Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Zagori part 5 – Villages of Zagori


Time to finish this small series about Zagori. By chance, I just realized that I managed to fit in all posts in December, so I can call this “December with Zagorochoria” :-P I will come back to this region in some undefined future, but for now, lets close this one and go back to Patras.
As the finali, I want to write about villages themselves. The name Zagorochoria, after all, means exactly “the villages”, so they could easily be the first not the last to mention. But, last does not mean least :-P The villages are integral part of Zagorian landscape and therefore cannot be missed in the whole picture. Traditional stone buildings covered with slate roofs, narrow cobbled streets made entirely from local stone, central main squares under the shadow of big platano tree, with cafes and tavernas around, impressive stone churches – all this is not an everyday view. Inside the houses, You can find wooden carvings on the ceiling, walls decorated with painted cupboards, almost always a tzaki in the corner. Traditional guest houses offer old wooden furniture and beautiful carpets on the wooden floors. All this wood and stone combination gives impressive look both to interior and exterior of each building.


The Zagorian villages during years of foreign occupation were the main areas of maintaining and preserving the Greek heritage. Today, villages of Papigko and Monodendri are entirely declared as national historical monuments. The village from the photo is Kipoi (gr “the gardens”) located on the hill on its south side, bathing in morning sun. It was a little frosty morning, when I took the photo, though You can see a gentle fog and morning smog over the houses coming out out tzakia.

Photo: NIKON D70s, AP, f 1/8, 1/250s, -0.3EV, f=78 mm (for 35mm), GIMP software

Monday, December 12, 2011

Zagori part 4 – Stone Bridges of Zagori


Probably every photo or any leaflet advertising Zagori, will include at least one of stone bridges from the region. They are as important and recognizable part of Zagori landscape, as Acropolis is for Athens. For a long time, I was  convinced that these stone bridges are exclusive for Zagori only. It was much later when I realized they can be found in other places in all north‑western Greece.
So far I have managed to visit mostly the main ones during my two visits to Zagori, along them the bridges of: Kleidonia, Aristis, Kalogeriko, Petsioni, Milou, Kontodimou, Kokkorou. They are all impressive and in very good condition after being recently renovated as part of revitalization program for Zagori using European Union’s funds. Most are dated for 18th century, when they replaced old wooden ones. Some, until early 20th century, were the only way to the villages located higher in the mountains. 


By far, the most famous is Kalogeriko, just outside village of Kipoi. It’s uniqueness comes from the size and shape. It has three arch sections, not just one which is the case for most of the other bridges. The famous shape reminds a moving warm.


But it’s not the one I have enjoyed the most. Bigger impression gave me, a little low profile bridge of Petsioni, from the second photo, located just 1km east from Kipoi. Actually I don’t think many people pay a visit to this one. It’s a little bit on a side of more popular spots in Zagori. It’s all covered with plants, trees and moss, that all together give it an extra-old look, like it would be not three hundred years old but at least a thousand :-P I have immediately pictured a scene from Lord of the Rings when I saw it. I am not sure, but it actually looks like not renovated, like it would preserve in it’s original condition.

Photo1: NIKON D70s, (program), f 1/7.1, 1/320s, -0.3EV, f=51 mm (for 35mm), GIMP software

Photo2: NIKON D70s, (program), f 1/7.1, 1/160s, -0.3EV, f=27 mm (for 35mm), GIMP software

Friday, December 9, 2011

Zagori part 3 – The land of Tsipouro


As I wrote in the introduction post to Zagori, there are many different reasons to go there. One of them, very often the main and only one, is famous zagorian food. I would like to believe that in my case, it was not, but who knows… Anyway, during my first visit, I have decided to try all the famous flavors of Zagori. I had read some recipes in a guide and saw some photos of traditional cousin and fall in love immediately. Pitas with famous alevropita and “naked” chortopita on top of the list, wild boar from the oven, home made meatballs (gr. keftadakia), fried feta and of course the tsipouro! The best one You can get in Greece! You can imagine how happy and hungry I was the first evening, entering taverna after 9‑hour hike to the peak of Gkamila, having only some snacks during the day… I opened the menu, full of “specialties of the day” and wanted to order all of it. Just from the top of my head, as I recall, I have tried that evening: cooked rooster, cooked beef in tomato sauce with kritharaki, fresh and crispy alevropita, delicious home made meatballs and grilled local sausages (gr χωριατικο λουκανικο). All this with company of tsipouro of course! A loooot of tsipouro! And after all this, desert, nice and juicy piece of orange cake (portokalopita) :-D


