London: British Museum Treasures

After a security check, visitors can enter The British Museum

 

In recent years there has been a lot of debate about whether the British should have been allowed to take so many treasures from places like Greece, Egypt, Syria, and China, and some countries even demanding their priceless artifacts back.

The Rosetta Stone is a must-see

While it is understandable as a point of national pride for countries to want these precious items returned, but in some cases, they would not be kept in as good conditions as they would in The British Museum.

It was started in 1753 by an Irish scientist and physician Sir Hans Sloane who had his own collection, and the museum was opened in 1759 in Montagu House, on the site of the current building. In the following 250 years, it has collected some 8 million objects during the era of the British Empire and is the first public museum in the world. And free!

We were here for a short period of time, so we tried to be as efficient as possible.

The first stop was the Rosetta Stone which is near the entrance. It's very hard to photograph because it's behind glass, but a very important piece that helped archeologists figure out ancient hieroglyphics. On the black stone are carved Demotic, the everyday script of literate Egyptians, and the bottom is Greek, the language used by the government.

One of the many friezes taken from The Parthenon

At the time Egypt was ruled by a Greek dynasty and the Rosetta Stone records an event regarding Ptolemy V Epiphanes, the boy king.

And since we had been to the Parthenon in Athens, where about half of the real marble friezes were in The British Museum thanks to Lord Elgin, we had to see them in person. The marble pieces are housed in a long corridor and to be honest the details of the marble figures and animals are clearer here than in the Acropolis Museum, where they were already weathered down before being housed inside.

The musculature of the soldiers and the horses is evident, showing strength and grace. The robes people wore are detailed to show drapery. However seeing them one after the other numbs the brain's ability to appreciate every single piece. It's also worth remembering that these friezes were placed on the outside perimeter of the Parthenon and not facing each other in this room. Nevertheless to be able to look at them so close up is amazing.

Men holding onto an ox; the drapery is very detailed

One more Greek piece we had to see was the sixth figure that formed the Erechtheum Caryatid. At the Parthenon we saw the replicas, then five of the real figures in the Acropolis Museum, and now the sixth one in The British Museum.

All the figurines are columns holding up the building next to the Parthenon. They each have long thick hair that is plaited and falls behind their backs, and they wear short tunics. They also had baskets on their heads as part of the column.

And like the other marble pieces that Lord Elgin stole/took, this figure in the museum is very detailed from the plaiting of the hair, to the drapery of her tunic, though it's a pity her arms are missing and her face a bit weathered. There seems to be more detail of her hair at the back, but nothing of her feet.

The sixth figure from the Caryatids in Athens

Regardless, it was a thrill to finally see all six figures -- in one trip!

We also saw two Haida totem poles housed in the foyer from British Columbia that date back to about 1850, while we visited the China section, focusing more on the Tang Dynasty known for its porcelain.

One impressive piece is that of a statue of Buddha's disciple called a luohan. This one is in excellent condition, one of 10 found in a cave in the Yixian region of northern Hebei province in 1912. The statue is glazed in the sancai or three-coloured palette.

Another was of a figure who was the assistant to the judge of hell. A clerk carries a slim scroll, recording the names of those who have done good deeds in their lifetimes. The robes of the assistant are detailed particularly in the various layers of "fabric" denoted by the various colours and the draping is magnificent.

What a treat.

The assistant to the judge of hell

The British Museum
Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3DG
britishmuseum.org

Picture of the Day: Pomegranate Tree

Spot the pomegranates growing on the tree in Fira, in Santorini

In Greece we saw a lot of olive trees, some with olives growing on them. But we were told in Italy that you can't eat them straight off the tree -- they are poisonous!

Driving around there are lots of "vineyards", which are actually small patches of land with what look like small bushes haphazardly planted. However, it turns out the vines cannot be propped up like they are France, Italy and elsewhere because it is too hot.

As a result, the vines are wrapped around themselves like a circle so that the leave can at least protect the grapes from the hot sun.

But what was very interesting was seeing pomegranates growing on trees. We saw at least two pomegranate trees and we wondered what the fruits would taste like.

Nevertheless it was fun to spot them, with bright red bulbous balls hanging from the branches.

