7 June 2009: Jurassic Park?

"The dinosaurs became extinct because they didn't have a space program" - said Larry Niven. Well, I know dinosaurs who have a space program. I saw them in Vienna two weeks ago. Even more ... I am one of them.
I first met my fellow Sgacosaurs (Sgacosaurus Spatiogenerensis) sometime during the last millenium. Some say the weather was different at that time - I recall it being warmer, whereas at the beginning of June 2009 Vienna was quite cold. Some call this "Global Cooling". In any case, us Sgacosaurs are not cold-blooded reptiles; I was greeted with warmth by people I did not see in ages. We never lost contact, though - even if it took an aniversary conference to reunite some of us "in persona", we kept in touch through e-mail and we built a truly global network of starry-eyed youth. We may be dinosaurs, but we are still young - we were born after that beeping shiny ball called Sputnik was sent into the heavens.
The years have passed and - guess what - when we met, did we talk about the past? Yes, a little bit; but we mainly talked about the future. Were Michael Crichton there, he would have found inspiration for a sequel to the "Andromeda Strain" - as we discussed, inter alia, planetary protection - rather than for a new "Jurassic Park". Though, sequels will be - the story of the Space Generation does not stop here. Just like Jim and Lin Burke, us, Sgacosaurs, made a promise to remain young at heart and stick around, and inspire the new generation of starry-eyed earthlings.

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Vienna: With Dorin Prunariu and Rusty Schweickart

These two gentlemen are amazing; not only are they veteran spacemen, but also acclaimed scientists. Dorin Prunariu, my colleague from the Romanian Space Agency, is the president-elect of UNCOPUOS, and flew aboard Soyuz 40 back in 1981. Rusty Schweickart (not to be confused with Jack Swigert, as their names are similar) flew on Apollo 9 in 1969. They honoured the SGAC reception with their presence - a good photo-op for everyone!

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2 June 2009: Athens Burns!

Usually, one would start a story with an introduction and finish it with a conclusion. Not in this case - I can say from the beginning that I did not like Athens. I expected something else - something like, say, culture. Instead, I found the Omonia Square, and Hotel Lozanni. Read through.
I left Heraklion in the morning - an uneventful trip to the airport, and then a lovely flight, with Aegean Airlines, to Athens. This company is inexpensive, yet very reliable, its planes are clean, and they even serve refreshments for flights as short as 35 minutes. I paid 39 euros, taxes included, for the Heraklion-Athens flight. An excellent deal, as the boat would have cost me about the same.
Having reached Athens, I phoned Kostas - my old friend - and we met in Syntagma Square, where the airport bus left me after one hour of travel. Yes, it took more to get from the airport to central Athens than to get from Crete to the Athens Airport. I hope they will soon fix their metro.



Kostas had just returned from Thesaloniki. We had a coffee, and off I went to the hotel, by foot. It was not that far away. When I saw the area - a central one! - I got very disappointed. As I would later say for tripadvisor.com,

I had to spend a night in Athens, between planes. As next day I would have two important meetings in Romania, I had to have a good night rest. I chose an inexpensive hotel, in what I thought was an OK area of Athens (it is one of the two central squares). Well, the area is the main issue - it is located in the middle of the ghetto. If they did not charge my card already when I booked the hotel, I would have rather returned to the airport or asked my Athenian friend to find me another place. At 3 AM, when I left the hotel for my early flight, the prostitutes were looking for clients just in front of it. I called a cab, and, for a very short distance to the other square, where the airport bus is located, I had to pay 8 euros. In conclusion: avoid, not that much for the hotel itself, but for the horrible, horrible area.

I left the hotel for a trip to Athens, I saw the Parliament and the Acropoles ...





...but, more than that, I saw the Athenians - the communist and lumpen variety.





A girl from the "Nea Democratia" stand said, "there aren't that many communists, they only like to make noise".
In any case, I wish these commies could spend a week in Tuol Sleng, the Cambodian prison - museum I visited two years ago while in Phnom Penh. Not as guards, but as inmates. As for the lumpen, it is not their fault they were there. They were invited by social democracy. Until things change, ...

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1 June 2009, Heraklion. In which I realize that Crete = Cuba, and I meet the Minotaur.