But it's not only cooked and grilled stuff. There is also plenty of choice in food that You can buy and take home with You. Among them: traditional variety of sweets (different kinds of fruits in sugar syrop), home made marmeladas (with my favorite plum and forest fruits flavors), trachana and chilopites, herbs and tees... But You have to be very careful, none of it is cheap! One simple visit to a shop offering traditional products, can cost You 50E and more depending on Your appetite :-P
I don't have any food photo, I have never taken one in my life, as I prefer tasty than good looking kind of food :-P and, by far, I prefer photos of landscapes and food on my plate. Instead, I post a photo of one of many stores with traditional food and sweets. You can find at least 2 or 3 of them in every village. This one is from Kapesovo, located directly at the main square.

Photo: NIKON D70s, Aperture priority, f 1/7.1, 1/400s, -0.3EV, f=27 mm (for 35mm), GIMP software

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Zagori part 2 – The Deepest Gorge in the world


Absolutely the most famous hiking route in Zagori is the path connecting villages of Monodendri and Vikos, through the Vikos gorge. It's a little tricky to achieve in one day, as it takes about 6-7h one way. The solution can be to arrange transportation back to start, or to walk “almost” all of distance and simply return to the point of start. Whatever You choose, You will not regret. The hike is unforgettable! You can really feel the power of nature when You reach the bottom and look up at 1km high “walls” of the gorge!


The gorge, varying from 400 to 1100m in depth and 400m to only few in width, is stated in Guiness Book of Records, as the deepest gorge in the world. There are some controversies about that, as it’s a delicate matter of definition of a “gorge” itself in comparison to “canyon”, not allowing higher values of width-depth ratio, but regardless of this, it is simply huge. The length is about 20km, starting in area close to villages of Monodendri, Vitsa and Koukouli, and stretching until Vikos, where Voidomatis river starts.


I post You two photos: one taken from the bottom of the gorge; the other from most famous view point in Zagori, called Mpeloi (or Beloi), some 950m above the place from where the first photo was taken. Before visiting Zagori, I read about Mpeloi in a guide, where I found such text: “when You finally reach the view point, be prepared Your jaw to drop” :-P And it really is true! I have done some hiking in my life and seen some amazing views, but this one was really outstanding all the previous! No photo will give You that impression, the size and the power of the gorge. You need to see it live, to experience it Yourself, as it's more of overall feeling than just a view.

Photo1: NIKON D70s, Aperture priority, f 1/7.1, 1/640s, -0.3EV, f=27 mm (for 35mm), GIMP software

Photo2: NIKON D70s, Aperture priority, f 1/8, 1/500s, -0.3EV, f=27 mm (for 35mm), GIMP software
 

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Zagori part 1 – The Introduction


I wanted to write about Zagori for a long time now, ss it's so far my favorite part of inland Greece. The region is totally different from the Greece’s stereotype shown in TV commercials, where mostly beaches of Aegean islands appear. And the truth is that Greece has so much more to offer than just rocky shores, clear waters of Mediterranean and endless beach bars.
Zagori, or the alter name Zagorochoria, is a land north from city of Ioannina in Pindos mountains in northwest Greece. It's a administrative area of 45 villages. The name Zagorochoria, comes from a combination of “zagori” from Balkan languages meaning simply “behind mountains”, and greek “choria” (gr. χώρια) meaning “villages”, so as the whole name could be translated to “the villages behind mountains”.
The area it's very popular among Greeks. Specially citizens of Thessaloniki (about 70% of all tourists for the region) visit the area often since new Egnatia highway was fully opened,  connecting Ioannena to Macedonia, that made the trip possible within 2h. For me the trip is not yet so comfortable. The Ionian highway, connecting Peloponnese, from Kalamata through Patras, to Ioannena, is still deep deep on paper only :-/ About 250km distance takes from 3 up to even 4,5h depending on traffic conditions.


