Autumn In Athens 2022 (Part 2)

Emerging from the Monasteraki metro station (Samsung phone file)

Let's continue wandering the Pláka on a cheerful and hot day in October. What happened to winter?

Mrs. Popi's store

I first met Mrs. Popi in the 1980s. She has run this souvenir store forever. Her grandkids (?), who go to college in the USA, work here in the summers. They told me that Mrs. Popi is now 101 years old and stays home and cooks. Years ago, I bought a brass lion door knocker from her. But we never used it because our door at home has a glass panel and there was no place to mount the lion.

The Pláka district has 10s of stores like this selling tourist goods. We have wool hangings at home that we bought years ago. 

Monasteraki Square, always crowded (Acros film, Leica M2)

Alley off Monasteraki Square (Samsung phone file)

Flea market, 2011 (Panasonic G1 digital file)

Monasteraki is the flea market / traditional downtown district of Athens. It is nestled under the walls of the Acropolis and is a popular tourist destination. The flea market was once really that, but today much of the merchandise is Chinese budget stuff.

Heading north on Athenas Street, you pass by small side streets and lanes with a mixture of traditional 2-story houses and modern concrete boxes. It is sad that Athens let so much of its traditional late-1800s architecture get replaced with nondescript post-war budget concrete boxes.

Time for some Levis on Vissis Street (50mm Summicron lens)

Soukratos Street (50mm Summicron lens)

Pigeon house, Athenas Street (25mm Color-Skopar lens)

Keep walking north on Athenas Street and you soon reach the Central Market. This is a fun place to explore and is a popular tourist site. Buy some spices or nuts, fish, cow, sardines, bread, oil, or coffee. And stop and have lunch one of the small restaurants. I have written about the Central Market before several times. It's worth a visit every trip to Athens.

Heady experience (Samsung phone digital file)

Central Market in 1951, when it was a bit more earthy

The end of Athenas Street where it meets Omonoia Square, 1951

This ends our walk from Monasteraki Square to Omonoia Square. Here you can catch the metro and head home or to your hotel. Thank you for joining on this walk.

Autumn in Athens 2022 (Part 1)

2022 Note

Likavitou Hill from the Alexandros Soutsos Museum

Greece had a warm autumn in 2022 with benign weather. Tourism had plunged in 2020 when the pandemic shut down most leisure travel around the world, but it picked up with a vengeance in 2022. People were thrilled to be traveling again. Tourists were swarming all over Athens and the islands. My relatives were surprised because usually the tourists start to disappear by mid-October. But for 2022, local merchants and restauranteurs were thrilled. Hotels were heavily booked. The islands were swarming. I heard several times that merchants were very pleased with American tourists because they spent a lot of money, were especially friendly, and did not seem to care about prices. Hmmm.....

First Cemetery

First Cemetery (2018 photograph)

First Cemetery is the resting place for generations of prominent Athenians. It is an oasis of gracious trees and green in the urban jungle. Melina Mercouri and Heinrich Schliemann reside here. Some older photographs are here. It is off the usual tourist route but worth a visit. 

Protest apartment, Leof. Alexandros (Samsung phone snapshot)

Anafiotica and the Pláka

Likavitou Hill from Anafiotica (35mm ƒ/2 Summicron, deep yellow filter)

Tucked under and around the northern and eastern slopes of the Acropolis is the Pláka, the historical neighborhood of Athens occupied since the medieval era and, probably, since antiquity. The labyrinthine streets twist and turn past little houses. You could almost be in a village in the mountains. Well, except for the drone of traffic in the distance. And the different languages of the tourists. Every time I visit Athens, I take my obligatory walk through the Pláka, look at the scenery, take some photographs, eat a hearty lunch, and ponder the passage of history.

I have photographed here before, but each time I visit Athens, I can't resist doing it all over again. Here are some samples from October of 2022. 

Balcony, Thrassiliou

Stairway to ? (25mm ƒ/4 Color-Skopar lens)

Cottage courtyard (25mm Color-Skopar lens)

Where are my customers? Aretousas Street (25mm Color-Skopar lens)

Here's looking at you, Graffiti Alley

I took most of these photographs with Fuji Acros film using my Leica M2 camera and various lenses. Praus Productions in Rochester, NY, developed the film.

