almost without interruption. If so far they have
been awarded, now they beg. The most recent
aids marked negatively their mentality, at least
by two ef ects:
- They have got the habit of living from aids,
what is the worst than it looks;
- Together with the help of Soviets, received
during the Civil War, they received the
communist doctrine too.
Strikes and protest ral ies - their solution to the
recent crisis – wil not solve the problem. On
the contrary, it wil aggravate it. Firstly, the
crisis is not their; it is a financial crisis overal .
Greece is just the first on the list of indebted
ones. That's because they have ripped of and
laid the most, in relation to their economic
power. Now, those who should resolve the crisis
are those who hold the brakes. The big banks
are the most involved. The association of banks
wishes to save the system. The banks, however
associated, are in competition each other. The
218
failure of some is joy for the others. Who wil
win this dispute nobody knows. The sacrifice of
some banks, with serious consequences for
Greece, it is a solution unlikely. Now, the
Greeks caress themselves with the idea that
other countries, including the US, have debts
too and that – final y - al debts wil be
deleted. Naive! I do not think it is appropriate
to cry of pity the Americans. Perhaps, trying to
save the system, the association of banks are
able to find a global solution and to forgive
Greece of its sins. It is, apparently, an
advantageous solution for short term, but
catastrophic on long-term. The only correct
solution is the economic growth, and this involves
to attract the investors and not to scare them.
* * *
There are here, in the café, two waiting-girlsvery nice, unusual In the Greek landscape. I
219
think in their genealogic tree slipped a foreign
race. Even the boy at the bar is handsome.
* * *
Someone said that the wars described by Homerwould have been much more petty and that only
the writer's talent made them great. It appears
that about the heroes we could say the same
thing. Even Odysseus, seems to have been just
a smal cunning fel ow. So, thanks to Homer the
Greeks would have a glorious past.
'A great past, a great future" is a line of a
Romanian poetry. Is it suitable for Greeks?
Greece is not a large country and is no longer
great at al . Yes, but the simple fact that it
exist for several mil ennia, of which the last two
under foreign occupation, is evidence that it has
a life with few countries can hope. But, as not
Trojan’s War was great, but the work of Homer
220
and that of others like him, it appears that not
political criteria are to be taken into
consideration, but the cultural dimension. They,
the Greeks, from this point of view, have a real y
great past, and this is the explanation of
Greece’s persistence. This does not mean that
al Greeks are people of culture. On the
contrary! Even now, when I put down these
thoughts, in a cafe-space, in which,
traditional y, Greeks spend evenings in face of a
cup of words - I could hardly cal intel ectual
someone around, though the Café is in the
centre of the town.
* * *
Greek children like school. At least some!Yesterday, Sunday, at 20 o’clock, in front
of a school, a group of children talked
merely around a pile of rubbish. The
garbage doesn't disturbed them, sign that it
221
occurred many times. Important is the fact
that you cannot break up the school, even
when it is closed.
I also have a more pessimistic variant: the
routine; this is the place where they come
during the breaks, to do what is not al owed
in school. But, maybe, I should not write
this.
Athens, October 17, 2011
- - - - -
The weather was repaired. The sky is blue,
but pretty cold.
The neighbour woman across the corridor
works after the meal, I think. She comes in
222
the evenings. She sleeps only toward the
morning. Now It is 3:45 o’clock and I hear
her making conversation with the little girl;
both are lively. It would leave at least the
child to have a normal sleep. Even the dog
in the block across the street sleeps at this
hour. He barks only during the day,
especial y evenings, when the owners of
pets walk along the bet friend, and he
notifies that he observed them. That's
right, sometimes he barks to some
pedestrian as wel , but I have not yet
found out why. At me, he does not bark. I
remember that, a few years ago, in Brasov,
the dog of a neighbour used to bark to me
when I went out of the house dressed with
the overal of painting, which was speckled
with paint. It was clear that was
admonishing me for defective clothing.
