By the Beautiful Sea (wellll, actually a bay, but let's not get technical)

Alexis and Christina took us out for a special treat, seafood by the sea!  This area is called Halkida, and is about an hour's drive north of Athens.  This is where Christina's family came from and where she and Alexis had hoped to build a summer house.  They got a lot of it built before the financial crisis hit--The two-story structure and all the rooms are there, but no windows, doors, electrical, or plumbing.  It's unclear that it will ever be finished.  It's on a hill with a breathtakingly beautiful view of the Bay Evvoikos.

After we walked around the property, we went to a restaurant about 20' from the water.  But that wasn't close enough for us (lol) , so we asked them to set up our table where there was nothing but a railing between us and the bay.  People usually use this in warmer weather, though it was quite warm enough.  But there was quite a wind blowing and the waiter had to clip the tablecloth to the table to keep it from blowing away.

Then we went back in the restaurant to order the fish--one does not simply order from the menu!  The proprietor took us all back into the kitchen, pulled out the recent catch, and allowed us to choose the specific fish we wanted them to cook! (They apologized for having such a limited selection, because it had turned very windy and the boats could not stay out!)

They soon brought the meal out to us--first the appetizers (though truth to tell, that would have been enough!) 

That was followed by the gorgeous main dish.  It was the most delicate, delicious, and sweetest fish I have ever had.  And there was nothing on it--just lightly brushed with olive oil to keep it from sticking to the grill.  But it really had been swimming only hours before we ate it.   

And except for the coffees at another cafe (described in a PS at the end of the next blog) that was the end of our meal--and a most wonderful day by the sea.

Economic Woes (but not necessarily for everyone)

 After talking to several people about the tax system in Greece, I (Ken) have come to the conclusion that it is actually an exaggeration to call it a "system."  Only one person in my family (remember, I have 10 siblings and 29 nephews and nieces) has had has had a personal experience with fighting the IRS, and it wasn't fun. (Not because he did anything wrong, but he was a financial officer in a firm that went under.)  But, overall, I don't hear very many horror stories about the tax system in the U.S.  I have had no personal run-in with the IRS or occasion to feel like I was being treated arbitrarily.  But this sort of arbitrariness/randomness seems to happen as a matter of course here.

Actually, the "information" we have been getting leaves us pretty confused, but I also gather that many Greeks feel the same way.  We've already mentioned that one way for a merchant to avoid the 23% value added tax (only 13% for foodstuffs) is for him to sell you something without a receipt.  And that many Greeks with swimming pools built them without paying the required taxes or permit fees and when the government began to crack down using aerial surveillance, many bought camouflage covers instead of fessing up and paying what they owed.  

We've also learned that under pressure from the "Troika" (European Commission, IMF, and European Central Bank), the Greek government and/or bureaucracy is trying desperately to come up with new sources of revenue to meet the requirements for keeping the bailout funds coming.  I often hear news stories that seem to be about tax changes, though I can't understand enough to be sure.  But one friend (A.) confirms that the rules change frequently (mostly new or additional taxes on businesses and property, I believe).  A. says that though he pays his income taxes--because he is unwilling to risk the  consequences, even though they might not happen for a long time, he knows many people who simply don't pay.  Either they don't think there is much risk of discovery or they don't think the consequences will be significant. 

These are not marginal people but middle-class professional types.  If the tax system does catch up with you, there seems to be some very arbitrary decision-making about whether you really must pay all that you owe, depending perhaps on the bureaucrat's sense of whether you have any ability to pay (They may be "arbitrary," but not "heartless"!  :) )  A. says that the crisis has gutted the poor and is now working it's way up through the middle- to perhaps even the upper-middle class (I didn't get the distinctions clear, and am interpreting somewhat).

The other day, I talked to a young woman (Sandy, age 24) who does manicures.  She has been attending a University, trying to get a degree in Marketing and Economics.  The public universities here are free (tuition, that is; students still have to provide the necessities of life for themselves--lodging, food, etc.--as well as books, etc.).  However, financial pinch is affecting the universities as well and the government doesn't feel they can solve the problem by starting to charge tuition.  

If Sandy is typical, they are right. (She works 60 hours a week for what we think is about 600 euros a month, based on what other people have told us about salaries.) It is hard for her even to find the time to take classes, so she has been going for several years.  But, Sandy also explained, the currently revised master plan of education calls for shutting down her university to save money (it's a smallish one).  If that happens, she won't be able to attend another university because the free tuition is only for students who start at a particular U. before they turn 25, and she will turn 25 very soon.  

