Life in Northern Greece 08/2022

19^th March 2022. It’s years since I have been to a museum yet in the past 10 days I have visited two. My brother-in-law loves military history, so he asked me to visit the War Museum here in Thessaloniki or, rather, the Thessaloniki Branch of the War Museum (in Athens). ‘Branch’ was how παράρτημα was translated. It’s a small museum with well-organised displays from cannons and armoured vehicles outside to smaller arms and uniforms inside. Surprisingly, the junta years (1967-74) were not glossed over, and there was some healthy self-flagellation about past sins. The army seems to be facing up to that disgraceful interlude. Certainly, the junta section made me realise how little I know about the dictatorship. I know the main players but I knew nothing about the torture and murder of Giorgis Tsarouchas. So, more reading for me. There was also a section dedicated to the singer, Sofia Vembo, who was Greece’s Vera Lynn. Her songs inspired the forces fighting the Italians in 1940-41.

I have not been to Pella for nearly 40 years. The wonderful mosaics that were on the site of the ancient city have been removed to a purpose-built museum which opened in 2009. That in itself was an incredible feat as the risk of damaging the mosaics must have been high. Some of them are 5m x 3m.

Though not interested in hunting, my favourites are the lion hunt:

and the stag hunt:

The above pictures do not show the real beauty and artistry of the mosaics but I hope they inspire my six or seven readers to visit Pella. The museum has artefacts from gold jewellery to workshop tools, so you get a glimpse of everything from royalty to artisanship. Pella was once by the sea, which receded over time. Now it is about 30km inland. As we were on our way to Grevena, we decided to have coffee in the cafeteria. One complaint about life in Greece is the general abruptness and rudeness of public servants. This was not the case in Pella. The staff were friendly and helpful, and seemed genuinely pleased that we had taken a detour to visit the place. The same was true of the military museum where the staff were also helpful.

And then it was off to Grevena for our session (covered IMinNG #7). We checked into our rooms and then went to the nearby venue where the session was to be held. It is always useful to “case the joint” to make sure you are not going to be playing behind a pillar or beside the toilets! In Irish sessions the musicians are seated, and the last thing we want is to have eye level contact with some fucker pulling his dick out on the way to the toilet. Once the reconnaissance mission was accomplished, we asked for a good restaurant, and we were sent to a place called Αυλές. What a revelation! First of all, we didn’t know that Grevena is the mushroom centre of Greece. The menu had fourteen different mushroom starters. We chose around five and they were all excellent. The décor was superb too. All in all, Αυλές was one of the best restaurants I have been to in Greece.

I have passed Grevena many times on my way to Epirus. Next time I go, I will make a point of stopping for the night so that I can explore more items on the menu in Αυλές and sample a few craft beers in the bar, Αλχημείο. I’ll also try to meet up with Stelios.  With work commitments until 2019 and Covid restrictions since 2020, I have just realised that Grevena was the first new place I had visited in several years. It was good to do something different.

23^rd March. I have Covid. For the moment, no more than a mild temperature, a sore throat and a runny nose. Currently, I’m reading Mark Mazower’s The Greek Revolution 1821 and the Making of Modern Europe in which I came across the word ‘lazaretto’, a place for quarantining people with plague or leprosy. It can also mean a military or prison hospital. Within minutes of my being diagnosed, my wife turned her office into a lazaretto and has confined me to it and the small toilet across the hall. It reminds me of the guy who goes back to the doctor to get his blood tests results.

Doctor: I’m afraid I’ve got bad news. You’ve got GASH.

Patient: What the hell is GASH?

Doctor: It’s the disease of the 21^st century, Gonorrhoea, AIDS, Syphilis and Herpes.

Patient: So what happens now?

Doctor: You’ll be taken to a special isolation unit where you will be fed a diet of pizza, pancakes and omelettes.

Paitient: Will that cure me?

Doctor: No, but they are the only things we can slide under the door.

I think my wife is considering bringing in a carpenter to create more space between the door and the floor. Today’s figures are 23,000 new cases, 53 dead and 338 in intensive care. By the end of the month, the total number of infections since the start of the epidemic should reach 3 million, between a quarter and a third of the population. And, dividing the total number of infections by the total number of Covid-related deaths, one infected person in every 106 has died.