Log of Greece, Day 11
May. 18th, 2006 06:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
janestarzWhile NoKey is on the toilet, reading his newest Star Wars Novel (Republic Commando: Triple Zero) and recuperating from sunburn all over his shoulders and upper arms, I sit down at the little wall-mounted kitchen table and listen to the salesmen.
In trying to capture the feeling of Kos in general, and this vacation in particular, I have only brushed lightly on the local culture. I have merely fleetingly described our trips and outings as well, but that's what photo-albums are for: one picture telling a thousand words.
Some things however, can never be captured in pixels but only in audio - or in words.
The Lambi boulevard runs from the corner of the island, near the North Beach and connecting to the road to Tingáki, and runs roughly south-southwest, straight into the heart of Kos. The bit where Artemis is located is called Lambi, a two-way street which is very straight and prone to speeding. Further into town the boulevard becomes one of the many, many one way streets and is called Canary (for spelling, check local street signs). There is, of course, a multitude of mostly one-way streets leading from and crossing the boulevard. It doesn't run parallel to the beach, and people with less feel for direction can easily get lost in between the Dutch corner (with Tarzan, see earlier entry) and Canary.
In these streets the salesmen prowl. They're not at all interested in the tourists, who follow the boulevard with a million-and-one similar looking souvenirshops into town. One clue to this is that they are shouting about their wares in Greek. There are a couple of women pushin handcarts, selling sheets and towels, and there are also numerous vans, pickups and small trucks who use a megaphone-like construction. What they are shouting is hard to tell - and not just because it is in Greek. Before I knew exactly what it was that I was hearing, it was frightening. I shomehow immediately associated the megaphone voice to be scandalizing something like "viva la revolucion" or "weg met de EU". It is still unnerving somewhat, unless it is the man selling garden furniture and tables. He always ends his sales-shout with "trapezia" if I'm not mistaken.
We also bought a new book yesterday: "How to learn Greek in 25 years" by Brian Church. The cover boasted lines like "perfect Greek by 2029 or your money back (this offer doesn't apply to people who bought the book)" and "10.000 idiots can't be wrong!"
It's in roughly the same style as Douglas Adams: eloquently witty. It made us giggle quite uncontrollably.
This new humourous witticism has probably had some influence on our choice of trips. We went to walk a route we cycled a few days earlier: the boulevard to Tingáki.
Somehow, we ended up on the beach building sandcastles and (oh! How Calvin-esque) destroying them by dropping water in the moat, running under bridges and rinsing them away.
The day started out quite cloudy but cleared up, and we decided to go at it again tomorrow, though better dressed (you can't tell me a bikini and sunscreen mf. 35 isn't white tie) and with better equipment.
But tonight, first we will talk to this man (Papaïouanou) about this ring thing some more, before succumbing to the Eurovision Songfestival.
In trying to capture the feeling of Kos in general, and this vacation in particular, I have only brushed lightly on the local culture. I have merely fleetingly described our trips and outings as well, but that's what photo-albums are for: one picture telling a thousand words.
Some things however, can never be captured in pixels but only in audio - or in words.
The Lambi boulevard runs from the corner of the island, near the North Beach and connecting to the road to Tingáki, and runs roughly south-southwest, straight into the heart of Kos. The bit where Artemis is located is called Lambi, a two-way street which is very straight and prone to speeding. Further into town the boulevard becomes one of the many, many one way streets and is called Canary (for spelling, check local street signs). There is, of course, a multitude of mostly one-way streets leading from and crossing the boulevard. It doesn't run parallel to the beach, and people with less feel for direction can easily get lost in between the Dutch corner (with Tarzan, see earlier entry) and Canary.
In these streets the salesmen prowl. They're not at all interested in the tourists, who follow the boulevard with a million-and-one similar looking souvenirshops into town. One clue to this is that they are shouting about their wares in Greek. There are a couple of women pushin handcarts, selling sheets and towels, and there are also numerous vans, pickups and small trucks who use a megaphone-like construction. What they are shouting is hard to tell - and not just because it is in Greek. Before I knew exactly what it was that I was hearing, it was frightening. I shomehow immediately associated the megaphone voice to be scandalizing something like "viva la revolucion" or "weg met de EU". It is still unnerving somewhat, unless it is the man selling garden furniture and tables. He always ends his sales-shout with "trapezia" if I'm not mistaken.
We also bought a new book yesterday: "How to learn Greek in 25 years" by Brian Church. The cover boasted lines like "perfect Greek by 2029 or your money back (this offer doesn't apply to people who bought the book)" and "10.000 idiots can't be wrong!"
It's in roughly the same style as Douglas Adams: eloquently witty. It made us giggle quite uncontrollably.
This new humourous witticism has probably had some influence on our choice of trips. We went to walk a route we cycled a few days earlier: the boulevard to Tingáki.
Somehow, we ended up on the beach building sandcastles and (oh! How Calvin-esque) destroying them by dropping water in the moat, running under bridges and rinsing them away.
The day started out quite cloudy but cleared up, and we decided to go at it again tomorrow, though better dressed (you can't tell me a bikini and sunscreen mf. 35 isn't white tie) and with better equipment.
But tonight, first we will talk to this man (Papaïouanou) about this ring thing some more, before succumbing to the Eurovision Songfestival.
