Pictures of Greece

[Ülev]

[PHDNM]

Santorini

[The Lawspeaker]

A review of my flight with Aegean Airlines from Athens to London Heathrow in Business Class on an A321.
Flight time: 3hr51min
Flight: A3602
Aircraft type: A321
Aircraft reg: SX-DGP
Aircraft age: 12 years
Ticket cost: £103 for economy class ticket and free upgrade using 1/4 vouchers from Gold Status

[The Lawspeaker]

Plaka - in Athens:

[The Lawspeaker]

Meanwhile rail transport in Greece is changing as well:

2018:

With TrainOSE now being a member of the FSI group, high-speed emu ETR 485-031 travelled from Italy to Greece to perform a number of test runs, followed by its official presentation at the beginning of the 83rd Thessaloniki International Fair, including a special service between Thessaloniki and Katerini, during which the maximum speed of 213 km/h was achieved. Its arrival, test runs and presentation special train can be seen in this video. As the Exhibition ends, the emu will return to Italy. However, according to Mr. Tsalidis, the C.E.O. of TrainOSE, within a few years, similar multiple units will take over high speed services throughout the Athens – Thessaloniki mainline.

[The Lawspeaker]

The Olympias, a reconstruction of an Athenian trireme, the kind of boat that gave the Persians something to think about during the Battle of Salamis (480 BC). This boat was built between 1985 and 1987 and is now an officially commissioned warship in the Hellenic Navy. Of course, it's unlikely to see any form of action and its commission is purely ceremonial, however it is considered an important cultural asset, having undertaken various trips and sea trials (including carrying the Olympic Torch during the Olympic Games of 2004). Its trips proved to be a vital in proving ancient theories and descriptions (like those by Thucydides) right (even with an mixed and inexperienced crew).

The Olympias is a full-size replica of an ancient Greek Trireme warship, co-designed by John Coates, naval architect and historian and one of the founders of the modern BRLSI. This video shows Olympias undergoing sea trials in 1990. It was shot by Christopher Miles, and features a commentary written by John Coates and read by his son Julian. Edited for BRLSI by Paul Stephens. This video will be shown at a BRLSI lecture on Greek Triremes by Professor Boris Rankov (who appears in the video) on 11th October 2011. Visit www.brlsi.org (choose 'Poster Gallery') for more details.

A funny detail what I remember from my time in school was an ancient quote about the positions of the rowers which were subdivided in three layers or classes: the thranitai (who sat on the deck), the zygitai (who took up the middle position) and the thalamitai which sat below the zygitai. I remember that my history teacher once taught us, and don't laugh, that the position of the poor thalamitai arranged in such a way that the zygitai would "pas gas in the mouths of the group, the thalamitai, below them". This seems to have a genuine ancient description and I remember that it also appeared in the school book - however I can't remember who originally said it - as one can tell from the video - the description regarding the positions is also correct.

[The Lawspeaker]

[ 9:40 ] Sindos
[ 14:48 ] Axios
[ 19:05 ] Adendro
[ 23:56 ] Plati
[ 32:10 ] Eginio
[ 42:24 ] Korinos
[ 46:12 ] Katerini
[ 54:04 ] Litohoro
[ 58:04 ] Leptokarya
[ 1:04:00 ] Neoi Poroi
[ 1:10:16 ] Rapsani
[1:16:28 ] Evagelismos
[ 1:27:34 ] Larissa

[Ülev]

[brennus dux gallorum]

Katakolo, a tiny hidden beauty of the Ionian sea in peloponnese

[PHDNM]

Nafpaktos