On the other hand, I've been meeting a mature woman once a week who helps me with Greek and whom I help with English.  Her family owns a business that sells high-end watches, jewelry, accessories, etc., both online and brick-and-mortar.  They have 17 employees.  She says that business has decreased, but that they are managing just fine.  Particularly telling is that they have not had to lay off any employees.  So, it seems that people with significant money are still doing OK.  Sound familiar?  

Other evidence of the doing-ok folks: The first evening she and I got together we met at a cafe in a decent part of town, but not fancy by American or Greek standards, I believe.  I ordered a nice cup of hot chocolate, even though I was a bit surprised to see Starbuck's + prices (about 6 euros for the slightly larger-than-average mug!)  And the cafe was full.  (Chicken-and-egg question: Do the restaurants charge high prices for drinks because they know people are going to order one round and sit for a long time, or does the causal arrow point in the other direction?  I don't know.)

PS From Kathleen. As mentioned in the previous blog,  after our lovely dinner, we went to a cafe for after-dinner coffee.  The place was jumping--full of young people, noise, and cigarette smoke (though it is technically illegal for people to smoke inside any public establishment, like so much else in Greece, it's more of a suggestion than an imperative).  I did a quick scan of the scene.

Most surprising of all, our hosts told us, all these young folks--fairly upper class, given the charge for coffee and drinks--are jobless and probably living with their parents, again.  (There's over 50% youth unemployment, even among college graduates.)  They have nothing to do, so they spend their days, nights, and their parents' money living the good life.  

Diff'rent Strokes . . .

Sexual mores are obviously very culture-bound.  So one readily notices things that seem "different."  For example, coming from the land of the Ken-doll (Barbie's "significant other," not Ken Miller!) we were surprised to see that male mannequins in store windows are anatomically correct!  This one is just a boy--there weren't any grown men in this particular window, but we did wonder what that might look like. Of course, given how much classical male statuary one sees, perhaps this is unsurprising.    (Sorry about the reflection of the street--no way to eliminate it when shooting through the glass.)

Ken and I found ourselves laughing uproariously at this display outside a shop advertising erotica.  The two suits of armor are held in place with chains--literally!  Brings a whole new meaning to the term "bondage."  (The chairs in the foreground have nothing to do with anything--they were just in the way of the photo.)

And then there's the latest fashion in suggestive underwear and CFM shoes.  (Ken didn't know what CFM meant...neither did I, until I heard it from my daughters a few years ago.)  In case it isn't entirely clear from the photo, these shoes have about 8" heels, because the sole of the shoe is built up about 3".  I guess these are dominatrix shoes?  

Also not entirely clear in the photo is that the male mannequin is wearing something like a thong, except instead of a single "butt thread" (also a term I learned from the younger set), these "underpants" have what amounts to a codpiece in front and two thin strips of cloth or elastic that hold it in place around the waist and legs.  What looks like a pair of lips on his left cheek is actually on the mannequin, itself.  There's no cloth between the elastic around the waist and around the legs.  Am I revealing a hopeless lack of knowledge about current male fashion by being surprised at this?  It looks awfully drafty to me.

Oh yeah, and on the female mannequin, the "lingerie" which one would hope was black satin is actually  leather (what else!?).  Near as we could tell, this store, in a typical tourist neighborhood, was a somewhat harder-edged version of "Frederick's of Hollywood"--but not nearly as edgy as displays I've seen in the Frankfort airport. As I said, diff'rent strokes . . . . (no pun intended).

Just Don't Call Him "Baglama"

If you have been faithfully keeping up with our blog, you know that Ken bought a small bouzouki-like instrument called a "baglama,"  which has the advantage of being easy to carry to and from his music lessons.  

He hasn't yet given up on the mandolin, either, which he brought with us to Greece.  Greeks LOVE the fact that he wants to learn "old style" Greek folk music.  It's called "rebetiko" or "rembetiko" and some aspects of its history are similar to the birth of the "blues." (In some ways, rebetiko is comparable to the "old timey" American music with which Ken most closely identifies as a musician--i.e. not the prettified tunes that make their way into the commercial mainstream, but rather more "down home" music.  There's even the similarity that both experienced a "folk revival" among younger musicians during the 1960s and 1970s.)

We found out only today, however, that it is insulting to refer to a person as a baglama.  (It's like saying, "he's a dumb oaf.")

Meanwhile, here's Ken trying out his Greek music chops (on the mandolin--the baglama isn't ready for prime time) with a very serious and accomplished musician (the guy in drag). This happened to be the day in anticipation of Easter--somewhat like Mardi Gras--that Greeks dress up in costumes.  

This event was in a taverna full of people who had come to celebrate the day and listen to the music.  Greeks don't consider that a reason to stop talking or eating, however.  The most important thing, our host explained, is what happens between people.  The music is there to be enjoyed, but not to the extent of treating it like a performance--except that people do applaud at the end of each number, while also still talking, eating, and drinking.

