Epigraphical Museum: A great museum not worth your time (and money)

The title of the post is not meant as a joke, but as a quick capturing of what you need to know about the Epigraphical Museum. It is a specialized museum, hosting exclusively epigrams, that is inscriptions written on marble and stone from all over ancient Greece. It is the largest museum of its kind in the world, although you wouldn't know it from the size of the building and the exhibition rooms. I guess most of the artifacts are kept in storage rooms. An archaeologist specialized in the study of ancient Greece would probably have a field-day in here, but for the rest 99.99% of the population this is probably not the most exciting place in the world. If you think of checking it out just out of curiosity -it is practically next door to the National Archeological Museum- the 3Euro ticket (reduced tickets: 2€) will probably deter you. Who knows! Maybe, it's even meant to deter you, so as to avoid any unwelcome breaking of inscriptions by careless visitors! Explanatory signs are written in Greek and English, but some larger, informative wall posters are only written in Greek.

 

Entrance of the Epigraphical Museum, 1 Tositsa St., Athens, Greece

Anyway, I did manage to find a handful of things that were of interest: 

• First, an ancient voting machine, of the kind used by Athenians to count votes on specific proposals put forward by their fellow citizens, or to vote on ostracizing those deemed unwelcome. I think this is a major exhibit, at least from a political point of view, and I'm surprised that it's ended up in this no man's land of a museum. Its rightful place should probably be at one of the 2 major museums (the National Archaeological or the Acropolis).
• Then, a couple of inscriptions written in the "boustrophedon" type of writing. The word, meaning "like the turn of the ox tail", describes a peculiar type of ancient writing, where the 1st row begins "normally", from left to right, but the 2nd row starts from the right and goes left, with letters also "looking" to the the left. Then, the 3rd row follows the direction of the the 1st and the 4th one the direction of the 2nd, etc... I did come across this type of writing a few years ago,  by cause of a book of modern Greek palindromes, written by my wife, if I may say so [I think I should add a link to the book for the speakers of Greek among you, now that I think of it!] So, these particular epigrams rang close to home.
• Finally, the museum is interesting from an architectural point of view. Two of the rooms have large -protected- glass windows that look to the front yard, with natural light coming in from all over the place and there's a front yard and a back yard, the latter of which is practically connected to the National Archaeological Museum.

One of the halls of the National Epigraphical Museum in Athens, Greece

But I think, that sums it up pretty well, and most of you will likely find something else to spend your limited time in Athens!

 

The back yard of the National Epigraphical Museum, at 1 Tositsa St., Athens, Greece.

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A Greek book suggestion - Vassilis Alexakis

I was planning on writing a restaurant presentation today. I liked the concept of the restaurant (and still do), I liked the food (both times we've been to this place), I liked the waitresses' behavior. Yet, somehow the place managed to convey a kind of disrespect for clients; in several ways... I won't get into details; maybe I'll give it another shot in the near future.

For the moment, I think it's a better idea to provide a suggestion on a Greek book and a Greek author. Perhaps as an idea for some summer reading. Take a look at "Foreign Words"; the first (and so far the only) novel of acclaimed Greek-French author Vassilis Alexakis to be translated into English.

You may read the reviews and buy it from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk. If you're a French-speaker there's a good chance you're already familiar with the work of Alexakis, but if not, I highly suggest checking him out.

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C.P.Cavafy - 150 years from his birth, 80 years from his death

C.P. Cavafy (Constantinos Cavafis), the most important modern Greek poet, was born 150 years ago today (April 29, 1863) and died 80 years today (April 29, 1933) in Alexandria, Egypt. Two Greeks -both poets- have been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature but Cavafy was not one of them. However, he is widely considered to be the greatest and most influential of Greek poets, transcending the barriers of language, ethnicity and time to appeal to persons from all walks of life without even letting you suspect that his poems were written 100 years ago.

A bust of C.P. Cavafy has been placed on Plateia Egyptou (i.e. Egypt's Square) at the corner of Alexandras Ave. and Patission St.

Bust of C.P. Cavafy, Plateia Egyptou, Athens, Greece

The side inscription, in Greek, informs us that it is a gift from Anestis Papastefanou, Honorary President of the Association of the Greek diaspora of Egypt, while a smaller carving on the side reveals that it was created by sculptor Costas Valsamis in 1982.