223
* * *
I don't know if people were more beautiful
at the time of Fidias & co. If they were
identical with those of today, it means the
artists of antiquity had the intuition of
beauty, because they created the ideal of
beauty that has been preserved until today.
Yes, Greeks are those who made us sick by
beauty. The Fidias’ Greeks! The English,
French people, stealing Greek statues,
conveyed the microbe of beauty at their
home.
In Athens, the ruins tel us that the spirit
of antiquity stil exists. Closely researched,
however, we find that it is ful of absences.
There are missing not only the descendants
224
of those who built them, but also those for
which they were built. Modern Athens is
something else. And yet, the spirit is
there, but it must be sought elsewhere.
The aim of those who have built in stone
monuments destined to resist in time could
not be those few inhabitants of the
nowadays town. They aimed at the Universe
and defied the time. We are their target,
al of us. That means they want to tel to
the world something, al people to learn
that they found out something, that they -
and not others - are those who have
discovered that something.
- Wel , wel , and what they found out? That
they can build in stone? Many people knew
this.
- The Greeks discovered the beauty. They
searched for it first in philosophy and applied
in art.
225
Unfortunately, we needed rather much time to
appropriate it, but – final y – we did it, even
partial y. Slowly, but surely! Even the robbery
was a means by which Greek aesthetics made
school in European capitals. The robbery from
Greek heritage has worked like a Trojan horse.
Or like a microbe; immediately reached in Paris
or London, they fel il the viewers with the
beauty disease; the ideal of beauty invented
by the Greeks.
Why the Greeks were so proud with their
discovery? I look around and found that people
that I see on the street does not real y
resemble with those from the statues. Have
been those from the past otherwise? Possible,
but I don't think this is the cause. Sooner, I
think that artists have idealised and have
developed a theoretical model of beauty. They
226
have invented the aesthetics. And because the
writing was not spread as today, they fixed it
in stone, to last, and have placed it on the
heights, to be seen.
Athens remains a landmark for make us sure of
the failure of the ugly in any form, even of
some artistic pretensions currents, but without
actual coverage. Maybe especial y them! The
silence of the Parthenon, of Greek temples, is
a lesson of aesthetics more compel ing than
any scholar course of aesthetics.
Thanks to the decapitate statues and al sorts
of barbarian destruction, Athens shows us the
true face of humanity. But, maybe, things can
improve. Perhaps the good and the beauty
have a chance in the face of evil and ugly. The
al is to want it. This is the lesson of Athens
227
and this is why Acropolis is located on a Hil , a
pleonasm – of course – because Acropolis
even it means: the city from the top. It is
there, in order that we keep it in mind
anywhere we are and, behold, any when, since
it resists over centuries.
* * *
The society has always been and wil be
composed by rulers and ruled. Accordingly,
there wil be rich and poor persons in the same
measure. Important is to not exaggerate
because – on the other hand – the prosperity
brings by the middle class. Middle class must
be in majority and not that of the poor
people. The social distribution must take the
form of the Gauss’ bel , and not of a triangle.
Bel 's Gauss is a mathematical representation
228
of reality, of the nature itself, while the
triangle is a simplistic image, created by the
minds of the same size.
* * *
If the 19th century was heroic for Greeks, the
fol owing, despite of the prosperity acquired it
was one of moral degradation. Victims of Soviet
and Russian propaganda, on the one hand, and
of the aid from the West, on the other hand,
they have become lazy and recalcitrant.
* * *
Everyone knows today that Churchil and Stalindiscussed and established the division of
Eastern Europe after the Second World War.
Because Churchil went to Moscow on 9
229
October 1944, they say that he was the one
who proposed to Stalin, and he accepted the
agreement according to which, after the war,
Greece wil come in the area of English
influence in the proportion of 90% and
Romania in the Soviet Union one, in the same
proportion.
The question is: the United States does not
have anything to say? Of course, it had. Even
between England and the United States
certainly occurred lots of discussions long
before, about which we do not know, as we did
not know long time about the agreement
between Churchil and Stalin.
