Photography

Poseidon Adventure

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inscriptions

Many names are carved into the marble from the 19th century. The scandalous Lord Byron left carved his name here.

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The Doric style innovative columns.

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side view

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Next to the temple is the lesser known Temple of Athena.

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sun flare on temple

Let it flare!

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The Temple of Poseidon is located at the southernmost point of  the Athenian peninsula at Cape Sounio. It is an hour and a half away from Athens’ center. The long drive there is gorgeous and worth it. The temple is dedicated to Poseidon the Greek God of the sea. It was rebuilt by order of Pericles in the 5th century B.C. over an older temple from the Archaic period. This site has been continually inhabited since prehistoric times.

This is my second time at the Temple of Poseidon in Sounio. I can’t get enough of the temple and views here. I couldn’t stop taking pictures. The task of organizing them was a bit of a chore, but I finally got around to publishing them. I have more of the pictures of the views of the ocean that I will be posting soon.

For more information about the temple and 3D view of how it used to look in ancient times head on over to this site: http://www.ancientathens3d.com/sounio-history/

Sounio Beach/Η Παραλία του Σουνίου

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A few photos from a beautiful and relaxing August beach day. It’s a bit far from where I live but it’s worth the drive. The temple of Poseidon is right next to it and it overlooks the beach.

Μερικές φωτογραφίες από μια όμορφη και χαλαρωτική ημέρα του Αυγούστου. Είναι λίγο μακριά από το σημείο όπου ζω, αλλά αξίζει τον κόπο. Ο ναός του Ποσειδώνα είναι δίπλα  και έχει θέα στην παραλία.

Sweet Escape/Γλυκιά Απόδραση
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Beautiful trees for shade.

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Beautiful path. Majestic!

Epidavros beach 4

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Happy Birthday to me..:)

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Water is so hypnotizing.

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Stunning green and blue water.

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Blinded by the beauty!

It was a sweet escape to the beaches of Epidavros in Argolida. A beautiful place to celebrate my birthday yesterday.  It was a great choice as the area was not only breathtaking but it was so quiet. Also, the beach was very private with clean, warm waters and trees for shade instead of umbrellas. 😉

Ήταν μια γλυκιά απόδραση στις παραλίες της Επιδαύρου στην Αργολίδα. Ένα όμορφο μέρος για να γιορτάσω τα γενέθλιά μου χθες.

Ήταν μια εξαιρετική επιλογή, καθώς η περιοχή όχι μόνο κόβει την ανάσα, αλλά ήταν τόσο ήσυχη. Επίσης, η παραλία ήταν πολύ ιδιωτική με καθαρά, ζεστά νερά και δέντρα για σκιά αντί για ομπρέλες.

 

 

Small Town /Η Μικρή Πόλη

Halkida

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Aristotle

A bust of Greek philosopher Aristotle

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A quick escape from Athens to the southern small town of Halkida in Evia. The place where the, ‘father of western philosophy’ Aristotle died on the 7th of March 322 B.C.

“Yes the truth is that men’s ambition and their desire to make money are among the most frequent causes of deliberate acts of injustice.”
― Aristotle

 

“Man is by nature a political animal.” -Aristotle
― Aristotle

Beach Life/Η ζωή στην Παραλία

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Greece is surrounded by beautiful beaches, so you don’t have to go to an expensive island to get to one.  I’m not a ‘beach bumb’. A little swim in the ocean is great if you have the opportunity to do so, but not every single day of the summer. That’s a little much and that gets boring and tiring. Plus, I can’t relax sometimes and I don’t do water sports. I brought my camera though, what does that tell you?