Kodak Technical Pan Film at the Acropolis (Abandoned Films 11)

Technical Pan film

In the 1980s, Eastman Kodak heavily advertised their Technical Pan as being an extremely fine grain and high resolution panchromatic film. The data sheets stated:

This is a black-and-white panchromatic film with extended red sensitivity. It has micro-fine or extremely fine grain (depending on the developer used), extremely high resolving power, and a wide contrast range for pictorial, scientific, technical, and reversal-processing applications. 

Kodak made this film for either copying documents or for aerial reconnaissance by the military (I have read both theories). Kodak discontinued sales in 2003 or 2004 but stated that they had been selling off stock that had been stored for years. Many astronomers used it for celestial photography. 

Most document films are very fine grain but also high contrast. Therefore, for pictorial use, the photographer or laboratory must use special low contrast developers to provide a normal tonal scale. Kodak sold a proprietary Technidol developer for pictorial use, but it has been discontinued for at least a decade.

With a degree of hyperbolae or over-enthusiastic marketing, Kodak claimed Technical Pan in a regular 35mm camera rivaled the results from normal film in a 4×5" camera. Well, maybe - sort of. I cannot find an example right now but recall seeing these advertisements in camera magazines in the 1980s.

I used Technical Pan 2415 in 35mm cameras only twice. Once was in Texas (see my 2017 post) and the second in Athens, Greece. I agree that the film was incredibly fine-grain, but it was hard to develop and was contrasty, even with the Technidol developer. It had a "soot and chalk" tonality. My ultimate conclusion was why bother? If you want high resolution and smooth continuous tones, just use a medium format or 4×5" camera.

The Acropolis, Athens

We will make this a double abandoned films treat: Technical Pan from 1985 plus a couple of 1951 comparisons with other long-discontinued films. Let's take a walk around the Acropolis on a brilliant sunny July day. Click the 1985 frames to see the amazing detail. 

Parthenon east side, July 7, 1985 (Technical Pan film, Leica M3, 50mm ƒ/2.8 Elmar-M lens)

Parthenon east side 1951 or 1952 (Kodachrome slide, Leica IIIC camera, 5cm ƒ/2 Summitar lens)

The magnificent Parthenon is under perpetual preservation and reconstruction. It is amazing to think that Aristotle himself must have visited this temple and walked among the columns. And consider modern famous visitors such as Lord Byron, Winston Churchill, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, Princess Elizabeth, Margaret Thatcher, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin, Elizabeth Taylor, etc.

Archaeologists and marble masons have spent over a century on repair and preservation. All the stone on the ground has been catalogued, measured, and fitted using 3-dimensional CAD software. The dilemma is what to do where original stone is missing. How much reconstruction is "authentic?"

Checking the Parthenon

Summer in the city - checking out the Parthenon

The Erechtheion under restoration.

The Erechtheion or Temple of Athena Polias is an Ionic temple-telesterion on the north side of the Acropolis. It was primarily dedicated to the goddess Athena. The geometry and placement of features within the temple is unknown. It may overlie a palace of Mycenaean age.

1985 south view of Erechtheion

Erechtheion photographed in 1951 from the porch of the Parthenon (Kodak Plus-X film) 

Looking down to the Anafiotica neighborhood.

Acropolis from the Temple of the Olympian Zeus (Leica 90mm ƒ/2.8 Tele-Elmarit lens)

This scene is an extreme example of high contrast that demonstrated a soot and chalk rendition. I am glad I experimented with Technical Pan film. With the revival in film photography recently, it has become a cult favorite among some film users, and they buy remaining stock eagerly. But for me, a normal panchromatic film is fine.

Appendix A

Here are some curves for Technical Pan film from Kodak Professional Black-and-White Films book F-6 © 1984. 

Photographer Michael Elliott has been getting excellent results from Technical Pan with a 2-part developer based on metol. I am impressed with his energy.