Greece Explained

A Greek Orthodox church in Emborio village

After we visited the excavation site of Akrotiri, we had some lunch at Perivolos Beach, where the sand is black, and then headed to an old Greek village called Emborio. Our guide told us the Venetians occupied Santorini from the 13th to 16th centuries and the biggest threat to the residents were pirates in the Aegean Sea.

Checking out the black sand at Perivolos Beach

There aren't many traditional villages intact these days because of the massive earthquake in 1956. It destroyed a lot of buildings in the area, which explains why there is still a lot of rubble and not a lot of development.

However Emborio is one of the few villages that is still pretty much the same as it was before, and some families still live in the compound.

At the entrance to the village we were shown a church with a dome on top, which indicates it is a Greek Orthodox church. They always have a picture of Jesus Christ on the ceiling of the dome. The exterior of the dome is usually either blue or white, but there is no particular reason why a dome is white or blue; it is just the decision made at the time of repainting it.

A dog met us inside Emborio village

There are also very tiny-looking churches, and our guide explained people would build them once in their lifetime in the name of a saint in the hopes of getting protection from them.  The most popular saint is St Nicholas, who protects sailors and merchants.

The village also looks like a maze, much like Oia where we are staying. The passageways are very narrow. Why? To counteract the strong winds which have been recorded as high as 90km/h. When the winds get that strong, even large ferries like the one we took to Santorini, and even planes are grounded.

Mules were used to transport building materials and food supplies, though they aren't used now -- humans have replaced them. We've seen them to do the laborious work of transporting boxes of ingredients, water and wine to restaurants.

Every family would build vaults in their home using rocks mixed with crude cement to hold them together. so the bottom was thicker than the top. Then the homes would be white washed with lime in it. Lime has disinfecting properties, so it was put in the family cisterns that collected rainwater in the winter.

The view from Santorini Winery for a wine tasting

We wandered around Emborio and found some places that looked deserted, others had people living in them. We even spotted a dog looking down at us! It was so interesting to see such a small community bound together by this fortress-like compound.

I don't think I can live in Greece because there's a lot of dust like sand and pumice that is blown in Santorini, or Greece in general. This is why residents hardly wash their cars. Our guide says she will have a bottle of water to periodically clean the windshield, but other than that people only wash their cars three or four times a year.

The cars that look nice are the ones catering the tourists. Very easy to distinguish.

Later in the afternoon we tried some Greek wine from Santorini Winery. The Santorini white wine 2018 was light, fruity, slightly dry but easy drinking, but another white we tried which was a blend was musty, like ripe cheese, and acidic in finish. Finally we tried vinsanto, a dessert wine that tasted like sweet raisin juice. Would have been better chilled.

An overview of Santorini from Profitis Ilias Mountain

Our second last stop on the tour was to Profitis Ilias Mountain the highest point in Santorini at 567 metres. We had a pretty good view of the place, and at the very top is an office that collects data for earthquakes and volcanic activity.

There is an active volcano still in Santorini, and apparently there are many small earthquakes here. The land mass of the islands apparently increase a centimetre or two every year, showing the volcanoes are still active, and no one knows when it will blow.

The last stop is back at Oia for the sunset... we had seen it already, but we thought we'd have a chance to sit down and enjoy the view but we were wrong. The seats were already taken up and so we stood behind people on a rooftop terrace for over an hour, waiting for the sunset to happen.

We had to take the obligatory sunset shot in Oia again...

And like before, once the sun goes down everyone claps excitedly. Why is that? Nevertheless it's nice to stop and admire the view and appreciate nature for its beauty.

Prehistoric Town Being Unearthed

The Akrotiri archeological site is protected by a specially-designed building

The Greek island of Santorini has a fascinating history that dates back over 4,000 years. While the place has amazing views and glorious beaches, Santorini, known by its formal name Thera, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

The site only uncovers 3 percent of the entire town

Thousands of years ago Thera was actually one large island, but in 1646 BC, there was a massive volcanic eruption that the explosion is believed to be the equivalent of 40 atomic bombs, or 100 times the volcanic eruption of Vesuvius in Pompeii in 79 AD.