There are hundreds of reasons to visit Zagori: could be the deepest in the world, famous Vikos gorge with Voidomatis river considered to be the cleanest in Europe, could be the food with pitas and not less famous tsipouro, could be the villages restored to their original old style or numerous stone bridges – all this, completely different in all four seasons of the year. I can only guarantee that whatever reason will it be for You, each visit will reveal something else, and as a result You will want to come again. This was exactly the case for me, and still is, I still want to go there another and another time. So, with this post, I start a small series about Zagori.
As an introduction, I post a panoramic photo of Vikos gorge, taken from village of Dikorfo. You can easily observe huge size of the gorge, but also with a little closer look, You might spot villages on the left (Vitsa and Monodendri) and Gamila peak on the right. The name of the peak in greek language means “the camel”, which can be understood from this photo from the shape of the peaks.

Photo: NIKON D70s, Aperture priority, f 1/7.1, 1/800s, -0.3EV, f=57 mm (for 35mm), GIMP software

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Suburban rail in Patras


Some time ago I wrote about rack railway to Kalavryta. As a continuation of rail theme, today time for Patras suburban railway (gr. Προαστιακός). Yes, believe it or not, Patras has one, a very good one! It connects the city center, stations are located close to Agios Andreas church and the port, with north‑eastern parts of the city together with outskirt towns of Rio and Agios Vasilios. As I use it almost everyday, I finally decided to dedicate one of my posts to this train.
First connection started in July 2010, between Patras and Rio, and train stopped at four stations only. In time, more and more areas wanted the train to stop in their neighborhoods and since September 2011, the train has been extended until Ag Vasilios, to my great satisfaction :-D There are plans to extend the route more to the east, until Arachovitika and Psathopyrgos, so as final route should consist of stations of: Ag Andreas, Patra (port), Panachaiki stadium, Bozaitika, Kastelokampos, Rio, Ag Vasilios and future Arachovitika and Psathopyrgos. Among further improvements, there is also planned additional route in opposite direction until Kato Achaea through Vrachneika, that would in consequence lead to connecting almost 50km of the coast line of Patras metropolitan area with fast and reliable train, significantly reducing traffic in the center.
Similar suburban routes are operating in Athens and Thessaloniki. Athens connections are: to Piraeus, Corynthos, Kiato and the International Airport, with extension plans also in north and south directions. Thessaloniki connections are to: Larissa through Litochoro, and to Edessa. The trains are operated by TrainOSE, an independent state company, using infrastructure of the Hellenic Rail Organization (ΟΣΕΟργανισμός Σιδηροδρόμων Ελλάδας). Patras route is not electrified and though served by diesel engine rolling stock made in Switzerland by STADLER / BOMBARDIER and in Germany by MAN factories. 


The train immediately became extremely popular. First among students, who use it everyday to get from Patras to Rio, from where extra bus takes them up to the new university campus within the price of the train ticket. Student monthly ticket is only 15E! It is cheaper than city bus and much faster and comfortable, with air conditioning during the summer and heating in the winter months.
Nowadays, in crisis time, more and more people start to use it also in the opposite direction, to get to work in the center. The train seems very convenient way, if You consider the fact that You are not forced to look for a parking place, which sometimes means additional 15min of Your time or extra 5E from Your pocket. For me, trip from Agios Vasilios, takes about 25min, which would be difficult to achieve with a car during heavy afternoon traffic.
Photo presents Patras main station, between pedestrian Ag Nikolaou street and the port. I have originally taken photo of empty station and later decide to “improve” it a little bit with colorful train. As the post is about the train itself, I think it fits much better :-P

Photo details: NIKON D70s, Aperture priority, f 1/9, 1/400s, -0.3EV, f=105 mm (for 35mm), GIMP software

Monday, November 14, 2011

The mountain of gods


When speaking about Greece, what comes to Your mind ? Probably the first thought would be Athens with Akropolis, or maybe Aegean islands like Santorini, Mykonos or Rhodos, definitely gyros, mousakas, ouzo... but somewhere on the list for sure would appear Olympos – the mountain of Gods, so often mentioned in Ancient Greek mythology. What surprised me when I decided to go there and started to read a little about Olympos, was that the name applies for the whole region and mountain range, not the highest peak. In fact there are 4 main peaks with their own names, that I have never heard of before, such as: Skala (2866m), Stefani (2909m), Skolio (2911m) and Mythikas (2918m) - the highest point of Greece and the most popular Greek hiking destination (some sources mention a number of 10.000 hikers every year). So, the time has come for the first “out of Patras” post.
Together with my girlfriend, we have decided to visit Olympos in August this year, during long weekend (13th–15th), as it's almost 5h drive from Patras and would be difficult to manage in a regular two-day weekend. The starting point for the hike can be village of Litochoro (from the east side), Dion (from north-east) or Kokkinoplos (from the west). Following suggestions of most guides, we have decided to follow the most popular route from the east. The highest point reachable by car is Prionia at the altitude of 1100m. Here, a 6-hour hike begins, through refuge of Spilios Agapitos until Skala peak, plus additional 45min to reach the highest point of Olympos - Mythikas. In order not to repeat the same route down, we have decided to descent to Plateau of the Mouses and spend the night camping next to Christos Kakkalos refuge. Next day we continued down taking longer route: from plateau, following to Skourta and Petrostrouga, to finally reach asphalt road to Prionia in point called Gortsia. Luckily we managed to stop the car that took us back to our car in Prionia, to avoid boring 2h walk along the road.

The whole area of Olympos National Park is truly amazing! Within radius of 20km You get everything You could possibly imagine: the mountains, the forest, gorges with rivers and waterfalls but also the beach and beautiful coast line. No wonder, it's so popular area among tourists.


I could post at least 20 photos from this trip. It was not so easy to chose the best, but finally I decided. First one is taken from Kakoskala (“the bed steps”) over the Plateau of the Mouses, with both refuges of Christos Kakkalos and Giorgos Apostolidis, and bunch of tents between them (where we have also camped during the night).

 
Second one was taken from the refuge, pointing to Stefani rocky peak, called “the throne of Zeus”. It was actually our view from the tent! Nice, huh ? No 5* hotel in the world offers this kind of views! The legend says, that in the morning light of raising sun, You can see the face of Zeus somewhere among the rocks. In fact, we both claimed to see it, but as it later came out, we saw it in completely different place :-P Anyway, go and find it Yourself… Some say, it’s a sin for a Greek, not to visit Olympos at least once in life.
I really recommend the trip there! You will enjoy every minute of it, the hike, the views, the food and after all this, You can chill out at one of the beaches of Olympos coastline…

Photo1: Panasonic DMC-FX 150, Landscape Mode, f 1/9, 1/250s, 0EV, f=29mm (for 35mm), GIMP software

Photo2: Panasonic DMC-FX 150, Normal, f 1/9, 1/200s, 0EV, f=29mm (for 35mm), GIMP software

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

The Upper City


Most of the people, when they come to Patras center, go to Ag Nikolaou pedestrian, plateia Giorgiou, marina. This part of Patras is called “the lower city” (gr. “κατο πολι”). A little less visited area is “the upper city” (gr. “ανο πολι”), maybe because everybody is lazy to walk up the stairs :-P Some of attractions to find there are the castle and roman amphitheatre. This area is probably more popular among young people and students. It has many narrow streets, old houses built in traditional way, cafés and restaurants, many of them with nice panoramic view of Patras (“the lower city”, the port, the bridge and the bay).

 
I took advantage of one sunny Saturday in October to have a walk there. I was hoping mainly for some nice panoramic photos of Patras, but I also took some of narrow streets of the neighborhood. The posted photo is one of them, taken while passing by the street below the castle. It’s just one of many streets going down from beneath the castle, with steep stairs, white painted houses, almost one on top of another, some laundry on the string, and a view in the background. This is exactly how the whole neighborhood looks like. I don’t even remember the name of the street as all of them seem the same for me. I like this part of Patras much more then crowded lower town.

Photo details: NIKON D70s, Aperture priority, f 1/8, 1/1250s, -0.3EV, f=27 mm (for 35mm), GIMP software

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Achaean Rack Railway


Famous rack railway (gr. “Οδοντωτος”), connecting seaside Diakopto with Kalavryta, located higher in the mountains, is just 1h driving from Patras to Athens. From Diakopto train goes 750m up within about 1h15min, through the gorge of Vouraikos (gr “Βουραϊκος”). The route is 22,3km long, with about 3.4km of rack sections, where maximum incline is 17,5%. The width of the tracks is only 75cm that makes it narrowest in the world. The rail was built from initiative of Charilaos Trikoupisis, also the idea holder of Rio-Antirio bridge. Construction started in 1889 and was originally planned for only 10 months, to be finally inaugurated after 7 years, on March 10th, 1896. Since then, the train is constantly operating. Visit official web page of the train for more details about history, schedules, prices and news.

