The Last Days of a Pillar Cult
There was a time when people turned with their troubles to gods and goddesses, demi-gods and heroes, saints and angels, but today more and more enlightened non-believers turn to physicians and psychiatrists for help.
Greece – In a Nutty Shell
NOW THAT April is here and the tourists will start coming in droves to our country, I think I should beg the forbearance of our regular readers and devote this page to a short rundown on what Greece is all about.
Goulandris Natural History Museum
Under fragrant cedars and pines on Mount Lykavitos, a few steps from the paved paths, one still comes upon flower-covered slopes blue with grape hyacinths or sprinkled with cow vetch and tiny pinks. Were it not for the constant din of Athens traffic rising from below, one might imagine it to be the countryside, and contemplate what it must have been like before the encroachment of apartment buildings which now cover Lykavitos’s flanks almost to the top.
Eastertime
THAT Easter called in Greek pascha, from the Hebrew word for passover, or lambri, which means brightness coincides with a rebirth in nature is not accidental, of course.
The Athens-London Express
The bus trip from Athens to London had been all that was promised: fifty hours for fifty-five dollars, non-stop. My two sisters and I and a friend had set off in good spirits with four chickens, forty hard-boiled eggs, five pounds of raisins and nuts, and innumerable oranges. Except for occasional grouses about the temperature of the interior of the bus and one thirteen-hour stretch when our stoical driver chose not to stop, all went well. So a month later in London, faced with a choice of how to get back to Athens, I succumbed to my dislike of flying and decided to do it again. Alone this time. I called and got the last seat on a bus leaving the next day.
A Journey into History
The tiny two-wagon train begins its ascent of the narrow, picturesque gorge at the village of Diakofto and climbs twenty-three hundred feet for the fourteen-mile trip. The rushing torrent of the Vouraikos River appears first on one side and then on the other, as the train passes through a series of tunnels and viaducts, making its way up the pine and oleander-covered slopes. Thus begins a journey through centuries of history that culminates at Aghia Lavra. Here, according to popular belief, Germanos, Bishop of Patras, raised the banner on March 25, 1821, proclaiming the beginning of the Greek War of Independence.
Florina
The Cross on the mountain is to let everyone know Fiorina is a graveyard, Louis Corovessis, a pharmaceutical clerk, says jokingly. But some people who live in this small border-town fear Corovessis’s morbid humour could be a premonition. Fiorina, a town of ten thousand inhabitants in Northern Greece, could eventually suffer the fate of many of Greece’s small towns and villages— empty streets symbolizing a widespread emigration to the cities and to other countries. The result has been a shrinking rural population, consisting primarily of older people with fewer opportunities for employment and a secure future.
The Cruise of the Beatnik – Part VI
IN OUR last instalment of the continuing saga of the Beatnik we left Caramel Cream, the handsome bushy-browed premier of the Freaks, seeking a Fresh Parliamentary Mandate with which to fight his hated rival, the Jerk premier Demi-Tasse.
Women In Parliament
The ELEVEN women who are members of the Greek Parliament are a notably diverse group of individuals combining many roles and drawing from varied backgrounds and training. They include among their ranks lawyers, doctors, actresses and seasoned politicians,and they represent most of the major political parties, from the Right to the extreme Left. Despite differing philosophies and approaches, they express a deep awareness of social issues, of the needs of individuals, and the problems particular to women.