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Ascension to Olympus
Apr. 30th, 2025 09:00 pmHow many Mount Olympus are in the world?
Correct answer: more than one.
The Mount Olympus (or rather mountain ridge) where ancient Greek gods were supposed to live is situated in Greece near Thessaloniki. I saw it once, from a window of a fast running train, still looked beautiful (with no visible gods nearby).
However, on Cyprus there is another Mount Olympus which is much more humble, situated in Troodos mountains, and dedicated, as is the island, to one goddess - Aphrodite.
Yesterday I tried to climb the Cypriot Olympus, and on the way to collect samples for my project - which significantly slowed me down, so I didn't get to the top in those 3.5 hours left between the only bus a day going to Troodos, and the only bus back to Limassol.
They say women were forbidden to enter Aphrodite's temple built on that mountain. Which is quite weird considering that (a) the goddess is a woman (b) her domain is love, beauty, and fertility.
Although, Aphrodite was well known for her sometimes nasty and vindictive character, so maybe it was just jealousy.
Anyways, I went there, maybe I'll be punished for my insolence.
Correct answer: more than one.
The Mount Olympus (or rather mountain ridge) where ancient Greek gods were supposed to live is situated in Greece near Thessaloniki. I saw it once, from a window of a fast running train, still looked beautiful (with no visible gods nearby).
However, on Cyprus there is another Mount Olympus which is much more humble, situated in Troodos mountains, and dedicated, as is the island, to one goddess - Aphrodite.
Yesterday I tried to climb the Cypriot Olympus, and on the way to collect samples for my project - which significantly slowed me down, so I didn't get to the top in those 3.5 hours left between the only bus a day going to Troodos, and the only bus back to Limassol.
They say women were forbidden to enter Aphrodite's temple built on that mountain. Which is quite weird considering that (a) the goddess is a woman (b) her domain is love, beauty, and fertility.
Although, Aphrodite was well known for her sometimes nasty and vindictive character, so maybe it was just jealousy.
Anyways, I went there, maybe I'll be punished for my insolence.
Cyprus and Brits
Apr. 26th, 2025 02:13 pmThe British legacy on Cyprus nowadays is still visible even to a tourist by two things: UK-type electric sockets and left-side traffic.
This knowledge did not come to me without a price: yesterday I was nearly hit by a car in an attempt to cross the street - my Central European habit of looking first to the left, then to the right betrayed me.
This knowledge did not come to me without a price: yesterday I was nearly hit by a car in an attempt to cross the street - my Central European habit of looking first to the left, then to the right betrayed me.
First time since covid I'm going to collect samples in the field.
And in the same time finally take some rest from the war and family matters. I really need to return to my inner self now and renew my contact with the Universe, I was feeling like I'm losing it and falling into the depth of a dull grey depression.
And it's my first time and second day on Cyprus.
With a lot of sun, a lot of sea and frantically singing spring birds everywhere.
Cyprus, an ancient Greek island, is nowadays divided into two parts politically. The difference from the continental Greece here is the palbable presence of Turkish culture - in street names, people's faces and clothes, partially in the mental atmosphere.
In the same time, it's still Greek civilization. Same as during my trip to Greece, I'm feeling like living in some crazy sort of a scientific book where everything is written in the language of formulas, and even on the bus tickets you can see scientifically familiar words - like μεταφορά. Which has nothing to do with literature but simply means "transport".
Still for these people it's just a bunch of everyday words. Τέσσερα, πέντε, έξι, επτά, οκτώ, εννέα, δέκα (four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten). A monumental word ΑΣΤΥΝΟΜΙΑ is written on the police cars, and I guess the policemen are what, "astynomes"? Greece itself is not Greece, but noble Ελλάδα (Elladha), just like in ancient times. Mediterranean sea is Μεσόγειος Θάλασσα (Mesogeios Thalassa).
An old lady is going out into a little garden down the yard, there are some twenty or thirty flower pots of all sizes and colours.
- Καλημέρα! (Kalimera, "Good morning". My humble effort in learning Greek)
- Καλημέρα! ...(long phrase in Greek that I do not understand)
I'm making a vague wide gesture, because simply saying δεν καταλαβαίνω (I do not understand) to such a nice lady feels awfully impolite. In Czechia and France you must say "dobrý den/bonjour" to everyone, even to strangers, but noone expects any talk after that.
- OK? The lady says.
- OK, OK! (in Greek it would be πολύ καλό, poli kalo, again two words from scientific books to me)
- Me too!
- Do you speak English?
The lady makes a gesture unequivocally meaning "very, very little"
- I'm learning Greek too, ευχαριστώ! (Evkaristo, "thank you" is another monumental word which Greeks use every day, but which I know from the Orthodox church. "Eucharistia" is a ritual of consuming body and blood of Christ during the Sunday mass)
- Παρακαλώ! (Parakalo, "you're welcome")
By the way, reading Greek is so easy to someone who can read Cyrillic. That's the origin of our alphabet, after all.
And in the same time finally take some rest from the war and family matters. I really need to return to my inner self now and renew my contact with the Universe, I was feeling like I'm losing it and falling into the depth of a dull grey depression.
And it's my first time and second day on Cyprus.
With a lot of sun, a lot of sea and frantically singing spring birds everywhere.
Cyprus, an ancient Greek island, is nowadays divided into two parts politically. The difference from the continental Greece here is the palbable presence of Turkish culture - in street names, people's faces and clothes, partially in the mental atmosphere.
In the same time, it's still Greek civilization. Same as during my trip to Greece, I'm feeling like living in some crazy sort of a scientific book where everything is written in the language of formulas, and even on the bus tickets you can see scientifically familiar words - like μεταφορά. Which has nothing to do with literature but simply means "transport".
Still for these people it's just a bunch of everyday words. Τέσσερα, πέντε, έξι, επτά, οκτώ, εννέα, δέκα (four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten). A monumental word ΑΣΤΥΝΟΜΙΑ is written on the police cars, and I guess the policemen are what, "astynomes"? Greece itself is not Greece, but noble Ελλάδα (Elladha), just like in ancient times. Mediterranean sea is Μεσόγειος Θάλασσα (Mesogeios Thalassa).
An old lady is going out into a little garden down the yard, there are some twenty or thirty flower pots of all sizes and colours.
- Καλημέρα! (Kalimera, "Good morning". My humble effort in learning Greek)
- Καλημέρα! ...(long phrase in Greek that I do not understand)
I'm making a vague wide gesture, because simply saying δεν καταλαβαίνω (I do not understand) to such a nice lady feels awfully impolite. In Czechia and France you must say "dobrý den/bonjour" to everyone, even to strangers, but noone expects any talk after that.
- OK? The lady says.
- OK, OK! (in Greek it would be πολύ καλό, poli kalo, again two words from scientific books to me)
- Me too!
- Do you speak English?
The lady makes a gesture unequivocally meaning "very, very little"
- I'm learning Greek too, ευχαριστώ! (Evkaristo, "thank you" is another monumental word which Greeks use every day, but which I know from the Orthodox church. "Eucharistia" is a ritual of consuming body and blood of Christ during the Sunday mass)
- Παρακαλώ! (Parakalo, "you're welcome")
By the way, reading Greek is so easy to someone who can read Cyrillic. That's the origin of our alphabet, after all.