 
First trains to operate were steam locomotives custom designed for this route in 1891. In 1957, first diesel trains (3 rolling stocks) were ordered from French factory BILLARD (later in 1967 additional 3, produced by DECAUVILLE, were added). They were successfully operating not so long ago, before 2009 (some say, that back then, the trip with 40-year-old train was even bigger adventure :-P).
Today's motor is a modern one, Swiss STADLER, that was also custom made for Diakopto-Kalavryta route. Engine is MAN production, 588kW power diesel. New cars are comfortable and air-conditioned, with big windows for better views during the ride, and can fit up to 104 passengers. 


I have decided to take a ride on one weekend in September, as it seemed better and cooler month compared to hot summer, without crowds of tourists. The plan was to take the train from Diakopto until Kato Zachlorou only (Mega Spilion station on train’s schedule) and walk down back to Diakopto (about 13km, only descent). All this is a part of International hiking route E4, that passes through the gorge, following exactly railroad tracks. It takes about 7-8h to walk all the distance from Kalavryta to Diakopto, and about 3,5h from Kato Zachlorou down to Diakopto. Believe me, both the ride and later walk are worth an effort. First You can see all the attractions (narrow passes, caves, waterfalls and the river itself) from the window, sitting comfortably in the train. Later You pass them during the walk, having all the time in the world for as many photos as You want.
I specially enjoyed the village of Kato Zachlorou itself (second photo). The train station is also central square for the village, with hotel, restaurants and cafes. Life seems to have stopped here 100y ago – no noise, no people running, no traffic (no cars at all). Perfect place to rest and relax from everyday rush.
I will definitely write something more about Vouraikos gorge itself and the hiking route, in separate post.

Photo1: NIKON D70s, Aperture priority, f 1/7.1, 1/40s, -0.3EV, f=69 mm (for 35mm), GIMP software

Photo2: NIKON D70s, Aperture priority, f 1/7.1, 1/20s, -0.3EV, f=51 mm (for 35mm), GIMP software – grey scale

Monday, October 31, 2011

The city of students


Patras is definitely famous for Agios Andreas church, Rio-Antirio bridge, the port (maybe tentoura as well :-P), but not less, it is also known as the city of students. Three major universities are: University of Patras, Hellenic Open University and TEI of Patras, where more than 30.000 study every year.
The Gerokostopoulou stairs (gr. Γεροκωστοπουλου), are just above Patras main square, plateia Georgiou. It’s a popular place among students, where they gather for coffee, ouzo, beer, to play board games or watch football. The area is very nice with its own unique character: narrow streets, small coffee places and restaurants, all with affordable prices.

 
The café on the photo is just somewhere in the middle of the stairs. I have never been inside, it was already closed when I first saw it. Despite that, it really caught my attention when passing by. I like the photo so much, that eventually it became the background of my blog (if You haven’t noticed :-P). I don’t even know what was the name of the café when it existed, and I really regret never having a chance to sit down for coffee there…
Everything in one place: strong colors and different shapes, wooden furniture and stone walls, small windows and old door, some palm tree out of nowhere, truly unique place. So many contrasts, and yet somehow it all fits together. This café is like a symbol of the area for me.

 Photo details: Panasonic DMC-FX 150, Landscape Mode, f 1/2.8, 1/640s, 0EV, f=29mm (for 35mm), GIMP software

Thursday, October 27, 2011

The symbol of Patras


Some would say, that any blog related with city of Patras should have been started with Agios Andreas church. Well, it didn’t happen in my case, but I will try to fix it today.
The patron of the city is Agios Andreas (Saint Andrew), so it should not be a surprise that the biggest basilica in Patras is church of Agios Andreas. It is not only the biggest church in the city, but also the biggest in Greece and 2nd biggest in all the Balkans.
It is located in south-west part of the city center, where the street with same name starts (corner with Korai). The construction started in 1908, to “replace” old church of Agios Andreas, located just next to new one. It took almost 70 years to inaugurate basilica in 1974. Since then, it’s a true symbol of Patras. You will find it on every single souvenir in every single store (since 2004, most of souvenirs have both, the basilica and Rio‑Antirio bridge).
 