Bust of C.P. Cavafy (side-inscription), Plateia Egyptou, Athens, Greece

As I've written elsewhere, "Ithaca", his most famous poem, was one of only a handful of readings I remember from my school days and that is not accidental. 

Athens-wise, there is also a small street named after Cavafy, at the Kato Patissia neighborhood, and a few others, all minor side-streets, in the suburbs. All in all, a total of 1440meters -less than a mile- of roadway (as measured through Google maps) dedicated to the greatest Greek poet ever born. Considering the overall state and ethic of Greek town administrations it's no surprise and  probably it's for the better after all.

View Places related to C.P. Cavafy in a larger map

There will be various events comemmorating his birth (and death) this year in Greece, but the best thing you can do is pick up one of his books and really delve into his poetry. You may find translations in various languages, including English.
C.P. Cavafy in Amazon.com
C.P. Cavafy in Amazon.co.uk

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Walking along Leoforos Alexandras (Alexandras Avenue) - part 1

As the weather gradually gets warmer I'll be doing some more "walking" posts for you, presenting streets and neighborhoods of Athens. This time it's Alexandras Avenue (Leoforos Alexandras), which is a major thoroughfare running in a west to east direction (and vice-versa, with 3 lanes each way), from the center (almost) of Athens to the neighborhood of Ambelokipi and Kifissias Avenue which then takes you to the northern suburbs of Psychiko, Filothei, Halandri, Maroussi and Kifissia. It acts as the northern boundary of the Inner Athens Ring Road.

Leoforos Alexandras (Alexandras Avenue) street sign

Alexandras starts at the intersection with Patission St. The road has a slight upward slope moving this way but the large sidewalks make it easy to walk. The first thing you see is the small Plateia Aigyptou (Egypt Square) that has been partly turned into a bus station (with a parking underground). Here, and in the adjoining Mavromataion St., is the Athens starting point for suburban buses traveling to Attica (the wider region of Athens) and destinations such as Cape Sounio, Marathon, Porto Rafti, Rafina, etc. [For transport directions to / from Rafina and Lavrio click here]

Suburban bus station at Plateia Aigyptou (Alexandras Ave. & Mavrommateon St.) 

On the left hand side you will also find a bust of famous late Greek poet 'Constantinos Cavafis', internationally known as C.P. Cavafy. If you haven't read any of his poems (his work is translated into many languages) I really recommend picking up one of his books or a collection [Check out  Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk]. I only remember a couple of poems from my high-school years and his ("Ithaka") was one of them. It may ring a bell to you that this was the poem read during Jackie Kennedy Onassis' funeral by her companion back in 1994. 

Next, on the left again, is the main entrance of Pedion Areos (a.k.a. Pedio tou Areos) ("Champs de Mars" in French...); the largest urban park in the boundaries of the city of Athens. It underwent a significant renovation a couple of years ago but has remained half-finished and management problems still linger. However, many people choose to come here for a weekend walk or for their kids to find a chance to get out of the apartment and play and when it's sunny it's a really nice place to be.

Pedio tou Areos park - Main entrance at Mavrommateon & Alexandras - Statue of former King of Greece Constantine

Across the street from the Pedio tou Areos, is the recently renovated Park Hotel, since 2012 a member of the Radisson hotel chain. At 26 Alexandras & Notara St. you will see the well-kept neoclassical building housing the Austrian Archaeological Institute of Athens.

Austrian Archaeological Institute in Athens

If you venture to the right you enter the neighborhood of Exarchia which is quite popular with students but has had its ups and downs as far as calm and safety are concerned. To your left is the other main entrance of Pedion Areos, with the Column of the Goddess Athena gazing proudly ahead.

At 50 Alexandras is a humble, local institution, at least for college students low on money. Ouzeri "Tiniako" serves ouzo, beer and a variety platter of mostly fried fare at very low prices. The upper floor houses (or used to house) the brotherhood of people originating from the island of Tinos (hence the name).

58 Alexandras has an impressive billboard full of mean looking characters, as it's an internet cafe and game zone. There are many narrow streets to your right and as the sun shines through the grey alleys you may catch some interesting views, like the one below towards Strefi Hill.

