11

GREECE

This wall painting of Boxing Children was found

in the ruins of the Late Minoan (Bronze Age)
city of Akrotiri on the island of Santorini
 12

October 1992
trip to Greece
After what seemed like a flight long enough to
take us half way around the world, we landed in
Athens at night and were soon whisked off to the
hotel Electra located just off Syntagma Square -
the center of modern Athens. After checking in,
we went for a late night walk and suddenly came
upon the startling sight of the brightly illuminated
Acropolis off in the distance, eerily floating as if in
midair. We could barely wait to visit this the
BIRTHPLACE OF DEMOCRACY, the glory that
was Greece in the Golden Age of 400 BC that
produced an unparalleled succession of geniuses
such as statesman Pericles, dramatists
Sophocles and Euripides as well as philoso-
phers Socrates, Plato and Aristotle whose
teachings have not ceased to influence Western
thought and civilization to this day. After wandering
through the quaint Plaka quarter with its maze of
narrow winding streets and lively tavernas, we
approached the crown of Greek culture high on a
rock above Athens. Paul and Donna in front of the Parthenon on
the ancient site of the Acropolis in Athens

For more than 2000 years the Acropolis has

dominated the city with the majestic ruins of the
Parthenon, a temple that Pericles had built honor-
ing the goddess Athena, the patron goddess of
Athens. We tried to imagine this place in the mid-
dle of the 5th century BC and tried out the hard
stone seats in the Theater of Dionysus where
the dramas of Sophocles were first performed. On
we went exploring the city’s other landmarks of
antiquity such as the Agora, the main market place
of ancient Athens where leaders, philosophers
and common people gathered to discuss current
events and metaphysics. We walked through the
Monastiraki Flea Market area and further on gazed
at length at the Temple of the Olympian Zeus, the
Arch of Hadrian and the original Olympic Stadium,
site of the ancient Panathenian Stadium and the
first modern games in 1896. We scaled the mighty
Mount Lycabettus rising sheer above the city and
walked forever (passing Heinrich Schliemann’s
Mansion) to visit the National Archaeological
Museum - one of the world’s greatest museums
housing 2,500 years of ancient Greek civilization.

The Acropolis from Philopappos Hill


Delphi and the Island of Hydra
Donna at the Temple of Apollo
in the Sanctuary of Delphi
Hydra Harbor
13
No trip to Greece is complete without a visit to
Delphi, so off we went one day by bus, 105 miles
from Athens. Rising from the heart of the mountainous
Parnassus region, Delphi is the home of the most
celebrated oracle of all time, awe-inspiring in its
beauty and austerity. No wonder the ancient Greeks
regarded this place as the “navel of the earth”. At
the center of Delphi stands the sanctuary of Apollo
and from there the narrow Sacred Way zigzags up to
the ruins of the Doric Temple of Apollo. After being
purified with water from the nearby Castalian spring,
the priestess, dressed in full ceremonial robes, would
utter her prophecies. The nearby Delphi Museum is,
even though small, nevertheless one of great
importance. The highlight of the collection here is the
bronze statue of the Charioteer, dating from 478
BC. After booking flights to the Aegean islands of
Mykonos and Santorini at the American Express
in Athens we decided to pay a one day visit to the
nearby island of Hydra by boat from the harbor of
Piraeus. We arrived to find the island devoid of
motorized transport, mules being used as the beast
of all burdens. Most of the town and handsome villas
with thick white walls and brightly colored doorways is
only approachable up ankle breaking flights of steps.
Near the top we found a very sexy house under
construction and fantasized about owning it with its
beautiful view of the ocean and little town below. Back
down in the harbor we spent the afternoon sipping
wine under the giant awning of one of the numerous
sidewalk tavernas and watched the fishing vessels
create a cheerful atmosphere of activity.
Hydra street