From the Archives: Northern Greece in 1951

When my dad first moved to Greece in 1951, he and some of the other engineers took field trips to northern Greece to look at rivers, irrigation canals, and waterworks. They also visited local engineering offices to obtain stream flow and discharge data. Sometimes they flew on a Grumman Goose airplane. I assume it was operated by the American Mission in the early 1950s. 

One of the towns where they stayed was Komotini, a city in the region of East Macedonia and Thrace in northeastern Greece.  

The New Mosque and Clock Tower, March 14, 1951

Note the stork on top of the bell tower

The baker of Komotini - delicious loaves

In 1951, Komotini was rather basic compared to the bright lights of Athens. My dad noted that accommodations were primitive and food grim. He also commented on the Turkish toilet. It sounds like it was a novelty to him, although surely he had encountered them before in Asia. I remember him telling me that when he asked for hot water to shave, the hotel host brought a tepid teacup of water. 

Agricultural wagons

What's the way to Athens?

Muslim ladies of Komotini

Komotini had a large Muslim minority. After the 1919-1922 military disaster in Anatolia, ethnic Greek and Turkish populations were exchanged and moved (forced) back to their homelands. Many Greeks had never lived in mainland Greece, and many Turkish Muslims had not lived in Turkey. As noted in Wikipedia, "Historians have described the exchange as a legalized form of mutual ethnic cleansing." It was a horrifying episode. But Komotini was not included in the forced exchange, so many Muslim families continued to live there. Two mosques are still active in town. The New Mosque (see the first photograph) has its own web page. 

Buklutzas River

I had trouble finding this spot in Komotini. My family told me that the Buklutzas River has been covered over and is now the main highway through town. None of these buildings exist now. So much for progress.....

The cobbler of Komotini

Note the gent with the overcoat walking away from the cameras is wearing a fez. In Turkey proper, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk had banned the fez (to be replaced by the western fedora), but men continued to wear fezes in former Ottoman areas.

A short social note:  After the brutal and vicious Greek Civil War ended in 1949, towns in northern Greece were desperately poor. Many of the farmers lived on almost a subsistence basis from the produce they grew. My stepdad, a Greek surgeon, said many villagers had never seen a doctor or been to a dentist. Childbirth was dangerous and often led to death. Tuberculosis ravaged families. Appalachia in USA may have been similar at that time, with isolated towns and desperate poverty.

Today, towns like Komotini are clean and cheerful. Stores are well-stocked, streets clean and well-paved, buildings neat, and the townsfolk have bright little cars, decent clothes, and look happy and well-fed. They welcome tourists. They foregather at nice local restaurants and coffee shops. Their children have often been to college and many are bilingual. 

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (Κυριάκος Μητσοτάκης) told Fareed Zakaria at the World Economic Forum that on a day that is sunny, windy, not too hot, not too cold, Greece generates 90 percent of its electricity from renewable sources. Prime Minister Mitsotakis graduated from Harvard University, Stanford University, and Harvard Business School. 

And today, Appalachia is still Appalachia, an underclass of grinding poverty, drugs, food insecurity, crumbling towns, racism, and despondency. What is wrong with this picture?

Photography:  My dad took these these photographs on Ansco Super Speed film. One collector on Flickr states that this film was rated at ASA 100. He used his Canon rangefinder camera with a 50mm ƒ/1.9 Serenar lens. I remember this camera but I sold it in the 1970s.

From the Kodachrome Archives: Athens and Central Greece in 1951

Background

My father moved to Athens, Greece in February 1951. He had just returned to USA from an overseas position in the Pacific, spent a week job-hunting in New York City and was offered this posting. He visited relatives in Boston and Orlando, bought a few supplies and clothes, boarded Pan Am, and left for Greece. He traveled light and efficiently (unlike his son).

Greece must have seemed exotic. But he had read classical literature, and Greek architectural features were popular in early 20th century American buildings. On weekends, he had time to explore. He sometimes had access to the company car and by mid-year, bought a new Chevrolet. 

He and other American engineers lived in hotels for a few months and then found apartments. He co-rented a flat near Kolonaki Square with two other Americans within easy walking distance to the office on Merlin Street. The flat came with a man-servant who did laundry and cooking. 

