Ellada: 3 Weeks in Northeastern Aegean Islands

Kulharee dada, na na na na na (not ne, but nahiN!), even though you've listed all of my favorite things, I will pass on the Unpluggisapoulis for now. Another time, another place, inshallah! :)

i see your point salim..i mean the tower of london was built by normal invadors who ruled england. the english dont go demanding its distruction, but charge 10 lb (whic is like US$40 in todays exchange rate) to indian tourists to go see the big golconda dimond replica. norman descendants dont demand a separate northanistan either. we need to learn from these model baniyas.

its not too late..the destroyed babri mosque should be turned into a tourist site like the WTC site..i can see all kinda T-shirt possibilites ;-)

#21 Jang {"yar salim its kinda sad that there are so many places where muslims ruled justly in the glorious past. the current folks dont seem to be apreciative of this glorious past..babri masjid etc are cases in point."}

Jang,
The best thing about "Muslim" rule in many places was their ability to include locals into the ruling hierarchy. Muslims were usually more suspicious of each other than of the natives they ruled. Also, the mixing with the natives was another positive aspect of their presence.

Unfortunately, the relics of those more enlightened Muslims are endangered by today's fanatic, myopic, and static "Muslims" who go around destroying everything - Buddha statues, Shia or Sunni mosques, ancient abodes of The Holy Prophet (PBUH), and tall modern buildings in NYC.

Dear Ajeya (#29). By that I meant our human history. These are marvelous places and many of them are designated as “(World) Heritage Sites” for a reason.

Truly Sahib (#23). I was looking at the map to find Central African Republic and I saw that it is smack in the center of the African Continent (hence its name CAR). The only reason I looked it up is because my wife is going there next week for work, I never bothered to ever think or want to know about that place, but apparently there is one Air France direct flight from Paris a week to Bangui. But I could see why you don’t give a fly’s ass about Burkina Faso – neither do I (and probably never would until some loved one has to go there or some oil is discovered there). But why o why such indifference about Raveena Tandon? A fine actress of Khatri caste with roots in Punjab, Pakistan.

Ana – come to Unpluggisapoulis and let’s have some heart to heart over some Ouzo and Kalamariki with some Lukumadias.

#7 Posted by Kulharee

[The mosque in Chios and the adjacent cemetery was closed for heavy duty preservation work. I hope they continue to do that and preserve these priceless reminders of our history]

How is the mosque in Chios a reminder of YOUR history? Are you Greek or Turkish?

#27

ahahaha, as if anyone could be scared away from this place because of something that I have said. You're still here now, aren't you?

#26

At least you did not start Spanish - or Dulla would probably have run away - scared off like the MirMir. :(

dulla, zindabad! tuaDay shehar aan nu dil te bauti karda hai, par hai hai ye majboori. . .fer kadi othay javangi te mil ke zaroor javangi, ya te tainu, ya tuaDDay yaar nu, aan tau pehlay itlah devangi.

te tuaDa (yaar) kulharee kithay nas janda ai? :D

okay enough punjabi for now. . . it's like being back at punjabiyat again. that was fun. i miss it.

Re: # 19 -
Yup - I am a regular visitor to Spain (Barcelona) - thats alright.
I guess it's better to write my own travelouge - I will post one shortly after I get time.
Cheers!

ana, nice to you too. I never said not to come back. I said if chowk banned me once again I won't continue with DB...luckily all the banning shanning was due to some software glitch..so DB got to live longer.:)
kadi saaday shehar nai aaye phair? je jao te mil ke jaana. baRhi khushi hoyegi mainu.

For some reason, which I cannot even explain to myself, I have absolutely no thought or opinion about Greece. I find it strange that even when I think about an absolutely unknown country like Barkina Faso, I at least think that oh I am never gonna go there, no matter what; even though I have absolutely no clue where the hell Barkina Faso is located.

The other day I was horrified when a thought struck my mind that if actress Raveena Tandon dies a horrible and painful death I won't even be bothered as much as when I see a fly crsuhed with a swat. This indifferent side of me is so new to me. Its hoirrible.