We could understand now why the Romania's
attempts to get out of the al iance with
230
Germany and become their partners had failed
just before the Churchil -Stalin’s meeting.
Athens, October 18, 2011
- - - - -
It was a splendid day. You say that it snowed
last night and the temperature is below 0
degrees in Brasov. Here, I may say it became
cooler. People stil do bathe in the sea.
Yes, I was once again at the seaside, this time
a little further. I went by tramway on the
known way up to Voula and, from there, by bus
to Varkiza.
I had noticed during the previous visit that
there are buses going far away, but I did not
231
know where they go. I learned and found out
that the route of the bus number E22 passes
through al localities along the coast, up to
Saronida, which is very close to Cape Sounio,
the southern end of the peninsula, where the
ruins of the famous "Temple of Poseidon" are
situated. Why people made a temple on the
land dedicated to Poseidon, the God of the
seas, I do not know. Its celebrity is due to
the position. Located on a promontory, of ers
a beautiful sight particularly during the sunset.
However, al the photos on views are taken in
such times.
If I think about it a bit, I remember that
Poseidon is the God of earthquakes as wel and,
if stil meditate, I remember that one of the
explanations for the disappearance of Minoan
culture is an earthquake, fol owed by a
232
tsunami, which started from the island of
Santorini. The location of the temple on this
promontory get a justification: it was
worshipped to Poseidon with the request not to
play with the lives of the Greeks and, if
possible, to protect them.
With the ticket that I had, I might go as far
as Varkiza, so I did it. Anyway, I would not
have the time for a longer trip, especial y
since I was not knowing how long it wil take. I
wil do it another time, better prepared.
In Varkiza and on the way up there, by
curiosity, I had a look at the apartments for
rent, even if, now, the information is not
topical. In spring, maybe my dream of living
near the sea could become reality. The entire
area of the coastline has developed enormously
233
in the last few decades. Here, those with much
money invested and have raised luxurious
residences. It is a delight to walk and look
around, under the condition not to be envious.
The first locality after Voula is Vouliagmenis,
after which the highway travels a little
inhabited land, an area where the mountain
descends steeply toward the sea. In some tiny
gulfs, sandy beaches invite you to leave the
highway for a good bath in clear water. Some
people just do it.
Varkiza is a smal locality. The area from the
vicinity of the sea looks like al other from the
seaside, but, wandering away from the sea and
– of course – climbing, the houses become
vil as, and this ones turn into real palaces. I
have not found a palace to rent, but, on the
234
outskirts of the city, there are simple houses
of those who are engaged in activities less
profitable, but useful for the locality, where
you might find something for our budget of
retirees.
On returning route, I used the bus route E22
and I found out that its end is in the centre
of Athens, at "Academy" station. In addition,
through Athens the bus go on the boulevards,
as an express and not like the tram, as a snail.
This is the justification of the letter E from
the name of the route.
Athens, 19 October 2011
- - - - -
235
It is general strike; the means of transport do not
work, so that I cannot go to Saronida with the bus
E22, which I've just discovered. I'm sorry,
especial y since it is a beautiful day. The most
adequate activity seems to be a walking through the
parks of Athens, where, there are not piles of
garbage.
Athens looks realy very nice, especialy in such
areas, and they are many. There are trees on many
streets, even on the narrow ones. Among them are
even lemons, now with fruit, which can be used but
nobody col ect them. Mandarins instead, are only
decorative. Some bushes from the sidewalks or in the
balconies of the houses have flowers. I recognized
only a few. Most of them are unknown for me, but
they are equal y beautiful.
The park where I am now is a spectacle, and the
gentle sun is pleasing, particularly after the cold
from previous days. I write at the present time,
236
because I am sitting on a bench in the park and put
down my impressions.
I must tel you that our apartment is quite cold.
The Greeks are not concerned about the thermal
insulation. I hope the central heating to be more
ef icient, although, if it wil , wil cost. So far, the
owner did not start it.
That the Greeks are a skimpy I knew. But behold,
it cost now more, because they must consume more
energy for heating and now just its price has raise.