Apparently there was 70 hours of darkness and the eruption was so violent that is completely altered the geography of the island that led to it breaking up into a crescent shape with several pieces. It is believed as many as 20,000 people were killed in a town known as Akrotiri and for several centuries after the volcanic eruption there was no human activity here.

It wasn't until the 20th century when people were quarrying the area for pumice stone to be used as cement to build the Suez Canal did they come across the remains of the town and in 1967 formal excavations of the long-forgotten town began.

The architecture revealed shows a sophisticated community

Archeologists were surprised to find a very sophisticated community that built houses that were three stories high, had indoor plumbing and painted artistic frescoes on the walls. These people were known as the Cycladic people, wealthy and intellectual.

We saw two of the well preserved frescoes in the National Archeological Museum in Athens and they are very lively, colourful pieces. It is very lucky they have been able to not only carefully extract them but also preserve them well.

So far archeologists have only been able to uncover and study 3 percent of the site, which is now covered by a specially designed, climate controlled space.

This morning we joined a tour to see this archeological site and we're so glad we did. We could walk above and among the ruins on a special path and saw first hand the original ruins and efforts to preserve them in their original form.

The "Spring Fresco" at the National Archeological Museum

It is believed before the actual volcanic eruption that the Cycladic people were able to leave the area -- there are no signs of human remains in the site that has been excavated, nor any remains of domestic animals. Everything of value was taken.

There are theories that they fled by ship and may have drowned from the tsunami caused by the volcanic eruption, or they may have fled elsewhere but died from the eruption.

The excavations have been going on for over 40 years and in recent years it was stopped due to Greece's financial crisis, but it picked up again last year after a Russian company donated 500,000 euros. We were lucky to see some archeologists in action, wearing high grade masks and carefully handling what looked like pieces of rock.

Archeologists working on some samples today

Hopefully we will eventually learn more about these people and the town of Akrotiri. Modern Greeks were shocked to find that the Cycladic people of the Neolithic Age were more sophisticated in their drainage than they were. There's a lot more to be learned.

From Mykonos to Santorini

On a large ferry on the way from Mykonos to Santorini in over four hours

We took a ferry from Mykonos to Santorini and the journey was over four hours long. Considering tourism is such a big part of the Greek economy, it was pretty surprising to see how underdeveloped the ferry piers are at both Mykonos and Santorini.

The view of the sea from the stern of the ferry

At Mykonos there is a temporary kiosk that sells food and drinks from giant refrigerators. The sandwiches are more bread than filling, but the prawn cocktail-flavoured potato chips from Lays ("summer edition") were not bad, more tomato taste than prawn.

Then there is no proper passenger seating area -- there is a covered area with cement benches for people to sit on, or out in the sun on wooden benches. There is no electronic board to show which ferry is coming and will be docking at which pier.

Not all the ferries display English signs, though we managed to find out which pier our ferry would dock at, which arrived at the appointed time. Security officials were on hand to direct traffic: first the passengers disembarked, followed by several vehicles from cars to trucks.

Then trucks and cars waiting in line were allowed to drive into the ferry first -- trucks had to back in one by one, and then finally passengers. There were hordes of us tourists descending onto the ferry, though there was a traffic jam at the entrance as we could only enter one by one by showing our tickets.

Everyone trying to take pictures of the sunset at Oia

The ferry ride took over four hours going south east, passing several other islands along the way. Finally we arrived at Santorini and the port here was even more primitive than at Mykonos, which is strange considering hotels in Santorini are much more expensive. It was like arriving in a developing country, with people holding up signs for tours or transport, while others advertised for taxis or buses for certain destinations.

We found our driver who then drove us over half an hour zig-zagging up the hill and then driving along the countryside where we saw donkeys, cows and horses grazing in the fields, hardly any development in sight.

Finally we drove onto a quiet street in the middle of nowhere to find our hotel opposite a huge resort development called Santa Maris, consisting of a number of villas that could be accessed by golf carts. Ours is a small complex of three units.

