Yes, I was in a college fraternity, and was often called a “Greek” even though I am not of Greek origin.  We were known as a professional fraternity, but had the best parties on campus.  But let’s take a rather irreverent look at the Greeks, as we know them today.

Greeks have the most sex in the world (and have held the title for ten years).

Greeks were the first to go “full Monty” with the 1931 film, Daphnis and Chloe.

Greeks stick together, as they have the lowest divorce rate in Europe, but have the highest abortion rate

A Greek physician, Soranus, believed that sneezing was a form of contraception.  .

Hippocrates considered the human body to be just a bag of fluid.

Before the invention of toilet paper, the Greeks tied sea sponges to a stick.

The original Santa Claus was born a Greek.

In ancient Greece, athletes performed naked.  This might be okay if the athlete is Caroline Wozniacki or Paige Spiranac.
Leprosy was grounds for a divorce in Greece until 1983.

Ancient Greeks considered drinking undiluted wine a barbaric habit.

Ancient Greece held the Olympic Games to honor the Greek god, Zeus.

Greek was the most common language, thousands of years ago.

Never leaves shoes lying on their side, it is considered bad luck!

Greeks always enter and leave a house by the same door.

Never leave a wallet or a purse empty.

Don’t take a boat unless it is seaworthy.

Greece is the leading producer of sea sponges.

Even Grandma never moves out.

Greece began the first community dump around 500 BC.

The official name of Greece is the Hellenic Republic.

Greece is the third leading producer of olives in the world.

Greeks are very superstitious.

All Greeks over the age of 18 are required to vote.

Do not, I repeat, do not EVER ask a Greek for Turkish coffee.

Greece has 8498 miles of coastline.

Not all feta is the same.  They must have a dozen different ones.

The national drink is ouzo.

Food delivery scooters and motos are prevalent.

Cab drivers try to hustle us on trips to far away tourist sites like Poseidon.

Greeks do not treat people of color very well.  However, I am doing okay.

The food is impressive.

Did I bore you?  I am ready for coffee soon, strong, Greek coffee.

PS:  The idea of drunk Sinatra is quite vivid.  He drank while performing on stage toward the end of his illustrious career.

Good morning from a great city.

From April 19, travelers from across the European Union and five other countries, including the UK, US, Israel, Serbia and the United Arab Emirates will no longer have to quarantine upon arrival in Greece if they can show proof that they have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 vaccine, or present a negative result from a test taken no more than 72 hours before travel. The move comes as Greece prepares to open its tourism sector on May 14, according to Reuters.

I have been waiting for this news, since my week of cycling in Croatia was postponed to 2022.
More from Reuters:  Welcoming visitors back is important to the country, as its tourism sector accounts for about a fifth of Greece’s economy. It has a population of 11 million, and Germany is its biggest market for visitors followed by the UK.  GK:  Since their economy has not been very strong for the past few years, perhaps they need a jump start on other tourism focused countries?

Again from Reuters:  Greece is a great destination for foodies as it was named Best Food Destination in Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2021. It has been promoting locally-sourced ingredients for centuries thanks to its age-old habit of growing vegetables, harvesting olives for oil and utilizing every type of produce imaginable. Over the last decade, it has increased organic food production by 51%. And today, organic markets and island seafood make it an unintentional leader of the world’s most sustainable food.

I look forward to the plentiful seafood, and the underrated Greek wines.  I am somewhat familiar with the cuisine, since one of my all-time favorite restaurants was Lola in Seattle.  It was a very focused Mediterranean menu, with lots of Greek dishes.  I look forward to many gyros, souvlaki, saganaki, mousakka, and tzatziki.  Oh, and Barry the V’s favorite, Greek salad.  I also learned about the Greek dessert wine, Mavrodaphne.  The Greek doughnut, or loukoumades, covered with powdered sugar or honey are a great finish to a big Greek dinner.

And the nightlife: Athenian nights are filled with music, dancing and dining. Rustic and authentic, Perivoli tou Ouranou is a rembetika club with almost palpable atmosphere. Filled with the sounds of bouzouki, pelting out traditional blues-like music, it’s at once haunting and lively. Drunk Sinatra is a lively, always busy focal point for the partying crowds, Clumsies and Baba Au Rum are consistently included in various ‘best bars of the world’ lists, and Jazz in Jazz in Kolonaki, is the best bar in Athens, but only if you’re a fan of the genre.  Another one of interest is Minnie the Moocher, a 30s style hot spot, perhaps more my style.

My previous experience with Ouzo and Retsina have mixed results.  Perhaps what I drank was not of sufficient quality.  Also, the famous red wines, Agiorgitikio and whites, Assyrtiko interest me as well.  I have tasted many Armenian versions of Raki, also with mixed results.  Perhaps I will stick with beer and Greek coffee?

Suffice it to say, a good time awaits!

Having been to Warsaw, and visiting Old Town several times, I am surprised to find out Old Town is not really old town.  It is fake, and apparently, full of secrets.

According to Anthony Paletta of the Daily Beast:  Weathering is mild, features are sometimes a little too regular, masonry is in surprisingly strong shape. Contrast with Praga across the Vistula, a 19th century neighborhood that is full of crumbling buildings, and you’ll soon apprehend that something is up. 

