5 comments about Olympic Wandering: Time Travel Through Greece.

1. Professor Lundberg had me from the first two sentence--"The gods ordained this country for individualism. The geography demands it"--because I wanted to see how he would prove this provocative premise, and he did. His love of Greece--ancient and modern-- comes through on every page and makes one envious of his passion. Kudos, Professor.



2. This story tells of the buildup, and aftermath of the Great Trojan War, as seen the the eyes of Ulysses. Most of the first part of this short, but interesting book, tells of the search for Achilles, a famed warrior of Greece. supposing that they could not defeat Troy without him, Ulysses, and his fellow Greek warrior seek for him, to accompany them on their merry adventure.
   What the author lacks in detailed description of the many battle scenes(as I'm sure this was his intent-for that you will have to read Homer's Illiad, and Odyssey) he makes up for, in his description of Greece, it's people, beautiful land, and it's gods, and how they fit into today's modern Greek society.
   The Trojan War is handled in one short paragragh, and Ulysses' adventures on his return home, and battle to recapture his house, wife, and family from ilicit suitors is also glossed over, which is why I gave this book 4, instead of 5 stars. Even so, he directs you to books you can read in greater depth on this subject, and you still find the story interesting, and more than worth your few hours reading time.
   Indeed, anyone traveling to Greece for the first time, should read this book on the plane, or boat ride over, if they want to get a great taste of the land they are about to embark upon.



3. Once in a while, a book comes along that makes you *sigh*.
   
   OLYMPIC WANDERING is such a book for me. I spent 3 lovely summer months in Greece when I was too young to appreciate the gift I had been given.
   
   David Lundberg shows me the Greece I missed. And he makes me want to go back 'home' again.
   
   The Ulysses parallel didn't quite click for me, but it's been a long time since I've read the classics, so maybe the subject was just over my head and beyond my reach.
   
   When Lundberg talkes about swimming in the inky blue water, I can feel the sun and the salt and I can see the beauty of the Greek coast.
   
   Enjoy!



4. I must admit that David Lundberg is very descriptive in his words whether describing a simplified story of the Battle of Troy or Greek Culture today. I enjoy the passion he exhibits in describing family and friends who he has encountered while visiting this intriguing of the world. Some of the events in his modified story of Ulysess are quite noteworthy particularly finding Achillies dressed in womens garb.
   
   However the connection between parts one and two is a little vague and somewhat off the mark. Lundberg describes the greeks as passionate and emotional yet Ulysess's safe journey home was due to the fact that he keep his emotions in check. According to text earlier in this book, Ulysess was guided to be this way from his father. Lundenberg also gives many anecdotes of many characters who he met whie touring the Greek Islnds. Some he describes more vividly than others. But nowhere does he describe a modern day person in comparison to someone from the days of Ulysess and Hellen of Troy.
   
   Those who have a greater appreciation for Greek Culture might have more insight into what Lundberg is trying to say. I would certainly recommend such an audience to peruse this book and the journey may certainly take you someplace special. I certainly could appreciate some parts myself.



5. This was an interesting and engrossing book about Greece (including its surrounding islands) which helps connect the historical world of Ancient Greece with the scenery and people found there today. (Reading it with a map or atlas handy would definitely enhance the experience).
   
   The first half retells the story of Odysseus and his journey to Troy, with a special emphasis on the sites as we know them today (great for those preparing for a trip to Greece - especially if you're interested in getting a handle on the names and significance of the various islands). The second half emphasizes personal stories of the author's own travels and visits to Greece which bring to life its land, people, personality and culture of Greece.
   
   Fascinating and enjoyable!

2 comments about The Rough Guide to Crete Counrty Map (Rough Guide City Maps).

1. It contains updated information about the roads in Crete and a city map of the main harbors.



2. we used this map when we rented a car in crete for our honeymoon. we never got lost so it worked well! it is better than buying one when you are already there. I don't think we ever were on any road that wasn't on the map. we also just drove around and went to some of the monuments that were on the map - that actually were not in our guidebooks because the guidebook we had was not too comprehensive on crete, and that was kind of fun.

5 comments about Facing Athens: Encounters with the Modern City.

1. It was the first book I read from one end to the other in a long time. Captivating and realistic it shows parts of Athens that may not be evident to the eye of the first time visitor. While not a travel book it is however a good book for one who tries to understand modern Athens and modern Greece. The glory of the city shines from ancient times till today but this is not where the author puts the strongest accent in the book. The accent is on the modern society according to me. I loved the book and even if you get a bitter taste at times while you get to know the city ....it feels all so real.



2. When you travel to Cairo, or Beijing, or Athens, you can focus your tourist eyes and attention on Pyramids, the Forbidden City, the Parthenon, and the people of the past. Or you can open your eyes and mind wider and also attempt to understand the cities and the people who live today in the shadows of antiquity. "Facing Athens" is for the latter group of travelers.
   