Mykonos
Donna at the colorful waterfront of the island harbor
What a romantic place to contemplate life’s vicissitudes
in Alevkandra, the much beloved artist’s quarter also
known as “the Venice of Mykonos” with round, white,
thatched windmills with canvas sails in the background. Donna
14
Boarding a small island hopping plane at the
Athens airport we arrived a short while later on
the island of Mykonos in the very center of the
Cyclades. A local cabbie raced us rudely to the
hotel Ilio Maris which was facing the town’s
famous windmills. We were immediately struck
by the beauty of the white cubist houses, dazz-
ling in the sunlight, with its balconies festooned
with bright geraniums, narrow flagstone streets
and countless tiny chapels topped with blue and
red domes. And all around, the incredible blue of
the sea, making it the great tourist resort, corres-
ponding exactly to what an Aegean island should
look like. Greek legend describes Mykonos as
the grand-son of the mighty Apollo but nobody
seems to know why they named this place after
him. What is known is that in its 4000 year
history, it has been occupied by Phoenicians,
Cretans, Turks, Byzantines, Venetians and
Romans. So why, after all these changes of
ownership has Mykonos become a world class
mecca of hedonism? Simple answer: glorious
weather, beautiful beaches (nude or other-wise)
and a steamy nighttime action scene. Eager to
see more of the island, we dared to rent a
moped and with high spirits put putted clear
across the island to lunch on Greek salads and
retsina wine at the secluded beach of Kalafatis.
We made it back to Little Venice just in time to
watch the most spectacularly lingering sunset
we’d ever seen, while some haunting tunes by
Kitara played on and on.
We were suspected of perhaps being too
old to tour the island on that thing, not a chance!
loved the sheep and their rock “fences”
 Sacred Island of Delos 15

While on Mykonos we decided to visit the un-

inhabited sacred island of Delos, so by tour-
boat we sailed the 1 nautical mile to see what
was once one of the most revered religious
centers in the Greek world of antiquity. Now
sadly deserted except for sheep and day-
tourists, it is still, in its serene isolation and with
its great archaeological wealth, a place of enor-
mous fascination. Delos is the birthplace of the
twin Greek Gods, Apollo and Artemis, whose
mother, Leto was relentlessly pursued by the
serpent Python, by the order of Hera, the jea-
lous wife of Seus by whom she was pregnant.
She could find nowhere to rest until Poseidon
compassionately anchored the floating island o
Delos with a diamond column, just in time for
Artemis to be born; in truly divine fashion, she
helped her brother Apollo into the world the
following day. In Hellenistic times a merchant
community settled on Delos, which flourished
even more under the Romans, as witnessed by
the impressive ruins of public buildings and
sumptuous private villas of that period. We
tagged on to a French tour guide whose english
Donna at the Terrace of the Lions erected by the Nazians was so heavily accented, we gave up trying to
in the late 7th century BC. The lions, seated on their understand what he had to impart and settled
haunches, face east in the direction of the Sacred Lake instead for glorious sight impressions.

Roman water system Paul at the Monument to the Bulls

 SANTORINI
16

Another short plane ride took us to the

volcanic island of Santorini where the
utterly charming Hotel Heliotopos,
Helios(sun) and Topos(place) awaited
us. Great poets have sung Santorini’s
praises, from Homer to Elitis. A 4000
year history and the eternal rock conti-
nues to stand, rising proudly from the sea
and guarding well the secrets of Atlantis.
A crown of villages at a spectacular height
faces the famed volcano and the evening
sun which sets behind the sea. Phira is
the capital of the island on the rim of the
caldera it dominates. Most arrivals are
brought in by lighter from the cruise ships
and make the half hour climb by foot or by
burro to the upper village, where they
arrive with faces of puce and bathed in
sweat; if you’re a sissy, a cable car ride
takes only minutes. Santorini not only
yields its name to the chief island but to the
profoundly deep, dark basin composed of
5 surrounding Cycladic isles that form the
From the balcony of our room in the Hotel Heliotopos overlooking caldera or “kettle”. Phoenicians and
the caldera, I think I just joined the Greek gods on Mount Olympus Dorians settled here as early as 2000 BC
and probably one of the first Minoan
colonies. In 1520 BC a shattering volcanic
eruption destroyed the civilization, creating
yet another legend to add to the many
Lost Atlantis myths.
In order to explore the whole island, we
rented a Jeep and went north to the
charming village of Oia where I went for a
delicious swim (amid floating pieces of
white pumice) in the warm and crystal clea
waters of the Aegean sea. We soon
headed south for a highly recommended
visit to the archaeological digs of Akrotiri,
an amazingly intact Bronze Age town of
30,000 inhabitants, all of whom must have
escaped the burial of their city, as no
human remains or precious artifacts were
found. Mealtimes on this, our favorite
Greek island, sometimes were an extre-
mely rewarding affair, with wonderful lamb
dishes on the menu at Phira’s many invitin
tavernas and shopping for historical artifac
in all the curio shops became quite irresist
able. In a gracious gesture at check out,
our host, the hotel owner left us, along with
the bill, a cassette tape of some Greek
music I had particularly admired.
Donna in Oia, Santorini’s most picturesque village
and site of the sexy movie: “Summer Lovers”