I managed to finally get a sunset picture without tourists

We were told by the manager to go up the hill to the right to see the famous sunset view in Oia, the town we are in. The hill is a steep walk but it took less than 10 minutes. From there we tried to go as far right as we could and encountered tons of people holding up their smartphones to document every second of the sun's descent into the ocean.

It took us a while to finally inch a bit closer to the front, but even then people were busy taking selfies or recording the sunset on video. And when the sun finally set, people actually clapped their hands as if it was a performance!

Then the tourists started leaving like a stream, as the stairway we were at is quite narrow. We could see more and more people coming up the stairway and wondered when the last ones would finally leave.

And actually this was when the skyline was even more dramatic with yellow, pink, mauve and deep purple colours. We're glad we didn't miss that!

An even better view of the sky after the hordes left the area

For dinner we found a small and relatively decent-priced restaurant but we had to wait about 20 minutes. During that time we met a couple from South Dakota, and the husband had been to Hong Kong on a business trip last year.

He asked about the protests and I told him they were actually happening as we spoke. I added the protests would not end soon as the government was not listening to the protesters at all. He also said that he visited Macau via the bridge a month after it opened (November 2018) and was impressed by the small former Portuguese colony.

We finally tucked into tzatziki sauce that we dipped bread into, baked eggplant stuffed with onions, tomatoes and balsamic vinegar, and spaghetti marinara with prawns and mussels in a rich creamy tomato sauce.

Our rich spaghetti marinara in a creamy tomato sauce

And then as we were finishing dinner, there were fireworks going off in the distance and we watched this small but constant stream of fireworks being set up for at least 20 minutes. The size of the fireworks paled in comparison to the ones in Hong Kong, but the non-stop firing of them was impressive!

Day at the Beach

The calm clear blue waters at Palaga beach in Mykonos

Visiting the Greek islands means visiting the various beaches which are located in various natural bays shaped in semi circles that are either accessible by bus or boat.

In Mykonos we visited the beach at Ornos where we stayed, and then decided to try another beach in another part of the island. There's a water taxi service available and it's 10 euros for a return ticket to visit one beach, or 20 euros to visit two or more for one day.

The rocks that I swam to and there were sunbathers

We chose Palaga because it's supposed to be one of the more quieter beaches compared to Paradise and Super Paradise which you can guess are for those who want to party. The furthest beach is an hour a way by water taxi.

The water taxi is a small wooden boat and the ticket seller explained that these beaches were originally only accessible by boat in the 1960s that were run by sea captains. One of the original captains is still driving his own boat (which we went on), the rest by the sons of these captains.

Our ride to Palaga beach took about 30 minutes and along the way we passed by several super yachts moored in the bays. Makes you wonder how much these giant floating toys cost.

Palaga is a nice beach and the water is very clear, leading to an aquamarine followed by deep indigo coloured ocean. I swam out in the sea again very refreshing, this time to a group of rocks in the water a few hundred metres away. It was quite slippery standing on the rocks under the water that were covered in seaweed. When I got to the group of rocks there was a woman sunbathing topless!

The beach in the late morning when we arrived

I then decided to swim out further, towards a small boat floating nearby and reached its anchor line before turning back. However by this point, the winds started picking up and blowing at me as I tried to swim to shore. This resulted in sea water constantly splashing into my face (very salty) and I eventually made it back to shore again.

There are all types of beach goers, from young people preening their lean bodies, to seniors who enjoy the surf and sun were there. An Italian couple next to us are definitely sun worshipers and they have very dark tans, but at the same time they are quite fit as they went into the water many times during the afternoon. They even had some snorkel gear and swam a lot.

Another couple, the woman quite voluptuous, dipped into the ocean many times topless, uninhibited about showing off her large breasts. Meanwhile we stayed in our one-piece swimsuit...

I was also impressed watching a middle-aged daughter guiding her father into the ocean. He had trouble walking without a cane and he put his hands on her back as she led him in. She helped him put on his goggles and then without any hesitation he dived in.

Forever One is a super yacht we saw along our way

"Magnificent!" he cried when his face popped up. He was so excited to be in the water, free from gravity to float and swim as he pleased.

By around 4pm, while it was still sunny, the temperatures started to drop and we started feeling chilly. This probably explains why the last water taxi is at 5.15pm for people to head home.