The highest dome is 46m high, that allows the church to top over rest of the buildings in the city. It’s visible from almost any view point (the photo was taken from Dasylio this October). The size is so huge that more than 5.000 people can attend the mess.
 

Second photo was taken from the west side of basilica, not the main entrance on the south, as it would be against the sun at the time of the day I went there. The west side had not only better light afternoon, but usually is empty and allows to take “clean” photo, without any people. I was only a bit unlucky with the car, but still not bad :-P

Photo1: NIKON D70s, Aperture priority, f 1/8, 1/640s, -0.3EV, f=105 mm (for 35mm), GIMP software

Photo2: NIKON D70s, Aperture priority, f 1/8, 1/1000s, -0.3EV, f=27 mm (for 35mm), GIMP software

Friday, October 21, 2011

Where democracy started


Greece is the place where democracy started. The city of Athens established democracy somewhere between 5th and 4th century BC (some sources mention year 507 BC). Name comes from two Greek words: δήμος (people) and κράτος (power), and is translated simply as “the rule of the people”. The classical Athenian democracy is considered to be “direct democracy”, as all citizens were eligible to vote (in fact only male, born from parents from Athens, not slaves, not foreigners, not below 20 years old were allowed to speak and vote). Democracy as we know today, is “parliamentary democracy” or “liberal democracy” where all citizens choose their representatives through elections, later, the representatives form the government.


 
The building on the photo is Patras court, located between streets of Korinthou, Maizonos, Gounari and Kanari, in the center. Photo was taken in September 2010. Strikes, demonstrations, protests against the government, slogans written on buildings – all this are tools of today’s direct democracy, and where else, if not in Greece, should we find them…
One of the biggest general strike against the Greek government and Troika proposals, took place just recently this week in all major cities of Greece, including Patras. It might be, that the building from the photo is “updated” with some fresh new slogans :-P

Photo details: NIKON D70s, Aperture priority, f 1/8, 1/160s, -0.7EV, f=37mm (for 35mm), GIMP software

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Greek Golden Gate Bridge


One of the most impressive bridges of Europe, and definitely the most impressive in Greece, is just a five minute walk from my house. I like to call it “The Greek Golden Gate Bridge” as it became a symbol for city of Patras and whole Greece (You will not buy any souvenir without the bridge, even the fridge magnet) like the original Golden Gate Bridge is for San Francisco and US.
I see it several times everyday, but yet, it's not so easy to take a good photo of it! I was lucky for one sunset to have a cloudy sky, perfectly red sun and quite good clarity of air (very rare for Patra area).
The official name of the bridge comes from Charilaos Trikoupisis, 7-time greek prime minister from 1875 to 1895, who was the first one to bring up the idea of connecting Peloponnese with inland Greece (he was also the one to come up with the idea of rack railway from Diakopto to Kalavryta). Casual name, used in everyday life, is just Rio-Antirio bridge.


 
It's 2880m long (at the moment of construction was the longest cable-stayed deck in the world) and 28m wide, the structure is held on 4 main pylons, where the highest one is 164m tall. It is designed to hold to earthquakes, so common in this area. It's a part of new network of national motorways in Greece, connecting Athens and Patra with Ioannina and Igoumenitsa. It was inaugurated on August 7th, 2004, just one week before 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.

Photo details: NIKON D70s, Manual, f 1/7.1, 1/400s, -0,3EV, f=40mm (for 35mm), GIMP software

Monday, October 17, 2011

Different beauty


I have finally decided to start my own blog. I don't have a clear picture what I want to write about... will it be only about photos ? Probably no, as there is so much more: hiking, trips, whole Greece, Poland and still more... I guess there will be a little bit of everything.
First big challenge was the title itself, but finally I came up with very sophisticated: “Photos from Patras, Greece, and many other...” to possibly cover anything I would like to write about in the future. To explain a bit: Patras is now my home town, Greece my home country, but I will also go back in time to old trips and photos from all over the Europe, and to my real home city of Lodz in Poland, where I was born, so “many other” applies to “many other places” and “many other topics” as well.


 
For the first post, I have chosen one of my favorite photos from Patras. I took it somewhere in September 2010, while I was wondering around the city, on the back of the main bus station. I don't fully understand the “story” of painting... I leave it up to You... but the size  really makes an impression. 

 
Photo details: NIKON D70s, Aperture priority, f 1/9, 1/400s, -0.7EV, f=52mm (for 35mm), GIMP software