What is the point in talking about health! The
medicines can cost more than just housing, and the
number of elderly women with sequels of
rheumatism, rickets, il nesses of the kidneys and
other af lictions or just infirmities prove the ef ect
of these wrong mentalities. They are to seen in
women, because they stay longer in the house,
while men walk or work outside. With an investment
little greater at the construction of the house, they
237
could achieve a better and more ef icient thermal
insulation, with substantial economy throughout the
existence of the dwel ing.
But look, I am thinking at unpleasant things,
instead of be glad for the pleasure of sitting on a
bench in the park, under the rays of the sun of
autumn.
A guy with Asian figure has left me to watch a
large black plastic bag, and he went to the toilet
nearby. I think it stands there for a quarter of an
hour. I should move a little, especial y since the
bench is hard, but I must wait.
* * *
In the end, he came!
* * *
I returned after a tour through the centre, wherethe demonstrators made mess in al forms. Wherever
they gone, the pavement of the streets has a
238
coverlet by manifests, packaging of drinks more or
less soft and others, thrown in a total
shamelessness.
It passed about two hours since I left and the sun
changed its position. I moved in another place, on
another bench, better exposed to the sun.
I found that I bothered a turtle, which was situated
just below the bench on I stay. Now, after a
journey that lasted a few minutes, she went deep
into the bush from the back, one with smal green
leaves, thick and glossy.
The images from the streets stil are in my mind.
If, in the Sundays, Athens is an active city, most
shops are open, its inhabitants join the tourists, it
is a dead town today. The mess from the streets
gives him the appearance of a former town, deserted
now, where only the garbage and scumbags have
multiplied.
239
Although the merchants are not in strike, the
experience has made them cautious. Everything is
closed; the shutters are drawn and scribbled
persistently by the demonstrators. One of the
slogans drew my attention about the desire of the
protesters: "Global Civil War". So, simple anarchy!
For week, K.K.E. the Greek Communist Party,
advertise for mobilizing the population to strike in
Omonia Square. Because there is not enough space
for many people, they are active from place to
place on the adjacent streets up til Syntagma
Square. You can identify them from a distance,
because of the megaphones on which they howl their
slogans. I know the word howl sounds nasty, but it
is elegant face to the reality. Also, they can be
identified from the flow of people going to the
house, after they had done act of attendance. I
recognize the feeling, because we al lived with it,
in our country in those nearly 50 years of
240
communist regime. Why we participate in ral ies
organized by the party, I know. Why the Greeks
feel obligated to do it, I do not know.
This name, K.K.E., sounds funny. Curious is that,
in Greek, "kaka" is the opposite of "kala", and
means ugly, obnoxious.
Anyway we would say, its activity is as large as
disturbing. Even without get in depth, the
necessary expenditure to organize these events –
and they are not rare – are dozens times larger
than those for parliamentary elections in our
country. On my route of today I did not see a
single pole or tree without 2-4 posters on it; some
of them were so up, that needed cranes to put
them there. And this strike is not a singular one.
Since I am here, they are kept chain, almost every
Wednesday and Thursday. What they do at work on
Monday, Tuesday and Friday is easy to imagine:
prepare the demonstrations for Wednesday and
241
Thursday. Saturdays and Sundays are free days. In
those days, there are not strike or demonstrations,
as they are not so stupid. They are just lazy.
We are told that what you do on Monday wil do al
week. That’s why, in such day, the housewives do
not do unpleasant activities, like washing laundry.
Also, it is al eged that you might not give money;
it is better to receive, if possible. The Greeks have
solved the problem in a dif erent way. To them,
Monday is cal ed "deftera", meaning "the second";
the second day of the week. The first is Sunday,
"day of the Lord". Saturday is "savato", i.e. "the
Sabbath", when just the Jews do not work. And
then, they, the Greeks, why would do it?
* * *
I can read on my pen "Discover the broom".Probably anything else was to discover, but what it
was written is deleted and that's why I can read