We visited the Acropolis on a cold, blustery, rainy day. I wouldn't have missed it, but it wasn't for the fair weather tourist.
The umbrella I borrowed from the hotel blew out so many times I quit trying...
You've probably seen the pictures a thousand times in history books, but these are mine...I took them and I hope you enjoy them...
Acropolis hill is also called the "Sacred Rock" of Athens.
We had a variety of meetings in Athens where we explored diverse issues. Some are macro in nature like culture and heritage, while others are more mundane things like media, public works, and education.
I’ve tried to offer some highlights of what is happening in Athens and Greece in these varied areas.
Post Olympics Athens
We met at Athens City Hall with the architect that helped manage the construction projects in the run up to the Olympics. Athens really bulked up their infrastructure in order to host the games, but with the longer term goal of helping their overall society. The games served as a catalyst to tackle major public works projects.
Some projects include:
• New airport
• New sports stadiums
• Metro and rail system
• Road widening and improvements
• Underground parking systems developed
• Foot trails between major monuments
• Landscaping
...
We took a walking tour of downtown Athens one morning.
This was day 13 without Diet Mt. Dew. I've really cut way back on the soda consumption and my wife will be happy to know that I am starting to like coffee. It began as a necessary evil, but has evolved into something more, a deeper and meaningful relationship.
Check out the photos...
My internet time is about to expire, so I'll post more later.
I’m a Grecian Policy Wonk, or at least I played one in Athens. What a great opportunity to explore and begin to understand the dynamics of a country that has played such a vital role in global history.
I know this is a blog and not a dossier, so I’ll keep it high level. I get geeked out on it, but if you feel your eyes glazing over just look at the pictures… ;-)
Foreign Policy
We started the day with Dr. Thanos Dokos, Director General of the ELIAMEP, the Hellenic Foundation for European & Foreign Policy and Mr. Theodoros Skylakakis, Secretary General for International Economic Relations and Development Cooperation.
Historically speaking:
• Greece has always been a strategic location because of geography.
• Greece would like to be “an honest broker” when it comes...
This was my professional appointment, a meeting organized specifically for me based on my profile and requests. Kudos to Elizabeth on this one!
I met with Dr. Hercules Bourantas, Professor of Studies, and Gregory Yovanof, Graduate Program Director. Yes, his name is Hercules...cool, huh. Actually, in Greek it is spelled Iraklis. Professor Yovanof attended the University of Southern California and worked for such firms as Kodak and HP.
The AIT was formed in 2002 and all courses are taught in English. They aren’t a university as that would be illegal (see my earlier post…The Same but Different), but they do offer a degree from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They also offer seminars from Harvard and summer sessions.
AIT has five focuses:
1. Optical Networking
2. Grid Computing
3. Broadband Wireless
4. Security Algorythms
5. Software Engineering
The school...
