Skiing in Upper Austria
Some impressions from the Winterly Alps in February 2014.
Vienna in January 2014
It was a busy month, so I had little time for photography. But two or three times, I could take a camera with me and make some shots of (more or less) winterly Vienna.
Greek Series: Mykonos and Delos
This post is part of the so-called “Greek Series,” consisting of photographs I shot while backpacking Greece in September 2013. You’ll find a basic introduction to the series here, and the last post featuring Mykonos can be accessed here.
Mykonos is part of the Cyclad Islands. Today, it is a populous island, living primarily on tourism. It is well known for its beaches and nightlife. In ancient times, though, Delos’s much smaller sister island was much more critical than Mykonos. It was a sacral island and a place of worship mainly for the gods Apollon and Artemis. After its decline, Delos was primarily forgotten and rediscovered only in modern times by archeologists from France. Today, it is a museum and can be visited easily from Mykonos by ferry. Pictures 2, 3, 4, and 5 (the well-known lion statues) and 6 are from Delos, while the others are shot on Mykonos.
Greek Series: Mykonos Part I
This post is part of the so-called “Greek Series”, consisting of photographs shot while I was backpacking Greece in September 2013. You’ll find a basic introduction to the series here and a list of all previous posts over here.
So you may wonder how we got from Nauplia to Mykonos. The truth is we didn’t, at least not directly. Mykonos was actually one of the last destinations on our journey. Before we embarked on a ferry to the islands, we traveled around mainland Greece quite extensively. But for today, I skipped the Peloponnes because the weather there was not always perfect, and as much as I like archeological stuff and hilly landscapes, I think the blog and I myself needed a bit of summer island feeling in these (more or less) harsh and dark winter days. And that we definitively had on Mykonos. Still, there is a lot to cover on the Peloponnes, and many shots are left, so next time we come back to mainland Greece again. But for now, I hope you enjoy beautiful Mykonos as I saw it.
Greek Series: Nafplio
This post is part of the so-called “Greek Series,” consisting of photographs shot while backpacking Greece in September 2013. You’ll find a basic introduction to the series here and a list of all previous posts here.
Nafplio is a port city in the western part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Today, the former capital of Greece is primarily a vacation destination for tourists from Athens due to its proximity and good ferry connections. People from Athens escape here for weekend trips to shop and enjoy themselves. It is a touristy place with shopping boulevards and many luxury brand stores. Greece’s economic crisis was not very obvious, and we saw a lot less graffiti and poverty than in other urban areas. Though the city as we saw it didn’t represent the living reality of most Greek people, it was a good place for going out and having a good time in general. There are two castles/fortresses to see here, one on the top of the hill behind the city with a great landscape view over the buildings and the sea and a small fortress on an artificial island within the bay itself.
Greek Series: Cap Sounio and Ancient Korinthos
This post is part of the so-called “Greek Series,” consisting of photographs from my backpacking adventure in September 2013. You’ll find a basic introduction to the series here.
In contrast to the last few, I feel this one needs some background information. The first batch of pictures was shot at Cap Sounio, and the second one was fired a day later at Ancient Corinth (Archea Korinthos), with some road shots in between. They were the first two stops on a marvelous and mind-expanding road trip, which began in Athens and led us through the most terrific and beautiful places within the former center of the civilized world. The location of many myths and historic beginnings (shout out to the Olympic Games!). As much as I love good legends and factual history, the format I chose for this blog isn’t fitting. But what is essential, especially with temples, which can sometimes look like a lot, is to provide a necessary context to understand the photographed objects/places and maybe a little bit of history. Wrapping the package around with some personal anecdotes and route information. Feel free to skip the letters if you are satisfied with looking at blue skies and old stones.
Cap Sounio is situated at the southern point of the Attica peninsula, the land mass around Athens. As sea fearers sailed into Athens, they passed the Cap, so it was a natural place for a massive temple. There were actual buildings here before, but the pillars in the following pictures are the remains of the Poseidon temple, built at the height of Athens’ power in the classic period (mid-5th BC). It was the most important place of worship for the wrathful god of the sea, whose mercy it was beneficial to have.
Homer already described the place as holy. So, as I am not religious and don’t believe in Greek gods (although on our journey, we met some exciting paganists), I can’t talk about any spirits I felt there. Still, Cap Sounio definitively made a strong impression on me. The view was simply breathtaking. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay for the sunset, so our journey continued through the Greek countryside over the Isthmus of Corinth (a narrow land strip), crossing the famous canal of the same name, which is a marvelous piece of engineering achieved at the end of the 19th century to finally the famous Peloponnese itself. Interestingly, the canal naturally turned the Peloponnes, like Attica, a peninsula, into an island. As the name by itself means Island of Pelops, millennia before the land was actually an island, it seems there is some self-prophecy in there or at least a good anecdote.
Corinth is very close to the Isthmus, so the city’s historic role was to secure passage to mainland Greece and profit from being a Checkpoint Charlie for ancient merchants and soldiers. A necessary evil not unlike modern borders. So, it was a relatively well-situated metropole by itself during the Classic period, bursting with urban life and religious worship. Later, it lost much of its influence during the Hellenistic period in the 4th century, regaining importance as a redesigned city under the Romans a few centuries later. But from a more modern perspective, the most crucial role of Corinth was having to be an early place of Christian worship. The city is mentioned extensively in the New Testament, and it was one of the destinations of Apostel Paul during his journey around the Mediterranean. On the main sight of Archea Korinthos, some kilometers outside of modern Corinth, you see some remains of a building, originally a temple and later reconstructed into a church, retaining features of the old faith and developing them according to the new beliefs. The deep connection Christianity holds to the ancient Greeks and Romans is apparent here. It seems to me to be a sense of continuity in a way that is known but generally not well understood to its full extent.
Comparing the last picture and the next one, you see some interesting differences between ancient architectural types. The columns of the first one are built in the old Doric style, a more straightforward form factor. This was followed by the development of a Corinth style a few centuries later, probably named so because of the heavy use of materials from the region. They were more playful and incorporated decorative elements than the formal and function-oriented Doric columns.
At last our route from Athens to Sounio and from Athens again to Archea Korinthos.
Michael Hoffman Photography 