#21 i mean there seems to be an emerging pattern..bosdia, greece, spain and ayodhya. these guys are just not very apreciative of creative endevours of folks who hung out there in the past. i hear the egyptese were also pretty much ignorant of pyramedes due to its greek names and they were only discovered after the brits found them.

indians are the worst..they think its all ephemeral ...maya an all.

yar salim its kinda sad that there are so many places where muslims ruled justly in the glorious past. the current folks dont seem to be apreciative of this glorious past..babri masjid etc are cases in point.

i finally know what the Greek restaurant in town, YiaYia's means

IB:
Please do give a first-person account of your observations about Spain. I would be appreciate that you record your visits to Barcelona as well,,since you are a regular visitor
there.

P.S: you are a welcome addition here

and Kulharee, are you Feroze Qutubshahi..that is a good name , if it is your pen-name, you picked for yourself...far far better than Kulharree anyway.

Kulharee,

This was a fun read! It made me think of the yiayas and papoulis I know here, and how the yiayas expect me to know Greek just because I go to the Greek Orthodox church. Proud Greeks indeed! Efharisto poli!

dulla payee, good to see you are still here. Suneya si tusi chowk te fer kadi naeeN aanay wala. (yes, my punjabi still sucks!)

Yaar Spain is a huge country – and as a Muslim when you visit Spain there certainly is a sense of excitement yet sadness over what happened in Spain.
Barcelona – surprisingly homes 25000 + Pakistani Community – which is quite dominant in Barcelona and as soon as you enter the centre of Barcelona (la’Rambla) you would know of our presence.
During my stay in Barcelona, Catalonia I found ‘not a single memorable Muslim architecture’ apart from the modern mosque recently constructed by Pakistanis, Moroccans and Bangladeshis. Upon my enquiries – to local Catalans (who don’t like to be called Spanish) – was that although they view Muslim Civilization as a great one and has contributed to the development of Spain – Muslims never came to the province of Catalonia – infact it was the last frontier; Muslims imposed Islamic Tax on Catalonian(s) which they accepted because they were wealthy enough to pay Muslims.
Okay – when I went to Madrid only then I came to know about the Muslim Heritage of Spain – although in bad state but there is a huge Arab/Berber influence on architecture in Spain and during my visit to the great mosque in Cordoba– I along with a group of Palestinians were stopped by the local police to pray inside. It was hearting to see that Alama Mohammad Iqbal was the last Muslim who was allowed by Spaniards to pray inside the great mosque.
Apart from Cordoba and Western Spain – it seems that the Spaniards systematically demolished Muslim architecture and influence; I saw lot of churches which used to be mosques before.
Talking to a average Joe on the streets in Madrid at least gave me a impression that Spaniards are proud to be Europeans and yes, they had misgivings against Muslims (that’s more to do with Moroccans – who are treated and acts the way blacks do in USA) – Spanish were concerned about immigration from Africa and yeah almost everyone were against US (there Socialist President – took a decision to call forces from Iraq – as soon as he came in power).

if the present pakistani migration trends continue to the EU, in a decade or two there will be a mini pakistan in Greece, Italy, Spain and France,long may it continue.

oye Qutabshahi, jadon tooN Greece di beach te tambOO taan ke sutta piya si, sacho sach das tainu saadi yaad ayee si ke nai?

Jang,
When I visited Spain several years ago, I found that the Great Mosque in Cordova was an immense, yet quite sad, remnant of the Islamic period. In Granada, certainly Alhambra is the place to see, but the view of the cool peak Moulayhacen is very soothing.

Mr IB can you write about great islami architecture that is preserved in spain etc..thanks.

I happen to stay in barcelona , catalonia - on my holidays from 17th July - 21 Sept,2006 . I found Catalans very anti-Spain at a same time very anti-America. Some Catalans I met were so extreme that they supported OBL ( which was shocking ) .

#9 jang {"the turks call it raki, ..."}

Jang,
At least Turks don't tie it around our sisters' wrists. :) What a waste of good nectar.

