Day 18: Reintroduction to Athens (a good long day)

We are officially back in Athens, back in action, without any clue how the day would go. Some interesting Athenians agreed to meet up: a pianist who was introduced to us through Vasilios of Peristera, a political analyst that Fra was really excited to meet, and a journalist from Cafe Babel Greece who was just as eager to share her perspective and to help walk us through the Athens experience.

Day 17: Back to Athens Prelude: The Royal Thai Encounter

After the brief "holiday" in Agios Ioannis, it's now time to head back to Athens. This time for much longer.

Day 16: Agios Ioannis

Driving to Agios Ioannis felt like a roller-coaster ride in slow motion. It all started after Volos, around sunset, when 25kms worth of curves HAD to be traversed. Steep and twisty, many roads didn't register on the GPS, but that was the least interesting part. Tiny villages with only men (visible), young and old, at the bar, looking at you like some intruder and then, masses and masses of lush green pine and bush straight out of a fairytale.

Day 15: Art and Travel

The lack of suitable titles has led me to label this post 'Art and Travel'. This led me to think about traveling as an art and art as a means of travel. I'd say that both suit each other well and work together in the best possible way - considering also how in the worst possible circumstances while traveling, creativity always saved us. Danae and Vasilios seem to be the human representation of these two separate subjects yet upon close inspection one can conclude that they do, in fact, resemble each other. The warm sunny morning allowed us to interview them while sitting on the grass beside olive trees.

Day 14: New Peaks

Today was chuck-full of experiences. I'd say new peaks were reached both literally - hiking up a mountain peak, eating some delicious local food, and also emotionally, broke down.

It was good to be in the company of both Vasilios and his girlfriend Danae, who both also experienced some intense non-stop traveling together. In fact, they both made the record of biking from Olympia, origin of the olympic games, all the way to Beijing, China during the 2008 olympic games. More on their journey HERE.

Day 13: Farm life in Peristera

Vasilios Mesitides, our host, turned out to be the first Greek to travel around the world by bike.Literally by bike, which meant 14 months 54000 km through 40 countries on 4 continents. Its the stuff of movies what he did yet he went on about it so casually while cooking us a delicious asian stir-fry (we try to limit our amazement at this point).

Day 12: Sleepless in Katerini

Day 11: Coal Plants

This was the only thing about Kozani everyone was right about: Coal-powered electrical plants. Its true that there are many surrounding the city but not too near from it. We went to visit one and tried to gain access into its premises - to no avail. A bit frustrated we walk back to the car and meet a worker on his way out. It makes us consider the many other dimensions of the phenomenon of power plants. Theres the dimension of work/jobs that provide for thousands of families, theres the dimension of energy that is being utilized by the city, by people who work, students, hospitals, machinery. Its a big web that binds everybody, even without you knowing. Sustainability is still ideal and should be aspired and performed in all possible ways but on top of that, theres the great challenge of educating people out of their dependency on the machinery that binds them. For that to happen, it will take some more time, more efforts, more experience.

Day 10: University in Kozani

We didn't know much about Kozani except that it was home to coal-powered electrical plants with air heavy of smoke and the clothes you hang to dry end up covered with soot, and basically, it is nothing of real interest for any foreigner or local - as told by some of the Greeks we met. Now that isn't exactly the most inviting description for any place but anyway, we looked forward to meeting Michalis, our host, a mechanical engineering student.

Day 9: Holy Meteora!

"Did you expect it to be like this?", Fra often asks me this question whenever we go to a new place and although my answer is often no, because I hardly expect anything and prefer to be surprised than disappointed, I did have an expectation of Meteora and it wasn't met. Instead, it surpassed everything I could have conceived in my brain and it was so powerful that it hit straight through me and made my soul grow. Grow and grow and grow! Wait a minute, I have a soul? Its a miracle.

Day 8: Lamia and Thermopyles

Two different places in one day.

Lamia - progressive city, small streets, big appetite, home of Nikos Tsonis, politician of the socialist party who agreed to be interviewed and offered to host us for a night. After taking us for a walk around town and shaking the hands of almost anyone in the streets, we learned quickly the importance of community, or at least connections, in any system of power.