Having met Che Guevara in the mountains of the island of Kos, and having been bombarded over and over again with TV commercials commending the voter - with proletarian rage - to smash capitalism and choose the Communist Party of Greece in the forthcoming (June 7) European elections (Cu Cu E! Iskiro! - that is - The Hellenic Communist Party! Strong!), the hotel I would stay in Crete ought to oblige. “So” – I asked the receptionist – “is Hotel Castro called after Fidel?” The answer disappointed me: “No” – said he, laughing – “the old city of Heraklion - that is the Venetian Fortress - was called Castro, that is, Castle”. In my mind, I begged to differ. On my road to Knossos, I would encounter a propaganda stall of the KKP – hammer and sickle and red flag and slogans and all the commie paraphernalia – whereas all over Heraklion I would see more commie posters than I saw in the last year of the Socialist Republic of Romania, may it rest in peace.



True enough, Crete is home to Nikos Katzantzakis, author of “Zorba the Greek”, well known for his Communist views (Katzantzakis’, not Zorbas). However, later on in his life, Katzantzakis would turn into a Socialist, abandoning Leninism (as if this would truly make a difference! Communism and socialism have the same ideals, only the means differ; whereas socialism aims to achieve redistribution of wealth through democratic means, communism is a revolutionary movement).

Back to the hotel. I paid very little for it, thanks to hotelscombined.com . It prises itself with three stars, but I would not be that generous. In any case – I have to be honest – it is well worth the money. All I needed in Crete was a clean place to sleep and shower. On the positive side, breakfast is included. So, if you want to pay as much as for a bed in a youth hostel dorm, but to have the room all for yourself, Hotel Castro is your home. Now, the hotel, once again, is not in the city centre, but in a suburb, Amoudara – a beach resort. Good choice, if only the sea was warmer. Apparently, the season starts roundabout June 15th, whereas on the southern side of Crete, the sea has a milder temperature.




After breakfast, I took bus number 1 and in half an hour I was in the centre of Heraklion, where I boarded bus number 2, bound to Knossos. I had to buy the tickets from the supermarket (1.30 euros each).
20 minutes on, I arrived in Knossos. Entrance to the Minoan Palace – 6 euros, well worth it.

In Santorini, I was very sad not to be able to visit Akrotiri - the Minoan Pompeii. Fortunately, Crete hosts the centre of the Minoan civilisation - the Knossos Palace. In fact, my visit to Knossos was the very reason of my presence in Crete. What I saw strenhtened my conviction that the Minoans were, indeed, the Atlants, and that Santorini is the lost Atlantis. No pseudo-science, no para-psichology, no aliens involved - simply, a civilisation more advanced than those surrounding it:

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27 May 2009 – In which I cross back into Europe or, should I say, into the real world.

Rrrrring! It is 7 AM, and the receptionist – as instructed the other day – wakes me up. Two and a half hours and a breakfast later, I board the ferry to Kos. Turkish boat this time (Cos-Bodrum Express Lines, as spelt with red letters on its deck), more expensive than the Maria Star (for no apparent reason), and with more passengers. A lady hands out leaflets advertising short tours of the island of Kos. As the price is reasonable and as I have not seen the island yet – apart from the port area – I decide to give it a go.

And, there he is. Nested among bottles of olive oil, local wine and cinnamon syrup, incarnated in a beach towel, El Comandante carries on his guerilla warfare against capitalist pigs in the mountains of Greece. I ask the girl selling this cultural icon what she thinks of Che Guevara. “Good man” – she says, welcoming me to the real world.
I am hungry, and I choose not to choose the chosen restaurant of the tour (most of the tour operators, all over the world, be it Greece or Cambodia, benefit from directing their customers to a particular restaurant – which may, or may not be, a tourist trap). Che’s presence makes me wonder whether the local gyros, made from the flesh of capitalist pigs, slowly roasted and spiced up with thyme, is any good. Tip: If hungry in Greece – that is, hungry, not in search for local gastronomical delights – go for the gyros. It is inexpensive and filling.

Taverna
eucalyptus
Lake
Asklepion
Cats
Water
Back to the city
Hippocrates platane tree sycamore?
City walls
Back to the port cafeteria, communist commercial

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25 May 2009 – In which I take part to Operation Barbaros(a), and I meet the man with the best job in the world (no, not the Australian one).

Boat trip! That is what the conference program said, and we all "had to comply" with! In all honesty, nowhere else than in this conference of anarcho-capitalists have I seen so much self discipline and punctuality. I believe the biggest delay we ever had was something like 5 minutes. Everybody was on time!

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23 May 2009: Kadikalesi Fishing Village, near Bodrum

"To be in Bodrum and not to go to the Körfez Restaurant in Kadikalesi seems to verge on sin, especially if you prize fish and seafood" - says the popular wisdom (i,e, Bodrumlife.com). The conference organisers are well aware of this. After the group photo...

