Rally in Corfu

I said goodbye to Athens this morning.  Had my last breakfast with the loud juicing machine at 6:30, then packed, and took the subway train to the airport.  Several of my cronies were at the airport, and it was old home week on the Airbus 320 jet from Athens to Corfu.

On landing I was met by my colleague Dmitri Goussis, who is the main organizer.  He had a bus for all of us to the hotels.  Corfu is a small island in the Ionian Sea, near Albania, and not that far from Italy.  It was never under Ottoman occupation, so there are no ex-mosques.  The Venetian Empire did occupy and so the architecture looks very Italian.  The British were also here for some time, and you can see their influence as well. They have interesting Easter customs, celebrated with gusto.  These include throwing pottery from upper floor windows to the street below.  I missed that.

Streets of Corfu City, likely site of recent pottery rains

After checking into the hotel, I ran into my friend Miltos Papalexandris and his sister Etheria (?).  Miltos studied at Cal Tech with Tony Leonard, native of Rock Island, and we work on the same type of problems, and share many of the same views on how to do things in our area.  We took a long lunch and then caught a bus into the main town.  I will have photos later, because the internet is too slow for loading here. [now loaded, 5-1-2011]  The main town is picture perfect.  It's filled with 18th century Italian architecture, narrow streets with drying  laundry hanging over them.  Today, it's mainly tourist-driven, which the locals take seriously.

Street scene in Corfu City

We also explored the standing Venetian fortress,  Palaio Frourio, which remains an imposing edifice.

 Palaio Frourio, a Venetian fortress at the edge of Corfu City

Stairs to Palaio Frourio

St. George's Chapel near the  Palaio Frourio

They have a long tradition of brass bands, and today was a day for them to strut their stuff marching down the main promenade.

One of the eighteen local brass bands "Philharmonikes" in an afternoon performance

Around seven, the combustion group gathered.  Many of my friends and long time colleagues were present including Sam Paolucci (ND), Tariq Aslam (Los Alamos), Dave Kassoy (U. Colorado), Scott Stewart (U. Illinois), and many others.  We had a festival under a tent just off the main promenade that was highlighted by Greek delicacies, plentiful wine, and good sweets.  I spent a long time speaking with Prof. David Mikolaitis of U. Florida, and turned in around 10:30 PM in preparation for tomorrow's early start.

Virus & Acropolis

This was not my best day.  From feeling a little woozy last night, my respiratory infection from about ten days ago reasserted itself by morning.  Perhaps I caught something from my infected flight companion?  So after breakfast, I made for the neighborhood pharmacy shown below (note the Greek "phi" starts the word, hence "ph"armacy not "f"armacy--my theory anyway).

My drug connection

The helpful pharmacist got me a Greek thermometer, some aspirin, expectorant, and advice for lots of fluids coupled with saline sinus rinse, all of which I took.  I then returned to my hotel, shown below,

Hotel Athenain Callirhoe

and did some reading of a fine book "Salonica:  City of Ghosts" by Mark Mazower.  It's all about Thessalonica, in northeastern Greece, which housed Christians, Ottoman Turks, and Sephardic Jews for many centuries.   There's lots of Whirling Dervishes and theological compromises on the part of all parties.

Somewhat refreshed, I took a short walk to near the Acropolis to take lunch, comprised of hot tea, chicken soup, Greek salad, bread, and water, pictured below.

Sick ward fare

Feeling fortified, I decided to take the fifteen minute walk up to the Acropolis, which was free today.  I had a nice walk with three college students from Chicago and Milwaukee who were studying abroad this term in Spain.  They were good representatives of the US of A.  We all found the Parthenon under heavy construction, shown below.

The Parthenon

I still haven't shaken my ill-fitting, ill-protecting blue hat, featured below, along with the Parthenon.

JMP amidst the Hellenic ruins.

I returned to my room around 2:30, worked on some university business via the internet, worked on my presentation for Corfu, and read some more "Salonica" in the tarty Hotel Lobby, shown below.

Second floor lobby at the Athenian Callirhoe

I took an acceptable dinner of chicken penne pasta in the hotel restaurant, and am about to pack for tomorrow's journey to Corfu.  Just witnessed about two hundred vigorously singing marchers protesting something on the next block.  It was not clear what and was soon past.

Aegina

Following a 9:00 AM breakfast, with the juicer still causing problems, I walked to the Parliament square and took the subway to the nearby port of Piraeus, which has served as the main nautical entree to Athens since the classical era.  Today it's hopping with giant ferry boats, each with a complicated schedule to escape to the many near- and far-away islands.  Some of the big boys are featured below:

Big ferries in Piraeus harbor.

I chose a nearby island, Aegina, which is a forty minute ride away on my boat, the trim and lean "Venus I", a "Flying Dolphin" hydrofoil, pictured below.

The "Venus I"

I spoke with a pleasant Cubano and his girlfriend, both now living in Spain.  The Cuban fellow is a pharmacist who grew up in Havana.  He is ready for the Castro era to end and wants his friends back home to be able to use an iPhone4, etc., like he can in Spain.  He was not too worried about the 50th  anniversary of the Bay of Pigs this month.

On arrival on Aegina, I took a short walk to see the Temple of Apollo ruins.  Below is a nearby shot of a beach, etc.

Beach on Aegina

Aegina city seemed to have a nice waterfront, but not much else.  The island itself is small, so I opted for a 10 Euro bicycle rental as an alternative to the 20 Euro moped.  The bike, labeled "Doberman," had lost much of its fighting spirit.  But it was adequate to get me around the island, though working gears would have helped on some hills.

I made for ruins at Paleohora, a Byzantine monastery dating from the 9th century AD, in active use until the 1820s.  The bike ride was an adventure; it was at the fringe of safety with fast cars on the narrow roads causing some minor fright.  Asking twice for directions at outdoor restaurants brought offers of fresh roasted meats from the outdoor cooks.  I imagine Odysseus, Agamemnon, Nestor, and all the gang had similar eats in the old days.  After an hour of uphill cycling and walking, I made it to the monastery, pictured below, and took a quick look around.  

Exterior of some of the buildings at Paleohora monastery

Chapel interior at Paleohora monastery

It would have been nice to explore more, but "Doberman" had no lock.  The drive down was quick and easy, being all downhill.  Here is "Doberman," safe in port.

"Doberman" at home

JMP deserved a meal after this effort, and seafood beckoned.  My restaurant is below, along with my plate of grilled octopus and vegetables.

My late afternoon restaurant on Aegina

Grilled octopus and vegetables on the Aegina seaside

I hopped the 5:00 PM Venus I hydrofoil back to Piraeus and had a nice chat with a Greek man and his mother.

This new blue hat is a poor substitute for my reliable greenie.  It failed to do its prescribed job, and I picked up a sunburned nose, marginally apparent below from the Piraeus seaside.

My deficient blue hat which admitted a sunburned nose

Once at Piraeus, I made my way back to Athens from the metro station pictured below.

Metro station at Piraeus

There was some construction on the train, so I took an early exit and had scenic walk to my hotel.

Roman Agora (foreground) and Acropolis (background)

On return to the hotel, I turned on the internet radio.  Chicago's WFMT was featuring an extended interview with pianist George Vatchnadze, with lots of his live music featured. George used to be in South Bend at IUSB, and I booked him for a gig in the Ramada Inn as featured dinner performer for the ASME regional student meeting in the early 1990s. George was awesome, and has come a long way from the Ramada on US 31 North.

Delphi & Pascha Vigil

Woke at six to begin a guided tour of Delphi.  I had the standard European buffet breakfast around seven.  It was very tasty.  For some reason the only juice available was orange juice that required everyone to use their spiffy new juicer machine.  The juice was delicious, but the line was lengthy.

A scout van picked me up at eight in the lobby and dropped me at the convocation point nearby, where about forty people piled into a monster luxury bus.  We had a dramatic tour guide who used intonation and marginal English to effect.  Some surly American girls sat behind me, who were quite concerned with where their next beer was coming from.  They engaged in trash talk banter with a friendly Indian-Australian fellow and his family for a good portion of the long and sometimes scenic ride.  The highway is in fine shape, equivalent to one of our good interstate highways.  It plows through an area of light industry and agriculture.  The light industry looks to be in need of some zoning laws, as it is mainly ugly, sprawling, and low density.  About 1/4 is vacant or partially constructed.

The ride itself took us past Marathon and Thebes. We had a few mythology lessons on the way, and got a synopsis of Oedipus Rex and Antigone.

After a short coffee break, where I purchased a lame blue hat to replace my faithful green hat, which alas, I left at the restaurant last evening, we made it to Delphi, which is nestled in the hills.  My thick-soled fancy sandals were reliable partners on the steep and slick climb up.

Pictured below is the main temple, where visitors in ancient days could ask questions of the Oracle.  

Temple at Delphi

The Oracle was a woman who, after taking in some sort of smoke, produced an enigmatic answer.  It helped that the written answers avoided punctuation:

Q.  Will I die in the upcoming battle?

A.  You Will Go You Will Return Not In War Shall You Die

The Oracle is never wrong.

Just above the temple, I recognized another Oracle, Prof. Forman Williams of the University of California-San Diego.  He is quite well known worldwide for his work in combustion, and will be attending the same meeting that I will next week.  We had a short and pleasant chat.  Forman had written a very nice review article several years ago, citing many Greek Gods, especially Prometheus, to spice up combustion theory a little bit.  He may have been looking for some new material for his next article?

Panorama of Temple at Delphi

There is a nice place for drama above the temple:

Theater at Delphi

And for sporting games, one can go to the nearby stadium:

Stadium at Delphi

After about an hour at the temple, we recessed to the museum, which houses many statues from the temple, e.g. the Sphinx below.

Sphinx at Delphi; tour guide with red folder

Elder statesmen at Delphi museum

After the museum, we had a group lunch with pretty good food.  The waiters don't like the group lunches because they are prepaid, so they become mainly surly.  I sat with a Spanish art historian from the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, and a Rumanian couple.  He was a chemical engineer who had taught for years--we taught the same classes.  He now is a businessman in Bucharest who often goes to FMC in Chicago on Randolph Street for work in the oil and gas business.

We returned via the same route taken, and I was dropped at my hotel around six.  After a little breather,  I walked out for some dinner and found it in the nearby Plaka district.  Pork souklava featured below, which hit the spot.

My fine fare this evening

This being Easter "Pascha" Vigil night, and Greece being very Orthodox, there was a flavor in the air--some from lots of people carrying candles, and some from many fires roasting meat in the streets; see below.

Meat roasters near my dining table

After dinner, I walked back towards my hotel, which is a little dicey this time of night, but there were no problems.  Across from my hotel was a large Orthodox church.  I entered, along with a few hundred others, around 11:00 PM for the Easter Vigil service, see below.

Church near my hotel where I attended Easter Vigil

Orthodox Easter Vigil is a bit different than that which I'm accustomed. It's all sung, and quite a bit of time is spent in the dark listening to readings from all four gospels, I believe. Similar in some ways to the Oracle at Delphi, a lot of the most important business is taking place behind the screen out of view.  Throughout the service, there is a lot of blessing by the congregation, with little organization.  Also, veneration of icons goes on in free form throughout the service.  After about one hour, there is a lot of light, and the congregation rushes the alter to have their candles lit.  This is quite moving, and there is a lot of excitement and hugging.  Then nearly all, including the chanting clergy, exit through the front and chant in the square.  At this point, there is quite a lot of fireworks, and 65% of the congregation makes their way home.  However, the clergy re-enter the church, and begin what I believe to be the liturgy of the Eucharist.  I stayed for another fifteen minutes or so, but unable to receive, I joined the bulk of my Greek friends in making an early exit.

Friday, 22 April: Athens walking tour

On touchdown in Athens, the Greeks on board applaud loudly.  They are happy.  They also pay no attention to the stewardess, and immediately after touchdown, jump up to get their overhead luggage.  The Greek-American sitting next to me shook her head and muttered unkind words about her distant cousins.  Much of Athens got a good infrastructure upgrade for the 2004 Olympics.  The airport is a good example.  It is new and clean.  It is nicely connected to the subway, for which 8 Euros gets you into the city center.  The subway sparkles.  It is fast, clean, and smooth.  And since there really wasn't a subway before, it has had a nice impact on car traffic, which is pretty manageable here.  Of course, it's also a contributing reason to why the Greeks are presently broke.

Exiting the subway at the Sygrou-Fix station just south of the Acropolis near the city center, my first impression of Athens was a quiet, clean, and surprisingly uncrowded city. Perhaps this is because this is a holiday weekend when most have left town to their ancestral villages.  But the cleanliness belied some more long term effort.  I checked into my hotel, the Athenian Callirhoe on Petmeza & Kallirrois.  It is fine, with the typical European style of an overdone lobby with modest rooms in need of some building code standards.

After cleaning up, I set out for a walking tour of Athens, directed by my trusty Lonely Planet guidebook.  It did not fail me.  I first took the short walk to the Acropolis district. The Acropolis itself is at the top of a high hill, which will have to wait for another day.  I had a good lunch of pasta and Greek salad on the sunny streetside cafe.  Then I skirted the outside of the Acropolis in the Anafiotika district.  The area has uncrowded narrow and clean streets with scenic views.

Anafiotika view

JMP in the Anafiotika district

Nearby is the Roman Agora financed by Julius Caesar.

Roman Agora

I kept on plowing through the lightly crowded streets, and came upon the parliament building, pictured below...

Parliament from Syntagma Square

Next door to Parliament is found Athens best Hotel, the Grande Bretagne.  It housed visiting monarchs, served as Nazi headquarters, and was the scene of an attempt on the life of Sir Winston Churchill. Today it is still quite nice, but the image below captures well the Athenian spirit on this holiday weekend. I chose to let this quite happy and fat sleeping dog lie, right in front of the main entrance.

Restful canine at the entrance to the Hotel Grande Bretagne 

Underneath the Syntagma Square, adjacent to the Parliament building is the cool and elegant subway station pictured below, which is the main intersection of the metro's two lines.

Syntagma metro station

I then took a short walk through the National Botanical gardens (nice but no Central Park) to the Panathenaic Stadium, built in 400 BC, and upgraded in 1896 AD for the first modern Olympic games.

Panathenaic Stadium

I then took the short walk to the Temple of Olympian Zeus ruins, shown below.

Temple of Olympian Zeus ruins

This was followed by a short coffee break with full bodied Greek coffee, shown below.

Greek coffee

Shortly after, an overly friendly Greek fellow tried to pull the same stunt on me that my Mongolian did in Beijing:  invite me for a drink and stick me with a large bill.  He had the same MO:  find out if I was in a group, ask where my hotel was, etc.  It was right outside the Acropolis--right where my LP guidebook noted the scamsters work their magic.  Nada.

Later that evening, I tried to get into a well regarding restaurant in the neighborhood, which was alas closed.  So I settled for an overpriced cafe with a view of the Acropolis, where I think they microwaved the stuffed squid, which went down fine.

Undercooked stuffed squid and potatoes partaken near the Acropolis

I turned in around nine for a long sleep to compensate for the unrestful plane ride.

Thursday, 21 April: South Bend to Athens

Woke at 4:30 AM and took a cab to campus where I caught the Coach USA bus to O'Hare Airport.  My Delta flight left around 11:00 AM for JFK airport in New York. JFK needs to work on its scheduled maintenance plan; the halls are dirty and crowded, and there is unfinished construction in many places.  Around 4:30 PM, my Delta flight left for Athens.  The flight was about 3/4 full, so there were plenty of seats.  Unfortunately, my seatmate sounded as though he had recently left the TB ward, but with a long pit stop at the departure lounge which allowed for his TB to become well pickled.  He was also highly inquisitive of the young lady sitting nearby.  Both she and I managed to secure alternative seating, leaving our friend to have a five seat  bench for his long eight hour nap.  It did all of us good.  I spent most of the flight reading David Brooks' new book, "The Social Animal" on my Kindle.  It is a fine read, with pithy observations on life in 2011.