Thermopyles - with its receeding shoreline that vaguely reminded us of Sumeria and Mesopotamia, grand cities of antiquity now transformed into the desert land of Iraq, we began to ponder how it would be in several decades to a century. Back in 480BC in this same spot 300 men from Sparta fought with thousands (nay, a million! -according to the little history plaque on site) of Persians. Now, there are olives covering the hills among ruins of an acropolis that probably fell after centuries of erosion, earth quakes or just the decaying effect of time and forgetfulness. We went all the way to the top and marveled at the unusual land and water formations unique to Greece. Its still absolutely stunning.

Day 7: Off the sea and back on the road again

4 days in Kythnos turned out to be much more than we expected. After the initial shock (met with a slight feeling of doom that can only be compared to being at the mercy of gods), we went in and flowed with the flow anyway. Foreigners don't often ponder their ignorance which, in our case, was exactly the case. However, this seemed to work out extra well as we went from adventure to surprise each and every single day. The landscape and its bare furnishings was clearly not the end of the story. All the people we met, the places we walked and swam to with its little nooks and corners, witnessing the light bounce off our cheeks and on the hills, changing colors and smelling different smells, tasting different tastes - just so many things have touched us, shaken us from not abiding to the law of "Do not Judge a book by its cover".

Experience like this makes you happy about being wrong sometimes. It makes surprises all the more surprising.

Day 6: Fishing for Treasure

2 things happened today:

1.) Fishing with a fisherman.

2.) Swimming over an archeological site.

For now, I'll have pictures explain what words cannot.

Day 5: First Encounters

Day two in Kythnos, still no sign of the Professor despite the proximity (the owner of the room informed us that we were staying right beside his room), we decide to take a walk around the port. We meet Marios, a marine biologist assigned in Kythnos, who shares with us some of his experience with the local fishermen. There beside the fish and the old women sitting and waiting for the next fresh catch, we hope to learn some more about this difficult job. After an hour with the locals sitting, smoking, sipping on cups of coffee, Mario finally explains that they are camera-shy and only "the most beautiful" president of the fishermen's association of Kythnos could agree to do an interview. After a few exchanges in english-hellenic, Marios as our middle-man, they agreed to meet us again the following day, early in the morning to experience the first catch.

Sometime around 6pm in the afternoon at a cafe near the port, we finally meet the Professor. After a brief exchage of introductions we head off to Chora, a nearby town, where the makeshift office/workshop is the old municipal hall, soon to be transformed into the first museum of island. I get to experience first-hand the work of an archeologist - brushing debris off an ancient piece of pottery! It was thrilling and it was even more interesting to be hearing stories of the challenges involved in archeological work. After hearing from the Professor himself, we grew to appreciate this profession as something beyond Indiana Jones or The Mummy, archeology is also hard and determined work. Despite that, the only grafitti on the workshop wall says, "I love my school". and I think that says it all.

Day 4: The Elusive Professor Mazarakis

It wasn't easy leaving Athens. One day without seeing the ancient ruins is like passing by Egypt without seeing the pyramids. Shame, shame.. But a certain Professor Mazarakis awaits us in Kythnos, an island we know nothing of, and this is enough for us to cross the sea and brave the unknown.

On board the ship we gather our materials, read some more of our printed bio on the Professor and his archeological work in Kythnos. Hes a well travelled man and has established himself in the field of archeology as an authority of the Greek archaic (ancient) period, sometime around or before written history. Hes held several talks in some of the biggest universities and is responsible for the biggest archeological discovery in Kythnos together with other Greek archeologists.

At the moment of arrival, looking out to see the island, we are met with shock. Hills and hills of rolling brown devoid of green and trees, and a cluster of white houses by the port was all there was and this made Fra shiver at the thought of not coming back mainland. This was our first taste of the dry Cycladic island terrain and who could prepare for such a sight after looking through too many pictures of luxury white hotels overlooking the sea. Clearly these were pictures of major touristic destinations like Mykonos or Santorini. This is Kythnos, a much simpler island with less than 1,500 inhabitants. Commercial tourism hasn't infected it at least and the thought of spending a couple of days in this strange land gave us a rush of energy.

