This entry has been updated, click here to view the virtual tour of Mycenae.

Nighttime Skating at Syntagma Square

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Street theater at Syntagma Square

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Panoramic view of Syntagma Square at night

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Also known as Constitution Square, you will probably encounter Syntagma Square several times when you visit Athens. This is where the Parliament is located. It used to be the Royal Palace but it was converted in 1935 and the King was given another palace to stay. There is no king any more, he didn't do a good job and was let go. In front of the Parliament is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier which is guarded around the clock by the "evzoni", soldiers dressed in traditional uniforms. There is a changing of the guard ceremony at the top of each hour that is interesting to watch as the evzoni perform stylized sequences of steps and movements.

Syntagma Square is also an important transportation hub in Athens. There is a metro station, tram stop, and several bus and trolley routes that pass from here. On the lower side of the plaza there are several hotels, travel agencies, and restaurants, including a McDonalds in case you have McWithdrawal symptoms. You'll frequently encounter street parformances by musicians and theater troops here.

The concert hall was full, so I couldn't get in for a closeup pano. The guys at the console room were nice enough to let me watch the concert from there.

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Athens, Oct 7, 2005 - A flamenco concert by two Spanish artists, Nono Garcia and Jose Gonzalez, is being organized on October 7 by the Cervantes Institute of Athens at the Philippos Nakas Conservatory. Both artists are self-taught as happens with many flamenco artists. Nono Garcia started playing the guitar in a barbershop of his village, while Jose Garcia began singing in various cafes of Athens, where he lives since 1988.

Born in Barbate (Andalucia) Nono Garcia grew up in a flamenco environment and learn playing the guitar on his own. At the age of 15 he won the first prize at the Festival de la Cancion de Andalucia. He studied philosophy at the Granada University where he met and collaborated with the singers of the music group Manifiesto Cancion del Sur.

In 1980 he made his first tour with the singer Carlos Cano, while in 1988 he worked with Vaya Con Dios giving performances around the world. Later he formed the Belgium Band performing with musicians from Africa, Hungary and Brazil.

Ηe returned in Madrid in 1996 where he taught in the Faculty of Creative Music. Since then he has collaborated with various singers such as Martirio, Gema and Pavel, Javier Ruibal, Gladstone Galliza, Clara Montes, Carmen Paris and Jose Antonio Ramos.

Jose Gonzalez (Cadiz, 1963) started singing in various cafes of Athens, where he lives since 1988. He studied Spanish Literature and obtained his MA on Translation. He is currently a professor of Spanish Language at the Greek Open University as well as at the Institute Cervantes in Athens combining the work of a professor and translator with his love for the research on Greek musicology and literature of oral tradition.

In 1990, along with the flamenco dancer Mariella Caretero and the guitarist Dimitris Koukoulitakis, he formed the music group Cuadro Flamenco Romani and toured all over Greece and Cyprus almost for a decade. His love for Greek popular music led him to record his first album, (Andama, 1994), experimenting on ways to combine flamenco sounds with Greek popular instruments.

His first collaboration with Nono Garcia goes back in 1997, when the two artists collaborated for the presentation of a repertory with Romances Flamencos in the summer departments of the University of Cadiz.

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Athens, Oct 3, 2005 - Livanis Publicatons held a presentation today for the newly published book: Football, a religion with no unfaithful.

The panel included:
• Andonis Nikopolidis, goalkeeper of the Greek National Football Team
• Yiorgos Koudas, veteran player of PAOK
• Andonis Andoniadis, veteran player of Panathinaikos
as well as university professors Yiannis Panousis and Yiorgos Rousis. The discussion was moderated by the well known journalist Philippos Sirigos.

The book was authored by Nikos Bogiopoulos and Dimitris Milakas.

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Get... "Invisible" in the 10th International Babel Comics Festival in Athens

The 10th International Babel Comics Festival opens its gates on Thursday, September 22, and welcomes us all at the Technopolis in Athens. Once more, the festival focuses both on newcomers and established Greek and foreign artists. After all, to a great extend, this is a feast that disregards the boundaries of generations and styles, embracing all those who insist to be creative even in unimaginative eras. What's more, a number of parallel events such as street theatre, screenings of short animation films and a special documentary on Babel's 25 years of life, take place within the framework of the festival that runs through September 25.

So, Babel becomes the crossroad where the young meet with the elder and where comics meet with music, painting, theatre, construction, or any kind of spontaneous artistic expression; in brief, Babel is a diverse, fascinating combination of everything, in which the audience sets the tone. That's why, the festival's 10th edition this year focuses on this audience and its invisible but always present dynamics.

This very audience has the opportunity to read and see the stories created by all artists on the same subject, namely "The Invisibles".

The following Greek comics creators take part in the 10th International Vavel Comics Festival:
S. Verykios, D.Vitalis, K.Vitalis, S.Derveniotis, Ch.Dimitriou, A.Zafeiratos, Zenia, Zervos Petros - Th. Petrou, L.& M. Kalogeri, E.Kyriazis, Kon, V.Lolos, K.Maniatopoulos, V.Matziris - D.Savaidis - R. Moustakatou, G.Botsos, St. Dilios - Gavriel Pagonis, T. Papaioannou, K.Papamichalopoulos, D.Papastamos, F.Pechlivanides, Soto Anagno, Smart, Soloup, Tragakis Yorgos, Α. Thorpe, P. Chabidis, D. Aidinis, Agg. Antonopoulos, G. Vavilousakis, K. Vavilousakis, S. Verikios, G. Kazazis, G. Lasithiotakis, M. Manousakis, M. Mpitsakis, G. Papayiannis, Agg. Papadimitriou, Ah. Papakostas and H. Sotiropoulos.
The following foreign comics creators take part in the 10th International Vavel Comics Festival:
Stephan Blanquet, Alex Raymond, Chester Gould, Milton Caniff, Al Capp, Winsor McCay, George Herriman, George McManus, classic heros such as Dick Tracy, Flash Gordon, Krazy Kat, Phantom, Tarzan, Rip Kirby, Cocco Bill, Valentina, Ralf Konig, Mezzo - Pirus, and the teams Carpe Diem, Maclaim and Errorism, Seim.

Organized by Technopolis of the City of Athens, the festival is realized under the auspices of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture.
Source: CultureGuide.gr