If you can’t get to a clean beach just look at my photos and pretend you’re there 🙂

Η Ελλάδα περιβάλλεται από όμορφες παραλίες, έτσι δεν χρειάζεται να πάτε σε ένα ακριβό νησί για να επισκεφτείτε ένα. Δεν είμαι “αλητάκος της παραλίας”. Λιγο κολύμπι στον ωκεανό είναι υπέροχο αν έχετε την ευκαιρία να το κάνετε, αλλά όχι κάθε μέρα του καλοκαιριού. Αυτό γίνεται βαρετό και κουραστικό-για μένα. Επιπλέον, δεν μπορώ να χαλαρώσω μερικές φορές και δεν κάνω θαλάσσια σπορ. Έφερα όμως τη φωτογραφική μηχανή μου, τι σας λέει αυτό;

Αν δεν μπορείτε να φτάσετε σε μια καθαρή παραλία, κοιτάξτε τις φωτογραφίες μου και προσποιείτε ότι είστε εκεί 🙂

Miracle Melon/Θαύμα με το Καρπούζι

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During the hot summer months in Athens my mother liked to sit on the balcony in the afternoon and eat pieces of watermelon.  This would be her last summer of doing just that. She had this bad habit of spitting out the seeds. Many of them would stick to the marble floor. But, there were some seeds that landed in the pot in front of her. A pot that I had planted a yucca in.  By some strange miracle the seed germinated just a few weeks ago and a  watermelon vine started growing. And now there is a cute little watermelon growing from the vine!  I have tried countless times to plant seeds in these pots and most of the time they have not germinated. It’s a hit or miss with seeds, that’s why the more seeds planted the better chance of success. So my family and I were shocked that this seed actually germinated. It was such a funny, yet comforting thing to have happen close to a year after her passing. Perhaps it’s a message that life continues and to flourish and to grow and not to give up even in difficult circumstances.

Seismic Shock!
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Cracks on my building.

I’m still in shock about Friday’s 5,3 earthquake here in Athens.  Yes, Greece is a seismic country and we have dozens of earthquakes everyday, bust most are not felt and they are not that bad.  One seismologist said that Greece has a 5 Richter quake each month, however, this was something else! I have never felt one like this before. It was like a nightmare. Everything was shaking violently.  I wasn’t in Athens for the last huge catastrophic 1999 quake. So this was my first big one.  Everything was falling all around me. Most buildings in Athens are anti seismic, but when the ground shakes you are going to feel it no matter what kind of building you are in. There was no warning from seismologists (scientist don’t know everything even though they think they do) and no smaller earthquakes had occurred before to prepare us for a bigger one. It just came fast and furious! I thought it was the end! After the earthquake I had a migraine and was really shook for hours after the quake. I didn’t want to go inside and there were dozens of aftershocks-I only felt one. Another crazy July! I am beginning to really dislike the month of July.

Earthquake Safety Tips:

1.Do not panic too much (easier said than done) but try not to panic and scream.

2.Do not run around like a scared mouse (again easier said than done).

3. Hide under a heavy table or got to the center of the room and cover your head. Glass and falling debris might fall on you. When an earthquake strikes it is hard to move. You are in shock and panicked. There is no time to run outside, so it’s best to duck for cover.

4. Avoid the stairs and elevators. The power will go out and you will get stuck in the elevator. The stairs will shake and be too wobbly and you can have an accident.

5. If you live in a country with lots of seismic activity avoid putting up a lot of shelves on the wall or glass objects and frames. A few glass items in my room had fallen and I cut myself when I was cleaning up. I can’t imagine what would have happened if i was in the room while all the glass was falling everywhere!  😦

6. Be prepared for headaches. A lot of people get them after a quake.

7. Always make sure that you are in a anti-seismic building. Avoid old structures. There were a couple that collapsed in the downtown area of Athens.

 

 

 

 

Passing Through/Διέρχεται

The smell of rain in the summer air       Η μυρωδιά της βροχής στον καλοκαιρινό αέρα

   everything is changing                                        όλα αλλάζουν

         the sky rages                                                ο ουρανός μαίνεται

     the ground shakes                                         το έδαφος κουνιέται

   unstable mother earth                                       ασταθής γη

      angry since birth.                                   θυμωμένη από τη γέννηση της.