The Greeks have a Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It is located outside of the Greek Parliament and is guarded by the Evzones, a ceremonial assignment within of the Greek Army.
We just were not a good match for either Athens or Istanbul. I really looked forward to visiting both. Our several prior trips to Europe were on trans Atlantic one-way cruises. We arrived in Europe refreshed, ready to go and with no jet lag. For this trip we flew to Athens prior to boarding a cruise ship and much of our time there was spent acclimating to the right time zone. Also, we are not much on going to museums and ancient ruins, which of course is what Athens is all about. It seemed as if the entire city was tagged with spray paint. Very, very few attractive painted murals, mostly sloppy tags.
Ministry of Silly Walks
The changing of the guard at the Greek Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
The small, square crisscrossing you may see in front of the sculpture is netting to keep the pigeons off.
I’m very hopeful you are familiar with the Monty Python skit where they had the Ministry of Silly Walks. This Greek setting must be where they got the idea. While the entire skit may be a bit much for some, at least watching the first minute or so will likely convince you this is the origin of the skit. Monty Python skit Ministry of Silly Walks
I do not think you get the whole picture of the changing of the guards through these photographs, fine as they are. So… let’s go to the video tape.
Please do not think less of me for looking… but one of these guards seemed to have some frayed lederhosen stockings. When will I learn to hold the phone in a horizontal position for videos??
Athens Fish Market
A fish market was directly across the street from our hotel in Athens. I really like fresh seafood and generally try to get as much of it as I can when traveling and near the ocean. I spent a lot of time wandering around this daily fish market, just amazed at the activity and method of displaying their goods and marketing. This type of a market is not at all unusual in Europe. We saw similar markets in Croatia. So imagine my surprise when we went to a local seafood restaurant and their menu stated all of their seafood is frozen!! They could have walked two blocks and got all the fresh seafood they needed. But Noooo. It was frozen.
This was one of possibly five rooms for the fish and meat market.
How can they sell so much fish in one day? Hummm… Maybe they don’t.
Well, now you know how to spell and say ‘squid’ in Greek.
I’ve seen this gruesome fish in other markets. I would have really liked to taste a dish made from this bad boy. What the heck is that tube in the mouth? Might be the best part. I’m thinking the mouth tube may be as popular in Greece as our Thanksgiving turkey wishbone.
I’ve been told to look at the eyes of the fish to help determine freshness. They should look full and vibrant, not dull and sunken in. Oh well, they all can’t be winners now can they.
The Meat Market
Are these cow tongues? How come the cow tongue in the skull is so white in comparison? It looks full size, yet a fraction in size of these other tongues. Would one buy an entire tongue or ask for half? What happens to the eyeball? Do you need a pot large enough for the entire skull? Does the cook smash the skull with a kitchen mallet? Why is one tongue so smooth and the other wrinkled? Not questions I was able to ask.
A chicken named Butch.
Athens, Covered in Graffiti
There is a LOT of graffiti! And it is on every single square block, little is spared.
It is not even very good graffiti. It is mostly tagging.
If you want to know more about graffiti, beautiful graffiti, here is a link from when I was in Valparaj Chile, describing their unique lettering and history. Valparaiso Graffiti
So goodnight to Athens and
Istanbul, Turkey
… good morning to Istanbul.
Sunrise in Istanbul
A lone fisherman in the glow of the morning sunrise.
Busy market place, a ‘prime’ stop on our cruise ship tour.
We are not shoppers in the best of times. We certainly are not shoppers when we have to cart our purchases around Europe for another four weeks. The shopkeepers are quite persistent in their sales tactics, making it even less pleasant. In the above photo I tilted the camera up above the crowd as I did not want them in the photo, but it was wall to wall tourists.
Somehow I doubt the locals come into a crowded, tourist filled mall to purchase their spices.
Istanbul would certainly have been a very different experience had we traveled like we used to and stayed in a rental home. But on this trip we are very limited in the time we can spend ashore and often bound by the tours provided by the ship.
Pigeons, Pigeons Everywhere
Most cities look down on pigeons, seeing them for the dirty, pesky birds they are, often banning the feeding of them. Not in Istanbul. Here they are a small industry of sorts.
The happy boy below found a dead pigeon and picked it up to the surprise of his mom. She eventually coaxes him to get rid of it. Instead of simply dropping it, the young lad gives it a good heave into the air. Imagine the surprise of the person who got hit with a dead pigeon falling from the air. I could have been telling a completely different story about how this bird must have died mid flight and fell right in front of me…
. Going…… going… gone…
… and here is the culprit of this whole dirty bird show. In between reading the racing forum, he sells cups of seeds for the pigeons. From the looks of him and his booth, I think he has done this for a while. Well, find what you are good at and stick with it. Probably not a lot of pressure, nor interesting stories to tell at dinner. I’m thinking if I tried to set up a booth in the same plaza, I would not be well received. He made no conversation or attempt to sell, people just knew what to do and how many Turkish Lira to leave.
Pigeon food for sale. Everyone, well mostly the kids and pigeons were having a good time….
…well not everyone was having a good time. Notice the lady in the middle has black dirt or ash on the bridge of her nose. I wonder what that is about?
If I was to name the photo above, I would call it “Three Birds.”
Cats, Cats and More Cats
I asked one of our bus drivers “What’s the deal with all the cats?”
Cats apparently have quite an important significance in Turkish culture. They symbolize good luck and are respected by the community. Cats have been a part of the urban landscape for centuries. AI says it is a blend of cultural, historical and social factors. Maybe if people fed them less, they would go one street over and eat the pigeons. Now there is a photo!
If you do not get enough of the cats on the streets, you can buy a stuffed toy to help you through the night. The sleeping pad is extra…
So goodbye to Athens and Istanbul, next… Greek Islands…
A very busy seaport where our cruise ship was docked in Istanbul.
In a word, wow.
In my humble opinion, the guards with the clown shoes created a chuckle.
The rest of the pictures are a testament to your creative vision.
Thank you for sharing.
LOU!! I’m so happy to hear from you. All I see is that I have a comment left. I was hoping it ws you. Five more of these blogs are ready to go so you can see them each Sunday morning. Thank you immensely.
So many thoughts come to mind …..
But it was fun to look back on the clip from Monty Python.
Jim
Hi Jim, I was hoping people would take the time to look at that clip. thanks
Well, I loved Greece and Turkey. Imagine the bazillions of tourists that have visited those two countries over the years, after all the wars and conquering of course. Your witty humor reminds me of Mark Twain. Did you ever read “The Innocents Abroad”? His humor is epic!
love this post.
maybe it’s the relaxed and lighthearted outlook
great pics as always.
I hope your eye is healing. what a long tough process
It is not a post that makes you want to travel to Athens or Turkey….
Loved the Silly Walk clip it does seem to fit. The balls on the toes of the shoes were a bit odd. It was intriguing to watch. I took no video in fact I had no smart phone back when I saw that.
Appears to be one tongue laying dorsal surface up and the other ventral surface up.
Mars Hill was a favorite for me in Athens I could almost hear Paul in deep philosophical discussions of Christianity with a broad range of people and cultures.
Pigeons and kids chasing them around the world always intrigued me and the routine look on their faces was consistently the same from Africa to Jerusalem to Istanbul and even Chicago 🙂
The bazaar in Istanbul was easy to get lost in but I did get some fun street photography in with some of the merchants.
Istanbul was an intriguing stop on our cruise. A short time after we got home we watched one of the roasted nut carts we saw get blown up in a terrorist attack.