Day 3: Meeting Athens

First thing in the morning, still in Delphi, enjoying the view, rushing for the last minutes of breakfast, we head off to the Temple of Athena, the guardian pre-empting every foreigner for the great Temple of Apollo and its many pilgrims who come to visit the Oracle.

For a moment I think about Athena, the virgin goddess, the woman fit enough to be a man. She embodies both female: wise, protective, and male: shrewd, mighty. She's the only god born not from the womb but straight out of the head of Zeus, her father the king. What a woman and what a difference with the character of Gaea, previous goddess of worship, vulnerable mother. Did the worship of Apollo and Athena (and the rest of the Olympians) mark societies' transition to the patriarchy? After all, the most famous Greek personalities have almost always been men or manly (in some cases, male-lovin' men). Greece is credited for the birth of western civilization with democracy, polis, and philosophy as some of its greatest contributions. Many conquests have expanded its borders and during its height reached the far end of the east towards Afghanistan and on the west heavily influencing the Romans, who copied many beliefs and ideals.

They say that the Mythology of a society also reflects its people. Perhaps amidst all the drama, as written by our ancient poets and sung by the old bards of the rise and fall of gods and goddesses, so did the lives of the ancient people animate and evolve. Could there be any link between ancient mythology and present-day telenovelas or TV soap operas? or at least, is there any wonder why, until today, masses of people from all over the world are entertained by these shows? Such a topic requires more time and perspective. Would love to hear what others think.

Finally on the edge of Athens. First thought, how in the world can anyone find their way here without GPS?

We go off towards the ancient city to meet Myrto, a documentary film-maker currently working on her latest project, Life in a City Full of Errors. Soon she will also be releasing her documentary called Crisis, a personal account on life in Athens amidst these recent problems. She spent some years in Barcelona and London for her work and studies until she decided to go back home to do something creatively, to help improve the current situation. Recently, BBC world featured her documentary. Shes also looking forward to submitting it to several festivals.

We meet her two friends, Yannis and a chef Cavalier member, who both have very interesting perspectives on the crisis and on broader world issues. Dinner was a mix of many different delicacies -all of them absolutely more delicious than the other. and of course, together with several shots of Rakia, a liquor similar to Grappa, our walk uphill was a light one.

We both had the pleasure of seeing part of Myrto's documentary. I liked it a lot and loved the personal perspective she shamelessly exposes through her shots, recorded conversations with people and experience on the streets. After hearing some of her own thoughts on her work, she confirmed to us the same message we felt at the end of watching Crisis - its still up to us. Our part may be small but many small great things is still much better than a mob of cynics.

Day 2: The Oracle of Delphi

First day in Delphi, first taste of ancient Greece. Walking from the little town towards the ruins features a most excellent perspective of the land from high up the mountains. It was nothing like what I expected it to be, but thats normal I guess, it was much much more. The ancient ruins sit facing a grand valley almost covered entirely with olive trees, which while passing by them on our way up, looked quite ancient as well.

We saw The Charioteer, the most acclaimed piece of sculpture according to the guide who spoke in such a slow yet loud manner, enunciating in such a way that reminded you of Discovery Channel documentaries. I think The Charioteer has really nice eyelashes, yes - he has eyelashes made of bronze and inlaid eyes that pierced through you.

My biggest curiosity in Delphi was the Oracle and unfortunately there weren't many answers for me on site. The locals knew few or just the very basics of its history, perhaps it was too hocus-pokus to retain in their memory. I did some research anyway and discovered that Apollo, the main god-boss of this region, defeated the serpent Python, a son of Gaea (earth mother goddess, the first object of worship before Apollo) who was said to rule over the land and by doing so, buried its remains under the ground. A crack in the mountain, where the dead Python lay, released some hallucinogenic fumes that made the Oracle speak.