   George Sarrinikolaou faces Athens with eyes and mind wide open, with the memories of an Athenian child, and with a transplanted heart and soul that he also must open wider to accomplish his search for discovery and rediscovery.
   
   What results is a not only deft portrait of today's realities in a great and changing city, but a study that often can be applied, at least in part, to other cities (and countries). From it, a reader's own mind can formulate glimpses of what the future may hold for Athens and the world.
   
   "Facing Athens" is must-read for any thoughtful traveler who believes she/he is, or wishes to be, a true world citizen...and any armchair traveler who enjoys seeing through the eyes of the beholder.



3. This is mostly a book about urban decay and the flight to the suburbs. While the specific examples are from Athens, the same words could describe the Bronx or the French banlieus. Because ownsership of cars spread in Greece later than in the United States its effects start appearing in the 1970s, later than in the US. I lived in Athens between 1940 and 1961 and when I visited the country in the late 1970's what struck me was that the Greeks were repeating all the errors that led to American (and Western European) urban problems. However few people ever learn from the errors of others. Other parts of the book deal with the superficial Greek church attendence, common in any country where there is an established church, and corruption, also common in several countries and certainly in the Middle East. (The heritage of the Ottoman empire of which the Balcans and the Middle East used to be part of.) He describes the contrast between affluent Greeks and the illegal Albanian immigrants who tend their gardens but, again, the same words could also describe American suburbanites and the illegal Latin American immigrants who tend their gardens.
   
   Because the author left Greece when he was only 10 years old, he may have had an idealized image of the place and was disappointed by the reality. I left Greece as an adult (after college and military service) and any time I go back I enjoy the place. Overall it has changed for the better. (I stay away from the blighted urban areas for the same reason I stay away from blighted urban areas anywhere else.)
   
   The best thing I can say about the book is that it short, only 144 pages, so I did not waste too much time reading it.



4. I think the author does a good job of describing and capturing the 'uglier' aspects of today's Athens (which certainly need to be discussed further), but leans towards the dour, missing many of the more positive aspects of life in Athens. As with many large, compact cities, our impressions can change from day to day. With Athens, and Greece in general, the best and the worst of humanity seem to become more apparent and immediate to the senses. I don't know why; maybe it's the close quarters.
   
   The issues that Sarrinikolaou artfully raises can be unsettling to those in the Greek Diaspora and should stir discussion. Our impressions of Greece and what it means to be Greek are based (for myself and for many, I believe) on the rural/island traditions and kinship ties of our parents/grandparents. The problems that face modern Athens are not a part of that inherited image and can be easily overlooked.
   
   But,I find that the more time I spend in the city and settle into its peculiar rhythm, the 'village' is made visible in many of the neighborhoods. From late night group sings in a small apartment and familiarity of corner shops and kiosks, to an entire street helping someone park their car, the city is different from what I expected it, or even may want it to be. But it's also more exciting, unpredictable, provocative, and yes, often comforting.



5. An exile returns home and these are his musings. Being Greek, he is under no obligation to invoke the ancients at every turn and he provides an unvarnished look at a city that is dysfunctional and charming at all once. He'll speak of Greek racism (the Albanians are blamed for nearly everything, the Gypsies for the rest), the total disaster of traffic through the city center, and the pull of the old neighborhoods now destroyed by callous development that is turning everything into concrete block apartment buildings.
   
   I've been to Athens and seem most of what he is talking about. The magic of Athens is not that it is perfect, but that in its great imperfections it still tugs at something inside you.

No comments about Time Out Athens (Time Out Guides).

1 comments about The Rough Guide to The Greek Islands 6 (Rough Guide Travel Guides).

1. Before purchasing this book I reviewed a number of books on the Greek Islands at my local library and settled on this Rough Guide version as being the most up to date, the most complete, and the most readable and frank (looked at Insight, Lonely Planet, Fodors (Greece), and others). I am traveling to both Corfu and to Crete this year and feel that the treatment is at the appropriate level for my one week stay on each of those large islands and a one-week sail through the other Ionian islands. I will supplement this with a sailing book/charts on the Ionian Sea and a Michelin Green Guide of Greece which emphasizes the archaeological sites and history. The upside is that with one purchase I now have info on other Greek Islands for future travels in the Sporades, Cyclades, etc. I have successfully and happily used Rough Guides in the past for European regions such as Bretagne.

1 comments about The Cyclades: Discovering the Greek Islands of the Aegean.

1. We're just back from a sailing vacation in the Cyclades, and brought this book along for reference. The historical perspective that the author carefully provides, is the most useful aspect of the book. After reading the book, and visiting the land, it is clear that many aspects of Ancient Greece are still alive! Visiting today and observing the ruins, one feels like a mere speck in time.
   