Here are some examples from approximately 1951 and 1952 (plus one from 1957). My dad did not label his slides, so I am guessing the dates based on his diaries. For some frames, I know the exact date because he wrote a detail like "went to the market with two cameras." At that time, Kodak did not print the processing date on the cardboard slide mount. He used his 1949 Leica IIIC camera with its 5cm ƒ/2 Summitar lens (both of which I still use 70 years later). 

Athens

Hadrian's Arch and the Acropolis

East side of the Parthenon. 

The Parthenon (built 447 to 432 BC).  

I remember when you could walk all over the Acropolis site and climb up into the massive temple. Today, visitors must walk on wooden boardwalks. The millions of tourists were literally wearing out the stone. 

Think of the awesome passage of history during which this temple has stood. Aristotle may have walked among the columns. More recent visitors have included Lord Byron, Winston Churchill, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, Princess Elizabeth, Agatha Christie, Vladimir Putin, Elizabeth Taylor, Margaret Thatcher, Barack Obama, and Bill Clinton. 

Checking out the Cariadids on the Maiden Porch of the Erechtheion.

As of 1957, these Cariadids were originals. But in subsequent decades, air pollution disfigured them and Greek authorities removed for safe-keeping, They are now in the Acropolis Museum. In their place are replicas based on an example in the British Museum. The one in London, taken to Britain by Lord Elgin, had been preserved indoors are was largely intact. 

Temple of Olympian Zeus (construction 6th century BC to 2nd century AD)

This scene has not changed much over the decades. There may be some tall building in the background now.

1994 view of the Acropolis and Phaleron Bay from Lycavitos mountain (Kodachrome 25, Leica M3 camera, 135mm Tele-Elmar lens)

This is a modern view of the Acropolis taken at dusk. 

Central Greece

According to my dad's diary, this was a 1951 4-door Chevrolet Sedan Skyline Deluxe. He ordered it from a Chevrolet dealer in Athens but paid by sending a check to General Motors in USA. It cost $1629 plus some extra for hubcaps and a spare tire. A ship delivered it, along with cars that other American engineers had ordered, to Piraeus. He got it out of customs on August 6, 1951.

I vaguely remember this Chevrolet. I used to stand up in the back (this was the era before we worried about car safety). I recall him telling me that in the early 1950s, only diplomats and Americans could afford to own cars. Recall, Greece was very poor because it had been looted by the Nazis during World War II and then suffered three years of brutal civil war. An automobile was a luxury item. Petrol was a luxury.

Somewhere in central Greece near Volos

Once, tourists dressed properly. Today, Americans look like homeless people.

View of Volos looking west

Pelion

Plateîa with Platanos trees, Zagora, Greece

Zagora is a cheerful mountain town perched on the Pelion Peninsula facing east towards the Aegean Sea. My grandfather's family came from Zagora, and the municipal office has records dating to the late-1800s. 

Lady of the Lake (stream), near Zagora, Pelion, Greece

Closing notes

Consider what an amazing amount of information is stored in these 70-year-old slides. And it is accessible! All you need to do is look at the slide with a magnifier. It is a time machine into the past. As long as the slides are not damaged by fire, flood, or fungus, some sort of optical device, like a camera with a macro lens, will be able to retrieve this image data for decades to come. Will our hard drives loaded with digital jpeg files be readable in 70 years? Will people look at a billion cell phone dump Instagram uploads on the "cloud" in 70 years? 

In those days, it was a challenge to get the Kodachrome processed. In that era, Kodak included processing with the purchase of the film. I remember my dad  telling me that he would give an exposed roll to an American who was returning to USA. The colleague would send the film to Kodak when he was back in USA. Then he would take the slides back to Greece or give the package to another American heading to Athens. He would also deliver fresh rolls of film. Turnaround must have been months. This would certainly not suit the modern Instagram generation. Greece is dry, which helped preserve these slides and retard growth of fungus.

I scanned these Kodachrome slides with a Plustek 7600i film scanner operated by SilverFast software. Most frames were almost perfect with the Auto CCR setting. On a few frames, I used the neutral grey dropper to correct the color. Afterwards, on some frames, I cleaned lint and splotches with the heal tool in Photoshop CS5. I resized for web display with XnViewMP. Please click any frame to see it magnified.