 19^th Century by the British Ambassador to Greece, and now resides in the British Museum (BM).  Apparently the Greek government has been working for years to get these pieces back.  But what I found interesting is that part of the (BM)’s objection to a return was always that the Greeks didn’t have adequate facilities to store and display these treasures.  And that, my friends, is part of what motivated the construction of a new museum, complete with conspicuous gaps in the original works reminding us those originals are someplace called (BM).

I won’t take sides on who has the stronger legal or moral argument, but having seen both museums, the Acropolis Museum certainly has an edge in terms of its exhibition capacity.

Just a short time after I arrived at the museum, I heard thunder.  Heavy rain started soon after.  I had a nice salad and a pot of tea in the third floor restaurant as I watched the storm.  By the time I left, the rain had stopped, but resumed later this evening.  Hopefully, there will be some clear skies tomorrow.  But even with rain the trip seems off to a good start.