The person in the middle is a woman (and the major singer of the group)  Not everyone cross-dresses--we also saw pirates, bunnies, hobos, etc.

And here's live action of that day.  Ken is gamely trying to keep up with a tune he's never heard before by watching the fingering of the guitarist next to him and "translating" that to what he needs to play on the mandolin.

Stunning archeology, redux

There's just TOO MUCH gorgeous stuff....I thought I could get it into two posts (not hardly)!

So here's some later pieces than the Mycean funerary items, but at the moment, neither Ken nor I can remember which era.  We'll probably go to that museum again--if we do, I'll update this blog with better information.  For now, just feast your eyes!

This astonishing "jug" is 1.5" high!

The largest of these is about the diameter of a half-dollar!

I included the smaller picture with my thumb pressed against the glass to try to give you a sense of scale.  The diameter of these earrings from top to bottom, including the ear-hooks, is about the same as a quarter--and look at the exquisite detail of the winged horse!!

 

 

 

<--This is also a miniature--about the size of an egg.  There was no way to avoid the reflection of the lights in the room, unfortunately, which makes it a bit difficult to see the incredible detail in the decoration.

This was described as a "ring"--but since the central shield-like circle (not including the hanging chains) is about the size of a saucer, we think it was a bad translation.  This is not flat, by the way.  The sculptured head and bust of the woman stick out from the backdrop.

Maybe it's not just the Mediterranean diet . . .

. . . that makes people so healthy, though that's pretty wonderful, too.  We recently had a fantastic dinner with colleagues (dark-haired Piera, who teaches at Hellenic Open University and is finishing her PhD in Adult Education this summer; her husband Angelos, who prepared most of the meal, and our friend, Dimitra, who has been so unfailingly helpful to us throughout this experience).

First, the food....lucky us, Angelos has professional chefs in his family...and it showed!

A delicious ham-like sausage;  black-eyed peas, Greek-style; and chicken breast stuffed with vegetables, pistachios, and cheese (there's another photo of that, below).

Greek-style roasted potatoes; tomato-and-cucumber salad.

Here's the stuffed chicken breast, again.

Piera made the phyllo for this "spinach pie"--spanikopita--which include leeks and feta cheese.

Tabouli salad, something I can't remember, and escarole salad.

And then, after a suitable period for digestion, the fun began.  Greeks really do sing and dance at the slightest provocation.  

As you will see, Ken had no problem "going native."  Of course the wine might have had something to do with it.  Ken discovered that the only way to keep from drinking more than you wish in a Greek household is to not finish the glass in front of you.  No matter your protestations, it will immediately be refilled!!

Stunning Archeological Finds: Part II

From the 4th to 1st century BC, there was a thriving trade between what is now the west coast of Turkey and the Roman Empire, with various Greek islands as stopping off points as the ships made their way across the Mediterranean.  There were also a lot of shipwrecks (about 1 in 20 or 30 trips).   

One of these was discovered by sponge divers over 100 years ago, but more substantive reclamation had to wait until Jacques Cousteau partnered with the Greek Archeological Society about 50 years ago. Among other things, there were amazing marble statues on this ship.  The marble exposed to the seawater for thousands of years was eroded and pitted.  But if it had lain under the silty bottom, it was as smooth as when it was carved!  The following sculpture was partly buried and partly eroded, as you will see.

  The sculpture is of a young boy, leaning over to pick something up.  This is the side that was exposed to the elements.

Now you can see a transitional place on his face where some erosion is visible--yet his shoulder and arm and bent leg, which were deeper in the silt, are completely smooth.




















  But the most amazing discovery in the shipwreck is billed as "the first computer." As described in the catalog: "it is the earliest [2nd century BC] preserved portable astronomical calculator.  It displayed the positions of the Sun, the Moon and most probably the five planets known in antiquity.  It was used to predict solar and lunar eclipses, it kept an accurate calendar of many years, and displayed the date of Pan-Hellenic games . . ."

What they actually found were few remnants of heavily scarred, pitted, and eroded brass gears plus a piece of a metal "cover" that contained "directions."  Only after modern technology enabled scientists to look inside these encrusted clumps of corroded metal did they discover over 33 different gears of different sizes.  Unfortunately, this technology was lost and not replicated for nearly 1500 years.  

 These pieces, combined with some historical references, were used by modern artists and engineers to rebuild what they call "The Mechanism." Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpLcnAIpVRA for a full description of the process as well as a layer-by-layer description of the internal gearing.

If that fascinates you and you want to know more about it, try https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiQSHiAYt98