Historical Building to be Demolished for View of the Acropolis

by Catherine Bodry on

Against opposition from architects and cultural conservationists, George Voulgarakis has cleared the way for the razing of a once-protected art deco building in Athens, Greece, because the building stands in the way of a direct view of the Acropolis from the new landmark Acropolis Museum. Voulgarakis also added that demolition of the building “would allow the plot to be excavated ‘to reveal antiquities whose existence is considered highly likely.'”

The Culture Minister revoked state protection of Areopagitou 17 and 19 when the rest of the nation was focused on forest fires in the southern part of the country.

The building, standing just 300 meters from the Acropolis, was designed by Greek architect Vassilis Kouremenos, a Paris-trained friend of Pablo Picasso. Ironically, the structure was originally protected by the driving force behind the new museum, the late actress and former Culture Minister Melina Mercouri.

Two adjacent buildings on Dionyssiou Areopagitou Street will not be automatically demolished, as they are both still protected by the Ministry of Public Works. But Voulgarakis’ decision is expected to ease the way for that listing to be revoked too.

Read the whole article here.

Thanks to Mel Kots and John Kots on Flickr for the photo of the “almost ready” Acropolis Museum.

Greetings from Crete: Santorini Is Therapy for the Photographically-Challenged

by Iva Skoch on

Seriously. If you want to boost your picture-taking self-esteem, head over to the Greek island of Santorini. I am convinced it is not possible to shoot a bad photo of this place, which is essentially a rim of a volcano. Even I was able to score a few good ones and I am a really impatient photographer.

The white buildings against the deep blue sea, the shocking cliffs, colorful fishing boats, wrinkled men on donkeys, broken pottery randomly placed on ancient staircases, old women in black gossiping on benches… It is almost as if they staged everything perfectly in place just for your picture-taking pleasure. (Which, they probably do just before the cruise ships dock there each morning.)

As beautiful as the island is, I can’t honestly see spending more than a day or two there. And that’s not just because my new favorite coffee drink–frappe–costs $5-6. Ouch. It’s so damn picturesque, it’s kitschy. There is only so much beauty one take take before longing for the comfort of ugly chaos if you ask me. Still, the fast ferry from Crete today took only about 90 minutes and cost about 30 Euro, which made it a great day trip.

Greetings from Crete: 4000-Year-Old Flush Toilet No Longer Flushing

by Iva Skoch on

If you can handle waiting in line for tickets for more than an hour, you shall be rewarded: the largest and most famous Minoan palace, Knossos (just south of the city of Iraklion, on Crete) is well worth the trip. It’s a Bronze-age palace excavated only in the last century, and holds many interesting features that still tell us relatively little about the Minoan culture or lives. It does reveal one hugely important fact: they knew the value of plumbing.

It turns out that they may have the oldest flush toilet in the world, dating from between 2500 and 1500 BC. According to the tour guide, they had three plumbing systems in the castle, one to collect rain water, one to provide drinking water, and the third to eliminate the results.

And the terracotta water pipes, looking almost exactly like today’s pipes, are intact and can be seen on a visit.

It appears to scientists that they used a wooden toilet seat, even. We’re just not sure if the furry seat cover originated then, or later.

Greetings from Crete: Driving a Fiat Like It’s a Ferrari

by Iva Skoch on

Coming back to the hotel last night, we passed by a major traffic accident: a head-on collision involving several small cars. One was flipped over and crushed, and at least one other was completely destroyed. All in all, we counted six involved cars.

I’ve found that there are exactly three rules of the road to driving in Crete:

1) Ignore the speed limit

2) Ignore the double center line and pass at will

3) Drive off the side off the road, to allow faster (much faster) traffic to pass. Everyone straddles the right-side line or drives on the shoulder to let others pass.

Undoubtedly, the accident we came upon was caused by any combination of these three rules.

I’m reminded of a recent article saying that the deaths of most tourists were caused by traffic accidents, not heart attacks, shark bites, sucking leeches, crime, or malaria. In fact, the WHO estimates that over 1.2 million tourists are killed in traffic accidents every year, with 20-50 million injured.

You know how they say that the majority of car accidents happen within two miles of home?

Greetings from Crete: One Too Many Frappes

by Iva Skoch on

The coffee junkie that I am, I must confess that the frappes here in Crete kick ass. I am on my third one as we speak.

The drink goes like this: you take spray-dried instant coffee. Yeah, I know. You wonder how anything made out of Nescafe (aka “no es cafe”) can make a decent drink. Really though, it does. Except, you can’t use the Nescafe sold in the US because it is usually freeze-dried, which ruins the formula. Sorry.

In Greece, they have been drinking them way before Starbucks found a lucrative market for fluffy coffee drinks, specifically since 1957. That’s 50 caffeinated years! And I mean caffeinated. Some sources say, a frappe has four times the caffeine as an espresso.

Wikipedia has a great blow-by-blow chemical explanation of exactly what’s happening, but suffice to say, this stuff is an excellent summer drink.

Recipe:

2 teaspoons instant coffee
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon evaporated milk (optional)
Cold water

1. Place coffee, sugar, and 5 tablespoons of water in a drink mixer. Shake vigorously for 30 seconds to produce a thick, light-brown foam.

2. Place three ice cubes in a tall glass. Slowly pour the coffee foam into the glass. Add milk. Fill with cold water until the foam reaches the top of the glass.

3. Insert a thin, flexible straw (colored) and gently stir. Serve with an accompanying glass of cold water.

4. Drink in the company of old, tan men smoking cigarettes.