If the Old Town is very nice, it’s a simulacra from the early 1950s, when most buildings were rebuilt from skeletal or absent remains. Some were scrupulously reconstructed. Others were dreamt up as pastiches of the era. There is an element of Disneyland to the place, but with the bleakest possible prehistory of the obliteration of much of Warsaw in the Second World War. The reconstruction of the city’s Old Town, adjacent New Town (new as in the 18th century), and portions of the principal avenue Royal Route (a kingly route between palaces, whose reconstructed portions consist of Krakowskie Przedmieście and Ulica Nowy Świat) was an undertaking of grave importance to the postwar Polish state, a country whose capital had been turned into rubble. 

It’s a fascinating and very appealing place, which tells two stories at once. It’s not fully a reconstruction as many buildings are entirely new aside from their facades and basements and some never existed at all, but most of it is about as faithful a reconstruction as documentation and resources could provide. Its aim was not to delude but to restore the cruelly-extinguished essence of a vanished place and today offers a vision of the Polish Commonwealth pre-1795 through the frame of the 1950s, a much better fate than just having a pure vintage vision of the 1950s. 

​Just amazing, since 25,000 buildings were destroyed in WW2, with less than 1000 remaining today.  Warsaw was home to three large movements or battles.  So massive was the destruction that Poles thought of moving the capital elsewhere.  The postwar in the Eastern bloc was hardly a great time for rebuilding.  Little did they realize the prewar city looked great compared to what would soon follow.

Again, Paletta:  Warsaw’s historic reconstruction projects were an odd priority from a state generally eager to construct new socialist cities. Functional older buildings across Poland were being torn down for “rational” construction and decadent capitalist ornament was stripped from buildings not far away in the city. Communists wouldn’t generally dedicate substantial resources to the reconstruction of a past they would surely have thought reactionary, full of prosperous merchants’ homes and churches from the age of Polish kings (historic reconstruction in East Germany took some time longer to gather any steam). Yet the wrenching past rendered the weaving of a stronger link with Poland’s history a priority even to the Polish People’s Republic. 

The Warsaw Old Town was a unique addition to the UNESCO World Heritage List in the 1980, for a body that generally looked askance on reconstructions, especially on those that took such occasional liberties as the Warsaw one. The listing acknowledged the process of the rebuilding itself, finding the project representative of “the inner strength and determination of the nation, which brought about the reconstruction of the heritage on a unique scale in the history of the world.”

For a tourist like me, I really enjoyed visiting Old Town.  It is charming, with street side cafes, bars, and coffee houses.  A short walk away is Madame Curie’s former home, now museum.  The cobbled streets, old churches, and “new” buildings create a welcoming atmosphere for tourists.  I am more than overjoyed they did this!
Perhaps this time, I will find a local to show me around?  It should be great fun!

One of the few countries in Europe I have not visited is Greece.  I have not really avoided it per se, as it was on my radar back on my first trip to Europe.  But fate intervened, and I was called home due to the untimely death of my Father.  In fact, I was going to meet a friend there, and travel around the country and a few of the islands.

So, fast forward to today, Greece is a much different place.  Economic problems, mostly the result of outsized inflation, pensions, and debt have made it the weak link of the European Union, and maybe the entire world!    What better time than July, when the country is slowly and carefully reopening?

Greece is the southernmost country in the Balkan Peninsula.  The country is defined by its geography, with land area comparable to England, and the state of Alabama.  I did not realize Greece has over 2000 islands, with 170 inhabited by people.  The islands on the Aegean Sea lie not far from Turkey.  Athens, the capital, is home to roughly a third of the country’s population.

Because of its geographic location, Greece can be considered European, Balkan, Mediterranean, and Near Eastern.  And much like Turkey, it was ruled by the Ottomans for nearly four centuries.  To the east, the Aegean Sea borders Greece.  To the south, the Mediterranean, and to the west, the Ionian Sea.  Land neighbors to the north are Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Turkey.  The southernmost part of the mainland, the Peloponnesus connects to the mainland by a narrow isthmus at Corinth.

A central mountain range, the Pindos Mountains, forms the backbone of central Greece.  Mount Olympus, the mythical home of the gods, is the highest point in Greece, at 9,570 feet.  To the south, the Peloponnesus is now an island, 3.9 miles from the mainland.

But it seems the islands of Greece get traveler’s attention, and for good reason.  The Ionian Islands are off to the west:  Corfu, Paxos, Leucas, Ithaca, Kefalonia, and Zakynthos (the six main islands).  The Aegean Islands are east of Greece, and include Thrace, Lemnos, Lesbos, Chios, and Samos.  Farther south in the heart of the Aegean, lies the Cyclades (Santorini and Mykonos), and the Dodekanisa.  Crete, the largest island, sits to the south entrance of the Aegean Sea.

Over the years, I have many Greek friends and colleagues.  Each one really wanted me to visit their homeland.  I guess I am on my way, finally.

Now that you have your bearings, let’s see and enjoy this great and ancient country.