Category Greece
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The Bendy Pillars of Perfection at the Acropolis
There was a guy who would occasionally drop into my reading group. He was smart but seemingly unfamiliar with the Western canon. We’d read a Shakespeare play and he’d be like “Oh, actually this was quite good—that Shakespeare fellow, I think he was on to something!” It was refreshing and in a way I was […]
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The Adonis of the Cell Phone Charging Station: A brief history of free-standing Greek sculpture in Athens
I guess I had a decent understanding of Greek sculpture before visiting Athens, but it helped me a lot to see it in person. So here’s a quick art history lesson from my visits to National Archeological and the Acropolis Museums, broken down into three time periods: The Archaic Period (650 – 480 BC) If […]
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Passage of the Merchants, Athens
Just outside of Athens’ Syntagma square, there’s a vacant arcade that must have been quite a hip center of retail in the mid-20th century. In the 21st century it seems to mostly serve as a place for sneaking a smoke (and judging by the smell, a covert bathroom break). Flanking the arcade are vintage-cool stores, […]
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Picnic With the (Occasionally Drooling) Cats of Athens
I’m in Athens where I’m having a hard time following my sight-seeing agenda because I just want to walk around and see things like this precious Byzantine church which is between an H&M, a TGI Fridays and a dude pimping energy drinks. What Athens also has is cats. So obviously I have to stop and […]