Interestingly the symbol of the Python or snake used to be linked to wisdom. Take the ouroboros symbol of the snake eating its own tail, for example, and how it symbolized the endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth - constant renewal. In fact, the Caduceus, or the symbol for medicine and commerce reveals the serpent as well. Whats curious is how these symbols have evolved over history as Christianity began and replaced pagan beliefs and changed the meanings of symbols like the serpent into the devil. Being raised Catholic, I often notice pictures of the Virgin Mary stepping on the snake, the famous one who tricked Eve into biting into the forbidden apple of truth.

In the ancient ruins near the temple of Apollo is also the omphalos, or the navel of earth. The word Delphi also comes from two distinct greek words meaning "hollow" and "womb". Apollo himself was also known as Delphinio, or the Delphinian, "One from the Womb". Already a link is established between the former worship to Gaea, the mother goddess, the womb to which all life is born.

There is so much more to be explored as more and more links are established the more we discover and learn. Stay tuned.

Day 1: Arrival to Patras

24 hours of ferry is taking its tall on our necks. Slept maybe 2-3 hours, maybe just excited, had a tea and witnessed the first stop to Higoumenitsa around 6:30am, just in time for the sunrise.

Off we go from the boat to the road. The first signs in foreign alphabet made it clear that this is somewhere else indeed. Narrow busy streets, pedestrians walking, talking, and people on motorbikes without helmets zooming past. Feels like home.

After this brief introduction we enter the tollgate for this humongous bridge, completely unprepared for the price of €12.20. "What if you had to pick something up from the other side and you had to come back?", Fra wonders out loud. Its a sure sign of times-a-changin'.

Its probably safe to assume that driving from Patras to Delphi exposed the various landscapes and nature of Greece. Its amazing how immensely diverse it is. Some parts are completely bare and rocky and other parts are completely lush with pine trees all huddled together in a forrest-y mass.

Day 0: Ankon to Patras

Today we left from the port of Ancona, Italy, to Patras, Greece. First stop in Higoumenitsa, at the very north bordering with Albania, where our friends Laurentiu and Iuliana get off for some well-deserved vacation. It's a Balcanic scenery awaiting us: narrow streets and mountains of rock, the bay embracing entire towns like a lake. It's a sunny day, at least we made it half way with no problem. 24 hours of ferry takes us finally to the port of Patras where we set off for Delphi. The weather gets gloomy, it reminds a bit of Ancona ('ankon' in greek means 'elbow'), ancient Doric town that happens to be my hometown. The only Greek place in a region made of the Piceni, the local, short and loyal people that inhabited Marche. Ancona was founded a bit after Plato's stay in Syracuse, first as guest, then as a slave. Some people back then left their wealthy city to go explore more to the north. They were Greeks, just as the people we met today. We cannot say the same thing about italians, such a young people compared to its ancestors: roman, etrurian, celt or any people living in Italy when this was not even a nation.

The Greeks instead feel strongly about their national identity, the language did change, but the name stayed the same: Greeks.

We're finally on land and the limit already shows itself: if you don't know the islands, you don't know Greece. And that takes a lifetime, from Cyprus to Corfù, through Ithaca and Samotrakia, it would take a real Ulysses to claim rights over Greece.

Step 1 - Shoot

Photography by Roberto Bomfigli

This has to be one of the most interesting shoots I've been in. Just thinking about the various backgrounds of each individual, who, by the way, aren't professional actors at all, made it quite atopic. It was fun.

What:

So last week we did a shoot with some friends and members of Atopos portraying significant Greek figures. Using a bright green bedsheet as green screen, and also thanks to Roberto for lending his studio and lights to complete the set - VOILA, a workable production house IN the HOUSE. such a relief, big smiles all around as everyone took turns putting on their togas.

How:

We scheduled a date. Made arrangements. Used some random white fabric, ribbons and canvass as togas and door handles for brooches. Chose which characters to portray, contemplated on it. Came together and birthed the baby!

As Heraclitus says, "Panta Rei"/"Everything Flows", so do we.

Now on to Step 2.