Graffiti in a narrow alley near Exarcheia

View towards Strefi Hill from Alexandras Avenue

Soon after, you reach a long strip of greenery that goes on for a couple of blocks on your right hand side, which is the Plateia Argentinis Dimokratias (Argentine Republic Square). It has, appropriately, a statue of Argentinian General Jose de San Martin at the upper end and a statue of the founder of the Greek Scouting movement, Athanassios Lefkaditis, at the lower end. These are no "sights" by any means, but I thought you might be curious to know about them if you've ever been a Scout ...or an Argentinian! The last Athens mayor surely wanted us to know, as the statue of Lefkaditis, erected in 1967, has an additional white marble plaque glued on it with the name of the 2008 mayor...! That was probably the last time this statue was cleaned and I wouldn't be surprised if City Hall threw a cocktail party to celebrate their achievement!

Plateia Argentinis Dimokratias - Bust of Athanassios Lefkaditis, founder of the Greek Scouting movement

Plateia Argentinis Dimokratias - Playing dominoes 

Plateia Argentinis Dimokratias - Kids playing around a fountain

Plateia Argentinis Dimokratias - Bust of  Argentinian General Jose de San Martin 

Plateia Argentinis Dimokatias (to the left) and Alexandras Avenue, looking back towards Patission St.

Next is an interesting apartment building, across the street, with something like a "roof garden" or "green roof" or whatever you want to call it. I probably wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't been out shooting pictures for the blog.

Athens block of flats with roof greenery - Alexandras Avenue

I'll end this first part with an unusually interesting graffiti found above a gas station, right after Plateia Argentinis Dimokratias.

Athens graffiti above gas station - 100 Alexandras Avenue

For the second part of Leoforos Alexandras make sure you come back in a week [click here for part 2].

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Athens Staycation 2010 (pt.2)

Monday, 2010-04-19 (continued from pt.1)
It was movie night tonight. We went to the Trianon cinema, in the center of Athens, to watch "Greenberg", starring Ben Stiller. We both thought it was a rather boring film. Trying to be an alternative to typical Hollywood movies but rather ending up falling flat on its ...sleepy face.

By the way, the naming of movie theaters in Greece is an interesting reflection of the increasing or decreasing influence of foreign / dominant cultures. Many movie theaters used to have French or French-sounding names and many still do, mostly older and independent movie theaters, bearing names such as Etoile, Ideal, Palace, Philipe, (all three pronounced as in French), Petit-Palais, Ciné-…, Trianon, etc. These theaters were built when French cinema was at its prime and French was the language that all "good families" wanted their Greek daughters to learn. There was even an expression about good children been brought up learning "French and piano"! In recent years, English-sounding names have been the norm for new multiplexes like "Village Cinemas" (pronounced as in English) while a good number still bears Greek names, often with an archaic undertone. But mostly new movie theaters are no longer being built. On the contrary, many have been torn down and turned into e.g. supermarkets during the last 20 years.

Tuesday, 2010-04-20
Morning spent at the gym. Later on it was...

...movie night again! This time we went to the Nea Ionia municipal cinema, named Asteras, to watch "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire". Municipal cinemas are supposed to run non-commercial films (European, Greek and independent American films) but sometimes they also run Hollywood films, especially when these are not big hits in Greece or in the summertime, when a movie is no longer shown in commercial cinemas. Anyway, 'Precious' was a great film, much exceeding my expectations, not that I really had something concrete in mind as I prefer to know as little as possible about a film before watching it. And it was very interesting to see 3 first class singers starring in this movie and all of them doing a great job. Highly recommended!

Wednesday, 2010-04-21

In the morning we went to the Psyrri' neighborhood, near the center of Athens and the Traditional Meat Market, at the "a.antonopoulou art" gallery to see a photo exhibition by photographer Yorgis Yerolympos called "Road Trip: USA. 16994.61". Great photographs (landscapes and cityscapes) from his 2-month long, coast-to-coast road trip across the USA.

