Yesterday we went for a long walk down towards the south side of the acropolis.





We went by the Temple of the Olympian Zeus, a huge place, 110 m. x 44 m. - the largest Corintian order marble temple in Greece, but not very well developed from a signage and touristic point of view. Only of few of the columns remain standing. The thing was under construction from the Archaic period to the Roman period - some six hundred years.





Originally it had had Ionic capitals, but some Roman re-builder changed them over for Corinthians.

By the end of the walk we made it all the way around the Acropolis, stopping for lunch in Plaka on the way back. About a four hour walk. That was nice. Patrick and Charlotte won't often tolerate such a long walk.

There's a very good archaeological guide book to Athens, Attica and the Megarid by an archaeologist Hans Rupprecht Goette which we don't have yet. For those reading this who wish to look a little further (and maybe prepare yourselves for coming to visit?), the American School has put more than a score of short guide books and Athenian Agora Picture Books online free of charge!

Saturday was a kind of a gloomy cold day, so we didn't do much - except to shop - almost everything in Athens is closed on Sunday, and because of the Friday holiday, eveything was closed thenn too, so we had not shopped at the Friday market as usual either.



Patrick and Charlotte enjoyed the Mr. Man books sent by Granny!

Friday was the national holiday, and we figured out that there was a parade. We were (sort of) hoping for tanks and such, but it was almost all schools, cub/boy scouts and police/firemen bands.
Very enjoyable nonetheless. Lots of colorful villagy costumes.

Yes, in the First Cemetery of Athens, which we walked around last week there is one (I think we only found one) Egyptianizing tomb - it is not a particularly distinguished monument - but it is the tomb of the Cleopatra family - see? it says it right over the door! If anyone wants a better photo than what we are serving here, just ask!

It's hard to give a good impression of the view of the mountain and the big sky from our terrace. Sunday, Barney's (and Sybil's) birthday, was a bright and cool and sunny day. So I got a clear picture and this fake wide angle view, if you click on it to load the big version, might help.

Όχι "Ohi" Day or "No" Day

Tomorrow, October 28th is Όχι "Ohi" Day or "No" Day, a national holiday. In 1940 Mussolini issued an ultimatum to Prime Minister Metaxas demanding free Italian passage through Greece. Metaxas' response was "Ohi" which led to the subsequent battle and eventual defeat of the invading Italian army in 1940. Today, Ohi Day is celebrated with remembrance services, military parades, folk dancing, and feasting.

Already there are flags flying everywhere. We're told there will be a student parade at Syntagma, but that the big military parade is in Thessaloniki.

Last weekend we took a nice long walk in the First Cemetery of Athens, where all the importan modern people are buried.

People such as the archaeologists Heinrich Schliemann and Adolf Furtwangler.

Of course we found the Egyptianizing mausoleum of the Kleopatras family. As soon as I remember to bring in the camera, I'll post a photo of that one.

For reasons completely unconnected with the Oriental Institute, I today ordered myself a tee-shirt with this picture on it. I had been meaning to do this for years, and now I've done it!



There's another picture on the back.

Last week, in celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the Australian Institute in Athens, they had a reception and symposium. On Monday we hosted a visit of Australian dignitaries at the American School. This is me preparing to hold forth to them on the Blegen Library.



This is me actually holding forth to them in the Blegen Library. The delegation included the governor of New South Wales, Prof. Marie Bashir and her husband Sir Nicholas and Paul Tighe, Australian Ambassador, and many others.

Athens is the grafitti capital of the world. Virtually every available space on the lower levels of buildings is covered with the stuff. Most of it is indecipherable to me (so far), though there is a lot of smurf-anarchist, and anti-Nazi-Skinhead stuff, and football related: "Gate 7", "Gate 13". Some day Alex will tell the tale of her experience with Gate 13.



This sentiment is just around the corner from our flat. We wonder what the hell it means!?!?! I googled it, and that's no help. Maybe it is an anti Led Zeppelin society? Maybe an advertisement for an amusement park ride based on the Hindenburg disaster?




On Sunday we took a walk to Karemeikos. Just northwest of the Acropolis, it includes an extensive area both within and outside of the ancinet city walls. The inner Kerameikos (from the Greek Agora to the Dipylon and Sacred Gates) was the potter's quarter of the city. The outer Kerameikos (from the city walls towards the Academy), includes the famous cemetery and the place where Pericles delivered his funeral oration in 431.




Is is a very pleasant place. We were there in the late afternoon, and practically had the place to ourselves. Is is below the modern grade of Athens and surrounded by pedestrianized streets, and this tends to filter out the visual and auditory interference of the modern city. You almost feel as though you are out in the countryside. Here are a couple of pix of us with funerary monuments.



The high tourist season is over, and it makes it a bit more pleasant, because less crowded and frenetic in the center of Athens. The weather has turned cool and it is reallly very pleasant.



Last week we finally got more bookshelves, so we've been moving things around. Two existing bookshelved have migrated to our bedroom.

Alex began her modern Greek class at the University of Athens. She has learned a huge amount already. I am impressed!