   The only criticism I have, is that some of the information in the book is out of date. For example, the Chora in Kea was not clean, but somewhat dirty and depressed, and felt chronologically displaced. So we're told, it turns out that Kea was a Communist enclave during the 1960's, and we even observed the word "Castro" written in Greek and engraved in large stone letters on a walkway.
   
   I recommend the book as an interesting historical read, but not as a practical guide. At least for sailing, the most popular text is "Greek Waters Pilot" by Rod Heikell. It also contains good general information about Greece and its ports.

3 comments about Knopf MapGuide: Prague (Knopf Mapguides).

1. I love this series - small, light, excellent for walking around cities. It organizes information by geographic area and has large, readable maps that make getting around really easy. I use these as a subsitute for a map.
   
   If I'm spending enough time to see a city in depth (as I did in Prague), I bring a "real" guidebook too - in this case, Time Out - but this series will always have a place in my suitcase.
   
   For someone who travels really light, that is the biggest compliment I can bestow!



2. I own 11 of these Knopf MapGuides I find they are perfect for most of the sightseeing on does in major metropolitan areas. The layout, by neighborhood or zone, allows one to save steps and time by not needing to "back-track" when missing a sight. The small-sized booklet makes it easy to use and keep "concealed" when you don't want to look like a "tourist."



3. In some ways, Prague is best approached without a map. The main sector is fairly small, and landmarks like the castle, the river, and the Charles Bridge are easy to find from anywhere, so you can never really get lost. It is easier to find cool things when you don't care where you are going.
   
   Still, if you are in full tourist mode, you want to get where you are going, and finding your way through the tangled web of Prague streets can be a real challenge. Unfolding a huge map not only looks stupid, it is awkward as well. Try walking a crowded street with one open; you only need to do it once before you pitch the big map in the nearest receptacle.
   
   Big maps are bad, but small maps are useless for a city where streets are either a few blocks long, or at least change names every few hundred meters. The Knopf Guide has it both ways. It is small enough to fit into an inner pocket of a blazer. It breaks this fairly small city down into a half-dozen sectors, and covers each with a fold-out map on heavy paper. We used the previous edition for years (the changes are minor, so you'll do fine to buy either edition), and all of the maps are still in great shape.

No comments about Insight Guide Greece (Insight Guides Greece).

2 comments about Travelers' Tales Greece: True Stories (Travelers' Tales Guides).

1. I gave this book a 5 star rating based on the fact that the writers really understood and felt what they were writing. This book could not have been written unless you had been to Greece and felt the endless arrays of different emotion. I loved the adjectives used and the pictures that the words evoked. It is a wonderful and easy read for those greekophiles who have all experienced in essense the book. For those who have never been to Greece, it might be cause to go immediately or rethink your trip. This was a fun, easy, and well written armchair travel book. Again, I must stress, it really hits home for those that have been to Greece or love her, it hits the mark more than just an informative factual type of tour book.



2. I read the 2003 edition of this collection, but given the editors have not changed from other editions, I suspect all of the versions are equally excellent. What I love about this series is the range of true experience you get?the vast majority of them embracing Greece as it is rather than lamenting its corruption by tourists. Having read the DK guide to the Greek Islands and the National Geographic guide to Greece, I wasn?t surprised to find a few stories were of the ?before it was spoiled? variety. However, most of the tales embrace the unique challenges and contrasts of touring Greece?except, perhaps, for the famous Paul Theroux who is, as usual, a cranky, pissed-off traveler (ok?maybe I?m unfair, but I was shocked at the comic novelist becoming a sort of wandering misanthrope in several of his travel books). Even the critical Theroux, however, reports on the sheer visual beauty of Greece. The book shows real people who are still confronting the horrors of war (a close encounter with death, a dead daughter, a murdered mother, a destroyed 500-year religious heritage). We also see the spiritual side of the Greeks, the difficulties caused by a poor economy, the problems of impoverished backpackers, and importance of being flexible in a country of strikes, bizarre official rules, and uncertain transportation. We meet Greeks of all types?the welcoming, the friendly, the hostile, the pious, the predatory, the scammers, the sexist, the insane, and the bossy employer. I was surprised at how many stories featured people working illegally in Greece, sometimes more for the experience of Greek life than for any money. This fact alone shows you the lure of Greece and the lengths people will go to experience life under the Grecian sun.

2 comments about Wallpaper City Guide: Athens (Wallpaper City Guide).

1. This book was a total waste of money. There was not one thing in it which was useful on our trip to Greece.



2. Many trendy, interesting and cool places listed in this book! I go to Athens every summer and still found this very useful!