We indeed got the last one back and passed by those super yachts as we slowly made our way back to Ornos. Ah the lifestyles of the rich and famous...

Waiting Around in Mykonos

The famous wooden windmills at Fabrika in Mykonos

Tourism is a big part of Greece's economy, as everyone who caters to tourists speak various languages like English, Italian and Spanish, offer a variety of services, particularly food and transport to make the visitors' time in the country more enjoyable.

We are currently in Mykonos, an island over three hours' ferry ride from Athens. It is completely dependent on tourists who are there to soak up the sun, frolic in the clear blue waters, party the night away and eat lots of souvlaki and drink alcohol. Visitors are mainly French, Italian, Spanish and American.

There are "boutique hotels" everywhere and stretching resources, particularly electricity and the internet. Last night when we were going out for dinner we could see sparks flying out of the power poles and we even had a blackout in our hotel at 5am! Internet is spotty which is why it's hard for me to upload pictures...

The monastery in Ano Mera

Today we ventured out to visit what we were told is a small traditional Greek Town, Ana Mera where there is a well-known monastery. But to get there from Ornos, where we are staying, we had to get a bus to Fabrika, and from there another bus to Ano Mera.

The bus costs 1.80 euros one way, or we could have ordered transport for about 30 euros an hour. Of course we tried the latter.

We were armed with the bus schedule and the next bus to Fabrika was supposed to be 10.10am. We waited and waited in the sun (and the moved to the shade) but no bus came. It wasn't until 10.40am did the bus come and we jumped on.

Half an hour later we arrived at Fabrika, another bay area where we saw three cruise ships anchored there. We walked to the famed wooden windmills, though one was in repair, making it not as picturesque. Many of the cruise ship passengers were hanging out here taking pictures or have lunch along the coastline which is packed with restaurants next to each other.

We had to walk past all these places to get to the Old Port to catch our next bus to Ano Mera. After securing our tickets we got on the bus. I need add these buses are not what one would think are public transit buses -- they are basically tour coaches that ferry mostly tourists but also some locals around.

The small church is very ornate inside

As a result, the bus does not have a proper announcement system to say which stop is coming next or even a microphone for the driver to tell passengers what the stop is clearly. As a result we missed our stop. The bus driver was annoyed with us, but let us stay on the bus as he was going back and would pass by Ano Mera again.

A few minutes later we were dropped off in what looked like the middle of nowhere. Across the street we could see a church with a special flag and guessed it was the monastery. It was a small church but inside was packed full of details, religious iconography, a mural of Jesus Christ on the ceiling of the dome and intricate wooden carvings, and lots of silver and gold.

Upstairs was a small museum that had more embroidered vestments, jewellery and other religious objects in precious metals and stones.

A chubby boy about nine or 10 years old sat at the entrance taking 1 euro suggested donation from each visitor who came in. Why wasn't he in school? Nevertheless, he was polite though and said thank you to each person who paid. He also liked petting the cats who hung out in the churchyard.

Following our visit to the church we got some lunch and I tried grilled sardines that were delicious with a lemon sauce. I find the food here in general is under seasoned which is unusual, but better than too salty.

We went back to the bus stop to wait for the bus. At first we got the time wrong and had to wait 30 minutes for the 3pm bus. It did not come. While we were waiting, other tourists inquired about the bus and we had to explain the bus was supposed to be there at 3pm but it still hadn't arrived. While buses came our way, but then passed right by us because they were tour buses. At one point we wondered if we would ever get onto our bus.

Grilled fresh sardines for lunch!

It wasn't until 3.30pm (when the next bus was supposed to arrive) did the bus come. It was frustrating to have to wait for buses to come when they didn't follow the schedule...

Then we had to wander from the Old Town back to Fabrika and had to navigate our way through the maze of streets filled with shops selling souvenirs and cafes to finally make our way back to the bus station.

When we finally made it back we rewarded ourselves with a trip to our hotel pool after a long day of walking around and using public transport. Oh and yes a lot of waiting around...