... we board the coaches who take us a few kilometers west of Bodrum, to the Kalikadesi Fishing Village ...

... where one can use the lovely scenery for photo-ops with professor Hoppe, Christian Michel, and Robert Groezinger ...



... and to basically enjoy life!

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23 May 2009 - Meanwhile, in Romania …

I may be away from Romania, but I still have work responsibilities (telecommuting means that you can be away when you work, but also that you have to work when you are away). One of my functions is that of Ambassador (that is, National Coordinator) for the StarPeace project. StarPeace is an initiative affiliated to the International Year of Astronomy whereby astronomers from neighboring countries hold public star parties in the same time, celebrating the beauty of the sky. For the western side of Romania, my idea was to associate a StarPeace event with the Triplex Confinium meeting (an initiative of the Danube-Cris-Mures-Tisa Euro-Region, whereby people meet at the triple border point between Romania, Serbia and Hungary). I first contacted the Timis County Council suggesting that astronomers from the three countries, from clubs in the counties neighboring the border, would meet, too, and organize astronomical meetings and star parties. The County authorities were happy indeed, so I then contacted my old friends and collaborators from the Antares Astronomy Club in Timisoara, - namely Andrei Juravle - and two astronomy clubs in Hungary and Serbia (the latter through our Hungarian friend, Tibor Asztalos) They all agreed to participate and involve the public.
So here I am, away yet there in spirit, for an event I grandfathered yet whose practical organization is in the hands of some trustworthy astronomers. I am curious to see the echoes of the event but, if it is as good as the poster made by the Antares club, then I can only be delighted.

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21 May 2009: Hotel Karia Princess

It is curious how Bodrum has a different climate to Antalya, where I vacationed two years ago roundabout the same period of the year as this conference. May is, still, off-season. I tried with the tip of my thumb the pool water and, whereas there are braver souls who enjoy a swim in cool water, I am not one of them.

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20 May 2009: On to Bodrum

0:30 – We were supposed to stop for 20 minutes at Santorini – but we were half an hour late. Not a problem, even if I would arrive 30 minutes late in Kos, I would still have plenty of time before boarding the next boat. Not too much to see of Santorini at this time of night – but I will have some time to spend here when I will return to Romania.

4:30 – Note to self: when I will have more money to spend when traveling by ferry, I shall not book an economy class seat, but a berth. Some other people were more inspired, and brought some bed sheets with them. I had no idea until now that I traveled next to the mummy of Pharaoh Ramses!

5:00 – We arrive in Kos, birth place of Hippocrates, father of medical science. I head to the port, which is much smaller than Piraeus. The only ting open at this time of the morning is a cafeteria serving Greek pastries and coffee. Next to it, there are several booths for ferry tickets to Bodrum.

6:00 – The first salesman arrives – a mustached Greek. I was told before that there are two departure times for Bodrum: 9 AM and 4:30 PM. I buy a one-way ticket for Bodrum from him, on the “Maria Star”, a ship that carries both regular passenger as well as tourists that wish to visit Turkey for a day. When the salesman sees my passport, he sarts talking to me in Romanian – turns out that in the 1970s, he was married to a Romanian lady in Constanta! He then gives me a medical questionnaire from the Turkish authorities – authorities are scared of the Swine Flu epidemics (Nea Gripi, or the New Flu, as it is called in Greece).

6:20 – Morning has broken (as in the song), birds are singing (really!), and the port of Kos is a beauty at this time. Apart from some boat passengers, the birds and some snails, nobody else is awake.

6:27 – Wake-up time for cats. As we are in Hippocrates’ town, and ancient medicine had as a symbol two snakes climbing a cup, the cats behave in a similar way – in Kos, they come in pairs and sit on cup-like flower pots.

6:40 – Bed (chair …) time for me. Next to me there is a pair of young Koreans who tour the world. After Bodrum, they are headed to Istanbul. Pitty they did not stop in Santorini or another Greek island.

9:30 – After the border formalities, we board the “Maria Star” and in 70 minutes we cross to Turkey. I first have to buy myself a visa from a kiosk in the immigration office, and then I head to Karia Princess, not before being informed from a poster, in four languages, including Romanian, that I can call for free 157, a hot line, when in danger.

11:30 – I finally arrive to the hotel, meeting place of the Property and Freedom Society. The shower – first thing I hit when going in the room - transforms me from a backpacker into a posh gentleman. Then, the bed invites me to have a proper rest …

19:30: Dinner time – I meet several like-minded paleo-libertarians, and we chat about the gold standard and some other politically incorrect topics. Now, this is music to my ears …

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