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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