With just 11 days remaining, every day seems to have some activity scheduled. This evening I'm part of a panel discussion at the university on social networks. I'm covering legal issues. The other three will speak in Greek so I'll have no idea if what I say will be consistent with their comments or redundant or what.

Tomorrow I may or may not get something posted. Kim and I leave on our 3-day anniversary cruise. If I get up early enough I may get something posted but if not it will be
Monday when we get back. I'm tempted to take the laptop with us but I don't think that would go over too well. :)

Yesterday I got e-mail from an American here married to a Greek woman. I met him back in March and he lives in the same part of Athens as we do. At the time he said we ought to get together sometime. Yesterday he realized that my time here is almost over and asked about a time to meet.

The first case of swine flu has been found in Greece. As it happens, it was brought in by a 19-year-old student flying back from the US.


Last night Kim went with Martha to see Angels and Demons. The husbands had no interest in seeing it, even though Mark's read the book. As I've mentioned before, films are released here in the original language with Greek subtitles. Kim described the theatre as very nice. The show time was published as 5:20. When Kim got to the theatre at about 5:15, she was the only one there. Others arrived a little later.


Here are the people disembarking from the ferry at Paros. The ramp on the left is the one for vehicles to get on and off; the one on the right is for people. As you can see, people with cars on board just have to wait or exit at walking speed as the people make their way off the boat as quickly as they can. It's a good thing they move quickly because the boat stays in port only long enough to load and unload. If you're not ready to get off or on when it's time you could easily miss it. They even partially lower the ramps before the ship gets to shore.


On this wider shot you can see more of the ship. We were up on the top deck, just a few rows behind the Greek flag (which gets lowered as they come into port, then raised as they head out). The people still on board are traveling to the next island. A few boats just travel between Piraeus (Athens) and a certain island, but most make more than one stop. When going to Poros (not Paros), we started to head down to
disembark at one point, only to find that it was not our stop.


The port is in the town of Parikia. When we arrived the first place we were told to visit was the church of Panagia Ekatontapiliani. It's beginning date back to the 4th Century and like many ancient churches it has been added to and remodeled over the centuries. Kim and I arrived just as they were getting ready for a baptism. The flowers lining the walkway are blue because a boy is being baptised. Isn't it interesting that the arches leading into the church are asymmetric? I thought it was.


We walked to the church directly from the port so we had our small wheeled suitcase with us. Kim and I took turns sitting in the small square in front of the church while the other went exploring. The buttress on the right actually has stairs that allow you to go up to a balcony in the church. We were able to go in and watch some of the baptism without being intrusive, unlike several other tourists we observed. The sign on the easel asks people - in five languages - to respect the religious nature of the site. No one was screaming but we did see several people dressed in shorts (no-no in Orthodox church) walk in during the baptism. I guess people who

worship in a place that's also a tourist site and so historical come to expect it, but if tourists were walking into the church during my kid's baptism, I think I might be a little pissed.


In addition to the church there is a small Byzantine museum that includes all sorts of church relics. The grounds also include a few tombs.


This dome is not the central dome of the church but rather the dome of a side chapel, seen on the
right in the picture with the easel. There were too many people in the church for me to go snapping pictures in the main area but the side chapels were vacant. As you can see this dome is not adorned with painting as so many others are.

Finally, the picture below shows the priest with the family (and of course the videographer) at the entrance of the church early in the baptism. I attended on Russian Orthodox mass as a teenager but never a baptism. I was interested to see that, like Roman Catholics, they begin by welcoming the child into the church at the entrance. The symbolism isn't lost on me! Another matter worth noting is the heavy curtain hanging in the doorway. Having visited other Orthodox churches I know it isn't this way everywhere. I can see the advantage of such an arrangement but not sure whether I'd be too keen on having it in my church. Of course my modern church is air conditioned and doesn't need a breeze to stay cool, so it wouldn't be something we'd design anyway. People appeared to be better dressed at this baptism, too. Not all were in suits, but there were no jeans or shorts as I would find in my church.