Later on we tried to get into another photo exhibition but it was... hidden inside a restaurant and we didn't feel like walking around tables, with people having lunch, trying to spot out the hidden photographs :) So, we decided to go for lunch instead. The first restaurant we had in mind was not open at around 5.00pm (considered late noon / early afternoon for Greek standards), so instead, we went to a restaurant named "Fasoli" ("Bean"), in the center of Athens (at the corner of Ippokratous and Navarinou streets). The food (Greek cuisine with a mixture of modern and traditional touches) was very tasty (esp. the mushrooms filled with cheese mixture) but the portions were small and the tables were impressively badly designed! They only had 4-5 wines (the menu only listed their house wine) and a very basic selection of local beers.

So, we wouldn't have a problem recommending it for a short lunch if you're in the neighborhood but you don't need to go out of our way to dine here.

Thursday, 2010-04-22
We mostly stayed indoors. Staycation or no staycation, you do need a little rest from time to time. Nice to be able to wake up... hummm,....later than usual!

Friday, 2010-04-23

View to the West of Athens from Tourkovounia hills / Attiko Alsos park

Early in the morning, after finishing up with some household errands, we completed our walk up in the Tourkovounia hills (mentioned a couple of weeks ago), this time walking inside the "Attiko Alsos" park, the interior part of the top of the hills. The park was recently renovated and should be a welcome addition for the residents of Athens, Galatsi and Psychiko (although the latter ones already have their fair share of green and public spaces) even if most will come here by car (getting to... instructions have been provided in my previous post). Here are a few more photos from the park and from the wonderful views from it (even though it was a hazy day, totally unsuitable for photography).

View of some luxury apartments in the Psychiko suburb with the suburb of Maroussi and the Athens Olympic Stadium in the background (notice the Santiago Calatrava-designed roof)

Some luxury apartments in the Psychiko area, with the Athens Olympic Stadium and its Santiago Calatrava-designed roof in the background. Thinking of my co-workers being trapped inside an office somewhere down there, while I was under this beautiful tree's shadow made it all that more enjoyable  :)

Nice, safe-looking, newly built playground. Not your average Athens playground!

Turtle, marching at full-speed! There was a really big... colony of turtles in the park!

There's a... rudimentary 1982 Greek documentary on the settlement of Tourkovounia hills and its inhabitants. If it sounds interesting you may watch some excerpts (w/o subtitles) at the site of the Greek Film Center Digital Archive, here. Click on "Documentation" - top right - and explore the sub-sections.

We had long wanted to see live a Greek band called Himerinoi Kolimvites (meaning 'Winter Swimmers') mostly known for the distinctive voice of Argyris Bakirtzis and we finally made it tonight. The band has been around for decades and has had a relative share of success in Greece and, purportedly, the Far East (Korea and Japan)! Theirs is a really distinctive blend of music, easily hoping from oriental rebetika music to occidental choir music or from their idiosyncratically-themed songs about varied subjects such as a bicycle rider or insecticide spayers to a song version of a poem by Nobel Prize Laureate Odysseas Elytis. You can sample and buy some of their music at Amazon.com and also check out some of their songs on Youtube for free. Their live show was just beyond any expectations we might have had, although I suppose non-speakers of Greek would have missed a lot since Bakirtzis really shines on stage and could have easily been a stand-up comedian! Actually, he is an Architect as his main... day-time job. It's a pity that Greek radio and TV is mostly flooded with trash instead of music like this. But at least, these guys have managed to shine through, and become known to a good part of the public. The music hall where they played is called "Stavros Tou Notou", it's located fairly close to the Fix Metro Station.

Saturday, 2010-04-24
Waking up late, we went to the Benaki Museum (the Odos Pireos building) to see the Ansel Adams photography exhibition. The new building of the Benaki Museum at Odos Pireos 138 has been a cultural oasis ever since it opened a few years ago, providing a modern and elegant space to host all kinds of art exhibitions and cultural events that did not have the proper space to be hosted till recently. The Ansel Adams

exhibition consisted of 72 black & white photographs, selected by the artist himself during his last years and attended by his daughter, Anne Adams-Helms. A great occasion to see photograph prints that till now we could have only seen in magazines or books.

