Happy May Day to all.

Kim and I thought we might go down to the center to see the May Day celebrations, not realizing the tram is not running today. Forget that idea.

This is the pattern of light on our bedroom wall each morning as the sun comes through the slats of the roll-down shutters. Our bedroom is the only room we close - we love having the light come in.

Don't know the real name of these "bottle brush" trees, and I know I've seen them in places other than Greece, but they're in bloom now and look really neat.

Martha told us that now that May has arrived, we are not likely to see any more rain before we leave.

The next two photos are more from my continuing amazement at parking. I remember back during my first Fulbright in Slovenia, and then on my travels to Italy, how I marveled at some of the parking jobs. Parking on the sidewalk is not considered strange or unusual, and nobody would ever be given a ticket for it. This is a major intersection. The building on the right is a pastry/coffee shop. There's no "real" parking spaces anywhere around the building, so people just pull onto the sidewalk. Note that this car is pulled all the way to the bushes, making it impossible to walk by except in the busy street.

I took this picture from my balcony. You can see the tram tracks, and the stop where I get on at the top of the picture. The center of the picture is an intersection. See those two cars in the intersection? They're not moving - they're parked! Anyone wanting to drive through the intersection does so by squeaking between the two cars. This is not a random occurrence: there are cars parked in these spots every day.


The next photo provides a lesson in Athens urban
development. Note that the apartment complex
and the single-dwelling home have about the same footprint. A lot of apartment buildings in Athens were built by the developer making a deal with a property owner to tear down an individual home and give the landowner 2 or 3 apartments in a new apartment building constructed on that site. You see a lot of narrow apartment buildings. In some case the developers were able to negotiate with two neighbor homeowners to build a wider apartment building. The former landowner then had extra revenue, either by renting out the other apartment(s) or by selling them for the money.

The two pictures below were taken in pretty close to the same location: the Flisvos Marina between our house and Piraeus. I took the photo on the left last Sunday. Kim took the photo on the right a couple of months ago. As the weather improves, more people are out strolling.

This is the kiosk located just a block from our apartment. It's where I go each morning (Mon - Sat) to get the International Herald Tribune. It's also where we buy international phone cards to call the US less expensively. Kiosks sell all kinds of everyday necessities: everything from cigarettes to batteries to candy bars to beer. Some specialize and sell only souvenirs or newspapers, but most have just about everything. This one is open 7 days, 7 am to 11 p.m.

There are different police officers here, just like anywhere. Traffic cops usually wear nicely pressed uniforms with smart caps. These police are dressed in Kevlar bullet-proof vests and pack serious heat (you see some that carry machine guns). Some have berets, some baseball caps and the guy in front has no lid at all. The one commonality they all have, though, is traveling in groups. I have come to the unscientific conclusion that "three" is the most common gathering of officers, although other combinations (like this one) occur.

Yesterday a few of us Fulbrighters gathered at an Athens institution for coffee. Zonar's is known as the place to see and be seen. It's outrageously high priced, and I certainly wouldn't go there regularly. For my coffee, Kim's tea and a pastry each, it was 20 Euros. From left is Catherine Rogers, a playwright and actor, and Vincent and Hilda Giordano. Vincent is doing photography and video, researching the Jews of Ioannina, a small group that's dying out. Vincent and Catherine are professionals not academics, but Catherine is teaching a class in Athens now (she was in Thessaloniki earlier) and Vincent's doing some guest lectures, including my class Tuesday.