Picture of the Day: Greek Doughnuts

Doughnuts in a honey cinnamon sauce with nuts and yogurt ice cream

We discovered a delicious dessert from a place called Lukumades. The Greek word lukumades refers to the sweet dessert of crispy doughnuts drizzled with honey, cinnamon and chopped nuts, but the dessert shop has made them even more of a treat with the addition of toppings such as melted chocolate or gelato ice cream.

There were so many choices that we chose yogurt twist (5 euros), which meant our doughnuts had a sauce of honey, cinnamon and chopped walnuts along with a big scoop of Greek yogurt ice cream.

It turned out to be a perfect combination of the hot, sweet doughnuts with cold gelato that's on the sour side. Our entire palate was sated by all these sensations and flavours in our mouths!

It's a pretty big portion and thankfully we shared one. Very indulgent!

Lukumades
21, Eolou and Aghias Irinis Street
105 51 Athens, Greece
+30 210 3210880
lukumades.com

Athens: Acropolis and Archeological Finds

The mask of "Agamenmon" with a breastplate in gold

Today we dived fully into Greek culture and history with a visit to the National Archeological Museum followed by the Arcopolis.

We got to the museum via the Metro, which is 1.50 euros per ride and Google maps. It's a very large museum, the biggest holding archeological treasures in Greece. Many of the items were found from excavations thanks to German archeologist Heinrich Schliemann.

Jockey of the Artemision is a lively yet unproportional statue

One of the highlights is the gold mask Schliemann found on top of a body that he believed was the death mask of 13th century BC King Agamemnon. However, the mask is actually dated 300 years before then, but the name Agamemnon stuck.

There are many funeral objects in this museum, from jewellery to vases, sculptures, friezes and miniatures of everyday objects found in graves. The jewellery designs in particular are so modern and fresh in brilliant gold, while sculptures, even though many were headless or armless, revealed so much about the artistic merit of the bodies' shapes and their supposed poses.

Some friezes were scenes of family members saying good-bye to loved ones in a solemn manner as death was not something people talked about openly.

Beautiful designs stamped on thin gold buttons

One dynamic sculpture is the Jockey of the Artemision. The bronze horse looks like it's about to jump over something, while a tiny boy rides on its back. Apparently the sculpture was dredged from the sea, but is restored into a very good condition.

The museum overall is pretty good, though the staff sitting in each of the rooms don't wear uniforms, and casually chit-chat with each other.

And someone needs to fix the museum shop -- there is nothing in there that would interest tourists in buying any of the merchandise in there!

We went back to our hotel, which happens to be very close to the Acropolis, and grabbed a bite to eat. We ate our first gyros -- thin slices of meat with lettuce, tomato -- and French fries! -- with tzatziki sauce before heading out to the new Acropolis Museum at 4pm. However, when we got there, the museum had closed for the day on Mondays! We didn't do our research.

The Parthenon has some scaffolding for a restoration

But it was late enough in the day to head up to the Acropolis (which we had planned to do after visiting the Acropolis Museum), so we bought the 20 euro-ticket and made our way up there. It was still quite hot, but armed with sunscreen, a hat and umbrella we managed to keep as cool as possible. The walk took about 15 minutes and towards the top we had to be careful walking on very polished marble that was very slippery.

There were quite a few tourists already there, but thankfully not packed. The Parthenon, dedicated to Athena, was sadly not as awe-inspiring as I had hoped, mainly because there is scaffolding over some of the columns and as well as cranes in the temple to help with restoring the structure.

Nevertheless, it was still neat to see the building in person against the deep blue sky. The most interesting architectural aspect of the Parthenon is entasis, a technique where there are gradual curves in the lintels, stairways and pediments, while columns have bulging centres. This optical illusion gives the impression the building is completely straight horizontally and vertically.

The Porch of the Caryatids featuring five female statues

Nearby is the Erechtheion and the highlight is the Porch of the Caryatids. There are supposed to be six women, who are believed to be novices serving the goddess Athena. However the five standing here are copies -- the real ones are in the Acropolis Museum, while the last one was taken by Lord Elgin in the 1800s. He also took -- or stole? -- lots of other things from the Parthenon too that can be seen in the British Museum...