Sunday 21 April or thereabouts
We have now been in Greece for a week and I fear, dear reader(s), that I have published nothing! I have, however, made extensive if somewhat erratic and disordered notes on our 7 days here.
My new nickname, given to me by a Bishop, is Titus on the grounds that Saint Paul used him for diplomatic purposes in his own missions abroad and that I, dubiously, have the semblance of diplomatic qualities. Some people in our group still can't tell one diplomat from another and confuse me with my fellow traveller and ex diplomatic colleague Hugh. So, Titus will have to do.
Greece can be confusing. Carefully demarcated tales of legend and history blur and blend in the inattentive mind. Each touches the other through custom and behaviour. People here respect old idols and traditions but pray to the "unknown God", as Saint Paul characterised the Christian god some 2000 years ago, a God that needed no man-made icons, and obey the Christian laws. Still, monuments built with human hands ad sweat, celebrate the old gods and walls or battlements protect their treasures. We saw plenty of them.
Such as this one, chosen at random from the 100s of photographs taken by Sharon. It is I think of the ramp leading up to a gallery on the Acropolis in Athens. There was a different god for each cave around or under the Acropolis even before this mighty structure was built.
On Friday the 19th we started a bus tour of Athens early due to a warning from the police that a demonstration or protest of some sort would close the city centre. Our quick tour took in Hadrian's Arch (how many Arches does one man need?); St Paul's Anglican Church to underline the liberal attitude of the Orthodox Church, the Botanic Gardens, Constitution Square and House of Parliament; the Grande Britannia Hotel chosen as the residence by King Otto of Bavaria - who turned out not to be a very satisfactory choice of King imposed on Greece by the European Powers; the Roman CAtholic Church of Saint Denis; the Academy of Greece with statues of Plato and Aristotle; another statue of Apollo; the first Olympic Stadium of 30 BC, marbled in the first century AD.
We climbed the hill of Mars across the slippery pinkish grey marble. I nearly lost my footing several times leading to a loss of confidence that I could retain my balance and fearful that I would come a cropper I moved ever more cautiously across the way.
We have now been in Greece for a week and I fear, dear reader(s), that I have published nothing! I have, however, made extensive if somewhat erratic and disordered notes on our 7 days here.
My new nickname, given to me by a Bishop, is Titus on the grounds that Saint Paul used him for diplomatic purposes in his own missions abroad and that I, dubiously, have the semblance of diplomatic qualities. Some people in our group still can't tell one diplomat from another and confuse me with my fellow traveller and ex diplomatic colleague Hugh. So, Titus will have to do.
Greece can be confusing. Carefully demarcated tales of legend and history blur and blend in the inattentive mind. Each touches the other through custom and behaviour. People here respect old idols and traditions but pray to the "unknown God", as Saint Paul characterised the Christian god some 2000 years ago, a God that needed no man-made icons, and obey the Christian laws. Still, monuments built with human hands ad sweat, celebrate the old gods and walls or battlements protect their treasures. We saw plenty of them.
On Friday the 19th we started a bus tour of Athens early due to a warning from the police that a demonstration or protest of some sort would close the city centre. Our quick tour took in Hadrian's Arch (how many Arches does one man need?); St Paul's Anglican Church to underline the liberal attitude of the Orthodox Church, the Botanic Gardens, Constitution Square and House of Parliament; the Grande Britannia Hotel chosen as the residence by King Otto of Bavaria - who turned out not to be a very satisfactory choice of King imposed on Greece by the European Powers; the Roman CAtholic Church of Saint Denis; the Academy of Greece with statues of Plato and Aristotle; another statue of Apollo; the first Olympic Stadium of 30 BC, marbled in the first century AD.
We climbed the hill of Mars across the slippery pinkish grey marble. I nearly lost my footing several times leading to a loss of confidence that I could retain my balance and fearful that I would come a cropper I moved ever more cautiously across the way.
I think this is me in the background trying to keep upright but there is a better photograph somewhere!
No comments:
Post a Comment