Mini-Cruise of the Islands

(ATHENS, GREECE) On Thursday, Dec. 17, Jerry went on to Istanbul for another conference, while I stayed behind in Athens. Thurs. morning we both went to the Byzantine Museum and during lunch in Syntagma Square we watched the general strikers--Mike told us the day before in Delphi that they have these strikes about twice a month, just for the unions to make a point. Note: They also had a small Andy warhol exhibit since it was also about icons. Then Jerry left to catch his plane and I took one of the City Tours. I had seen a lot of what was covered including the Acropolis and the Agora, but it was good to get a feel for the whole city. I also got a much better look at the Academy of Arts and Scienes which was decorated with beautiful statues of Athena and Apollo. Someone had spray painted the word RESIST on the columns.

The next day, I was up at 6 a.m. for a very touristy cruise to three Greek islands--Agina, Poros and Hydra. The passengers were about 20 percent American and European and the rest were Asian, but overwhelmingly Japanese. We basically had about an hour in each port to stroll around the picturesque waterfront area.In Agina, for an extra 25 Euros, we could take a tour of the temple to Apheia, the river goddess (pictured).

I latched onto an older American couple from Florida and by coincidence, the husband had his wallet stolen at the same metro as Jerry. So here's another travel tip--when in Athens avoid the Monasteriki station. By another coincidence, the husband was a classmate of Gore Vidal at Philip Exeter and I was reading Hollywood by Vidal at the time.

Of the three islands, I liked Hydra (pronounced HEE-dra) best. The waterfront was full of stray dogs and cats and donkeys--there are no cars allowed because the streets are so narrow, so the donkeys are the main means of transportation. I wandered around and took shots of fishermen, donkeys, churches, brightly painted windows, old men and little boys pushing carts--there are no cars, remember.

After Hyrda, we had lunch on board. The American couple and I sat with three people from Egpyt. Poros was next and not as cute as Hydra, but I got a great shot of a fisherman mending his net. I just tried to upload it and stupid Blogger erased everything I had written since the last upload. So I'll put that in a separate post.

Then in Agina, we took a bus out to the mountain to see the temple of the river goddess. We were on the bus with the Chinese people. Our guide from the boat--a cigarette-voiced woman who sounded like Melina Mercouri, it seems all Greek women sound like that--would tell us about the pistachio nut trees and the legend of the island, then hand the microphone to the Chinese guide.

We had 20 minutes at the temple and it was very tourist-y with four busloads of people from the boat taking pictures. But it was worth the trip because it was sunset and the effect was quite dramatic against the ancient columns. Of course, there was a souvenir stand where we were sold pistachio nut ice cream--a huge slab of it with goat cheese for four Euros.

Back in the town I walked around and almost missed the boat. They had pulled the gangplank back and the sea was incredibly choppy. I had to run all the way back from the dock. "Can you swim?" asked a crew member, but then he put the gangplank back. I was the last one on board. On the cruise back, we were given a "Greek folklore show" with two dancers in traditional costumes and a comic who did impressions of Elvis Presley, cats from different countries (saying meow in various accents), and dressed in drag as frumpy cleaning woman.

Back in Athens, I had the bus drop me off near the Plaka and I found a nice restautant where I had lamb wrapped in grape leaves. At the next table two flight attendants bitched about their jobs and it was more entertaining than the folklore show. Then back to the hotel and I watched Al Jazeera and BBC. The next day Jerry would return from Turkey and it would be the last full day in Greece.

Hey, Mister Wilson!!!!!

The first thing I thought of when the media uproar started over Rep. Wilson shouting "You lie" to President Obama was "These people has obviously never watched the House of Commons in session." I recall seeing the Prime Minister adressing that body and being assailed by members with cries of "No! No!" But then the PM is not technically the head of the British government and he or she traditionally appears before the House every week and answers questions. I was disappointed that Wilson's outburst is receiving more coverage than the President's speech and the subsequent catfights between the right and the left on Fox and MSNBC, on chatboards, etc., and the stupid arguments it has engendered. Right-wing people are saying "Oh, but Obama called Hillary a liar during the primary. And Democrats booed W. during his state of the union. What a double standard." Yes but I don't think one Dem ever called W. a liar during an address before Congress--and if one did, the Reps would have called for a trial from treason. Wilson has a right to call Obama a liar if that's what he believes--just as every Dem. had a right to call Bushie and his dark overlord Cheney a liar. But it's incivil and inappropriate to do so during an address to Congress. BTW, I loved Nancy Pelosi's expression at the outburst--like a strict principal with an auditorium full of unruly high-school students making her look bad in front of a distinguished visitor.

The heckling and signs and texting are indications that this is how the Reps want to conduct the business of the people now--like the ugly town halls this summer. They think it's OK to act like it's the Jerry Springer show. Scream real loud to make your point.

Also I love that Wilson's opponent Miller raised $500K in the past two days while Wilson has collected $200K. The people who have given money to Wilson probably love that he shouted at Obama. They probably think the man has no right to be President and is trying to destroy the country they are used to--a country where everyone in charge is white and thinks like they do; a country where if you can't pay your way or if you have some bad luck, you wind up in the gutter and you deserve it--until it happens to them.

I do think there is too much reaction to Wilson's brief outburst and we should concentrate on the the President's speech and how it has changed the landscape on health care reform. Through his eloquence, the President was able to change the minds of several people; another similarity between himself and Lincoln. I'm reading Gore Vidal's novel about the 16th President and there are a lot of parallels between him and the 44th. Both several briefly in Congress, are from Illinois, came into office in times of trouble and are being villified by insurrectionists who want to secede from the union.

Note: The title of the blog is a reference to Dennis the Menace who would call to his neighbor Mr. Wilson at the top of his lungs. Keith Olbermann used the same reference last night.