Dear IB. the Islands we visited depend heavily on tourism and there are little chances of discussing politics with local. Most of our time was spent touring places or on the beach. However, when we go to mainland Greece and stay in my wife’s ancestral village there are plenty of opportunities to get to know the local political view (Greeks are big on conspiracy theories). Greeks also tend to be very theatrical and every little thing is turned into a major drama. Yep, there are Pakistanis and other Desis in Athens, but I didn’t see any on the Islands we visited.

I also found Greeks to be very anti-American (thank Bush) and also very pro Arab. That’s why gas in Greece is a lot cheaper there than in the rest of EU.

Jang Yaar.. Raki is no match for Mini or #7. Yep, Greeks stole it from Turks, but the variety in Greece is a lot better than what’s found in Turkey. The reality is that Greek just add an A or an O or an I at the end and claim everything as their own.. Tzatziki is Jajek in Turkiya. Please don’t tell it to my wife, but I personally liked Raki myself.

kulharee, the turks call it raki, greeks call it ouzo. to an outsider like me, its tastes the same..like sounf. i think before turkiye joins the eu this has to be setteled ..is it the same or not.

Nice article - although would have been cool if you have edited it - its a long one to read - nevertheless good.

Kulharee bhai, how were the Greeks? there political point of views? any interactions? lot of Pakistanis in Athens now as well - PIA touches Athens.
Anyhow as they say 'what happens on holidays - remains on holiday'
I visited Spain, France, Germany, Belgium and Italy and the experiance was good . I would love to go to Greece,Cyprus and Turkey in times to come .
Nice writeup anyway mate!

Salim – no matter how much one may want to deny but the Ottoman stamp is all over Greece. I agree that there has been neglect in preserving some of the historic places, but I am very hopeful that it will change. The mosque in Chios and the adjacent cemetery was closed for heavy duty preservation work. I hope they continue to do that and preserve these priceless reminders of our history.

I will share some pics that I took, once I figure out how to resize the photos and post them.

Atif, that’s very true in my experience as well. Some of the structures require really badly needed ‘preservation’ (not restoration or fixing). However, I would think that this inattention is not intentional on part of the Greek people.

Kulharee Payee,
Thank you for a very interesting and fascinating account of your travels. I agree with both you and Atif that the vacationing type should be limited to cruises in the Caribbean. As for the sad state of mosques and Muslim cemeteries, it is also a shame. Considering the destruction of the beautiful mosque in Banja Luka, almost all the mosques in Foca, and the fabulous Mimar Sinan bridge in Mostar in Bosnia, it is not surprising that Christians mistreat these priceless relics. I agree with Atif that the ancient mosque in Athens, just before you approach the Acroplis is now a church. That is quite a contrast to the Hagia Sofia, here in Istanbul, which is now a museum - thanks to Ataturk. Good article. Thanks again.

What, no discussion of Sappho?

Great!!

cool stuff..made me all envious while i struggled with people with bad mass accent on beaches here. i remember reading some books about family and other animals a long time back..brought back those memories.

i agree that the greek wine tends to be razor-sharp.

nice write up!

i so agree with your drawing the distinction between "traveling" and "vacationing". But then there is an even more vulgar breed of vactationeers. Its called "package tourists". These package tourists are an insult to exploration in particular, and humanity in general. As I have noted in one of my ilogs, these people are also an environmental hazard, as their astronomically huge consumption of food, soda, coffee and alcohol while touring results in burden on earth resources. I have often thought about bulldozing these packagers at the very site they are swarming and clicking their cameras away.

also, regarding you getting worked up over the dilapidated condition of mosque in that island, this is quite pervasive all over Greece. The mosque that was built in the name of Fatih Sultan in the Agora area of Athens is now being used as a storage for archeological stuff. Another Ottoman era mosque in Plaka area of Athens is now a church. In fact Istanbul has much visible traces of its Byzantium past than Athens has of its Ottoman past.

And then these "civlized" people have the audacity to lecture us on preserving our "heritage"!