About Greece. Travel, history, archaeology, and culture.
Wednesday, August 27, 2003
Gone for the Weekend
I'm going to Chicago for the rest of the week, so I won't be able to post until Monday or Tuesday. I chose a hotel with "internet access", but I didn't choose one with "free internet access", and I'm not going to reward the hotel's intentionally vague phrase by paying $9.95 a day for it. Sorry.
I do hope to make it the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago. This is probably my favorite museum in the US, and I usually visit it two or three times a year. That it lies right down the street from Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House is a nice bonus
11:27:17 PM comment []trackback []
Excavations at Palaikastro
The Athens News has a report on excavations being conducted at Palaikastro, Crete, by the British School. In Minoan times, Palaikastro was a port exporting goods across the eastern Med, then later reoccupied by the survivors of whatever disaster befell the Minoan civilization. Today the excavation is being conducted by an international team that includes a descendant of Ernest Hemmingway.
11:11:02 PM comment []trackback []
Olympic Bull
The Financial Times confirms that the recent run in the greek stock market is partly fueled by optimism for the games next year.
But the International Olympic Committee is full of praise for Athoc, the games organising body. Brokers say the games could help sustain the current rally.
"There's evidence that big international sports events like the World Cup and the Olympics help push up the local market, even if the impact isn't enormous," says Paris Mantzavras of HSBC-Pantelakis Securities.
Economists forecast the games will add about 1 percentage point to Greece's gross domestic product next year. While most sports events take place in Athens during two weeks in August, Greece expects to attract more than 1m additional tourists in 2004 because it will be marketed as an Olympic destination.
"Greece dropped off the map for many international investors in the last couple of years, mainly because of the small size of the market. The games should help put Athens back on people's radar screens," Mr Mantzavras says.
Greek construction companies stand to gain most from the Olympics, with more than o2.5bn of public works contracts in the pipeline. In addition to building sports venues, such as international rowing and equestrian centres and specialised stadiums for wrestling and weightlifting, the city's roads and mass transport systems are being upgraded for the games.
Another upbeat note came from the IOC inspector visiting Athens for the test events of the past weeks.
[base "]We are quite satisfied with the conduct of the test events. In general terms, we are quite happy with what we have seen,[per thou] Oswald told reporters after the end of his second visit in less than 10 days to monitor operations during seven test events.
[base "]We have all reasons to believe that the Games in Athens will be successful... but the schedule is tight and we cannot lose any day,[per thou] Oswald said. [base "]Greeks, when it comes to the important things, can perform miracles,[per thou] he said.
The official did raise concerns about the proposed steel roof for the Olympic stadium, theorizing that if construction goes forward, other nearby projects may not be competed on time.
9:21:30 PM comment []trackback []
"Greeks are not Horsey People"
Reports in the English magazine Horse and Hound indicate that the Equestrian facilities for the 2004 Games are superlative.
Bolted on to the new Athens racecourse, the park has separate stadia for dressage (all-weather) and show jumping (grass). Floodlights reach into the sky, there are training arenas aplenty, an aircraft hangar-sized indoor school and 280 luxury stables that any racing Sheikh would covet.
The 6km cross-country course, exquisitely designed by Albino Galbari, slices through olive groves and is irrigated four times a day. It's also the first time I've worked in a marbled press centre.
A new dual carriageway links the park to trunk roads from Athens and the new international airport.
"In all my Olympic Games, I've never seen anything so exciting," said triple gold medallist Andrew Hoy after last week's test CIC. "Everyone has been trying extremely hard and there has been lots of discussion about how to improve the organisational side. Horse sports will be very good events for the 2004 Olympics, and it's a real credit to the centre manager, Nik Karidis, and his team."
There are some serious questions about the ability to the new course to support itself after the games--Greece doesn't have a large population of leisure riders--and even the Greece's hope for a medal in the equestrian events is angry at the extravagance of the venue. ""The facilities are over the top. All these useless buildings will go into ruins, and Greeks will pay for the rest of their lives . . . Greeks are not horsey people."
A second story about the British team that just competed at the venue, and they were just as enthusiastic,and one rider was quoted saying that the facilities were better than those at Sydney in 2000.
9:10:41 PM comment []trackback []