 
 
 

Right after that, full of art and beautiful landscapes, we got into the car and ventured to the Attica village of Kapandriti (25km north of Athens), with the equally enticing prospect of some finely grilled lamb chops (pa-i-da'kia). The tavern where we sat had been proposed by a friend and was certainly an interesting find for us food-wise but the service was a bit amateurish and annoying so we probably wouldn't propose it to someone visiting town (hard to get there and not worth your time with so many alternate choices in Metro Athens).

Sunday, 2010-04-25
Household errands, cleaning up my PC files and ...blogging! This stuff is not written on its own you know!

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Athens Staycation 2010 (pt.1)

We have been planning this for quite some time and finally we can both spend a staycation in Athens. (I just found out there's even a book about... staycations, listed here in Amazon.) I suppose our schedule (not that we have a very strict schedule but we'll try to fit in as many things as possible) will give you an idea about the types of attractions one may find in Athens these days. So, on...

Saturday, 2010-04-17

we first went to the Public superstore in the center of Athens, at Syntagma Square, to a book-signing by Greek writer Antonis Sourounis (short bio in German). The whole thing was a bit of a let-off, not because of the writer -I sensed that he himself was also a bit taken aback- but because of the way the thing was organized. It was just a book-signing. No talk, no discussion, nothing else. (The only work by Sourounis translated in English that I've managed to find is a story included in the volume The Livelong Day: Working in the World (Icarus World Issues Series), although several of his novels have been translated into German and French).

But Public has a very nice atrium-cafeteria at the 5th floor, with a view towards Syntagma Square, and it even seemed to be smoke-free! So we spent an hour there lazying around.

Later in the evening, we attended a concert, at FuzzClub, by Ethio-jazz master Mulatu Astatke & the Heliocentrics, a British group that accompanies him in his touring. I had also been to Astatke's last concert in Athens last summer, at Synch Festival, so going for a second time in less than a year was a big gamble, but I was happy for it in the end because they were all a great band of musicians and it was a pleasure to watch them live again. Thankfuly, the air-conditioning system at Fuzz seemed to work quite well (not always the case) so smoking was not a problem. If only the guys behind the bar did not have the horrible habit of breaking glass bottles during the concert...! What a piercing noise that was! Oh, and I can't get over the fact that some people (is it just Greeks?) seem to be going to concerts with no care for the music whatsoever. They keep talking, cheering, yelling, as if the whole thing is about themselves feeling happy or just being cool, and not about the music itself. If people would just listen to the music!

Sunday, 2010-04-18

Early morning wake-up for a visit to the Presidential Mansion's garden. This is something new, as the Presidential Mansion had never been open for the general public until now. A nice initiative from the acting President of the Republic. The Mansion is located at Irodou Attikou St., facing the National Garden, but the entrance for the Mansion's garden is from the Vasileos Georgiou Defterou St. (bottom right in the Google map below)

View Larger Map

Unfortunately, people on wheelchairs cannot access the garden as you have to climb up and down some fairly large marble stairs to get to it.

It's a formal style garden, that is of a fairly strict, geometric design.




 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Sculptures of various styles and periods dot the lawn. Every year, on July 24, the President gives a reception in the Mansion's garden as this is the day that Greeks celebrate the restoration of democracy, after the 1967-1974 junta.

The garden opens for the general public from 10:00 am to 2:00pm on Sundays (unless it's an official holiday) and you need to have a passport to get in. There is a small queue but you don't need more than 30 minutes to walk around and get a good feel of the garden.

You could easily combine this with a walk in the, much larger, next-door National Garden and then have a coffee at the "Aigli" café - restaurant next to Zappeion Megaro (Zappeion Mansion). "Aigli" has top quality coffees, shakes and pastries (on the expensive side) but the service was rather mediocre on this busy Sunday morning.

In the evening, we went to see a play (which was actually 2 monologues), starring 70-year old, long-time actor and theatrical director Takis Vouteris. The plays were written by Yorgos Maniotis and Iakovos Kambanelis or Kabanellis or Kampanellis. I bet you didn't know that Athens has a real fascination with theater (or theatre :) ) and more than 400 plays went up on Athens' stages last year. There are more than 110 theatrical venues and some small productions come up in alternate venues like cafés or bars.



(Continue here for part 2 of our 2010 Athens staycation)

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