Vote early, vote often!
On another day we set for parts off the map, the unknown world, to find the Hellenic Cosmos. Hmm. No, not El Dorado, but rather an IMAX learning centre to judge from the pamphlets and web site. (On an earlier day we had tried to walk it, turning left at the end of the Kerameikos as Socrates did, but after about twenty minutes we seemed to be no closer, according to the street numbers and the rain started, so we retreated.)
We tried again on another day but it still proved to be a tough find. This time we took the metro to Kallithea Station as recommended by the Hellenic Cosmos brochure. That part was easy. Then we walked, trusting to street signs. With only the schematic map from the brochure to use, we judged from the heavy traffic that we had found the major road it is on, Piraeus Street, but the few street numbers visible were all wrong for our target. We retraced our steps (don’t forget where we parked the metro station!) and started again. Before revealing the next exciting adventure, let us have a pause.
Street signs, did I mention street signs? Yes, I did. Wake up! There are few of them in the Athens we saw, and most of those that exist are in Greek. Think alien alphabet. How do you like that! Like it or not, they don’t help us much.
Sidewalks, did I mention sidewalks? No, I did not, but I will now. Sidewalks even in the residential area near Kallithea Station seem to be either parking spaces or rubbish dumps. We navigated around cars and trucks parked on the sidewalk and side stepped old sofas, tree cuttings, rusted car parts on this journey. When we got into the light industry zone around Piraeus Street the trash on the sidewalks increased to light industrial quality, prominently featuring grease. The sidewalk, where it was visible under the rubbish, was also cracked and broken, rather like those in Mexico City or Seoul. We walked in the street, more often then not, dodging the vehicles.
Get back on the edge of the seat! The story resumes. We returned nearly to the station and started again, saying we would walk four blocks and if we failed to find the way, then we would do what mature people do: Quit.
Within that limit we did indeed find a street sign that corresponded to the indications on the map, but only barely. We should have photographed this sign, weathered into black, so that it seemed it might have been put up by Pericles. Moreover, it looked like someone had traced the lettering of the street name in black felt tip ink to make it stand out a little. Thanks to that unknown benefactor. Of course, a sign saying “Hellenic Cosmos this way” would have been a big help and done no harm to the street scape. This street led us to Piraeus Street again, and there was Hellenic Cosmos! Note, we were close the first time but we did not know that, and the street numbers seem to start and stop, as they do in Sydney from one post code to another.
Most of this story is trip, not arrival, but arrive we did. We got to Hellenic Cosmos in time to hand over some Euros and get in on the 1.30 p.m. IMAX show.
In cartoon form it presented some basics of the Acropolis and the Agora. The high point was the democratic process, a vote to ostracize one of four names. I knew two of them, Nicias and Alcibiades. (Readers of Thucydides will get it.) I voted early and often to expel Alcibiades. I graciously cast Kate’s vote for her. Well that is my story. My quick action got Alcibiades expelled. May I expect the next time I read Thucydides that the Sicilian Expedition will not occur now that I have eliminated Alcibiades? Does it work like that? Wasn’t that a time machine we were in? At least two others among the dozen in the audience, well maybe one other like me, voted against Alcibiades, but I did not find out who this enlightened soul was.
It has to be said that there were numerous technical glitches in getting going. A crowd of several hundred with small children would have been RESTIVE. We were just so glad to be there, we enjoyed the glitches. While I liked what there was, I hope it is only the beginning because a lot more could be done.
Hellenic Cosmos is more than the IMAX. It also has science and mathematics elements.
http://www.fhw.gr/cosmos/
Kate wanted to do some of the science and mathematics and suborned me with promises of coffee, but was told it was closed today (and any other day on which we might return – no, just kidding, nothing personal). This facility, paid for by all those tax Euros, to judge from the huge sign of thanks in the front.