People in Greece

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People in Greece were generally friendly, if sometimes somewhat reserved. One instance of very friendly people was the encounter with the bee-keepers (see below).

Traffic was generally disciplined. In the cities traffic was heavy, of course Athens was a nightmare.

There were frequent signs of attempts of clean energy generation with solar panels and wind turbines. I saw this in Greece more than in any other country that I have visited.

All pictures are © Dr. Günther Eichhorn, unless otherwise noted.

People in Greece

Two women relaxing on a park bench. (1157k)

Fishing. (1063k)

Roads and Traffic

Suspension bridge over the Gulf of Corinth. (779k)

Closer view of the bridge over the Gulf of Corinth. (785k)

Ferry and bridge over the Gulf of Corinth. (658k)

Ferry and bridge over the Gulf of Corinth. (722k)

Ferry over the Gulf of Corinth. (1077k)

Old steam locomotive in Diakopto. (1319k)

Switchback mountain road near Vikos. (1.6M)

Switchback mountain road. (1312k)

These memorials on the side of the road commemorate accident victims. They were everywhere, I must have seen thousands. In some areas they were standing every 50 m (160 ft). (1436k)

There are a lot of war memorials in Greece. (1247k)

The small trench that was used to bury fiber optic cables that brings Internet to every village in Greece. This trench was visible on essentially all older roads in Greece. (642k)

After a thunderstorm the road was covered with sleet. (872k)

After a thunderstorm the road was covered with sleet. (769k)

Close-up of the sleet. (1319k)

Agriculture and Animals

Domestic geese. (1.6M)

Cats where everywhere. (910k)

Cats where everywhere. (1156k)

Dogs were around as well, but by far not as much as cats. (1325k)

Sheep herd with the black sheep of the family. (1447k)

A couple of sheep and their herder. (1377k)

Goats were around a lot. (1159k)

Horses in the south of Greece. (1.9M)

Orchard in bloom near Megaplatanos in northern Greece, with the Voras Mountains in the background. (1289k)

Orchard in bloom near Mieza. (1226k)

Orange grove. (1.8M)

Olive grove. (1403k)

Olive groves in Mycenae. (1489k)

Old olive tree growing over Ancient Sparta. (1.8M)

Bee Keeping

Bee keeping is important in Greece. We saw beehives fairly frequently. By accident I wanted to take pictures of a meadow with several hundred beehives. I was just taking a picture when the owners of the beehives drove up. They were extremely friendly and showed us how they take the frames with bees, wax, and honey out. They showed us one of the queens. We were extremely lucky, because one of the hives started swarming, ready to form a new colony. The owners got excited, they wanted to capture the new swarm. They put a lure in a nearby tree. I didn't understand what was in the lure, but it worked. The swarm settled in the tree. Once it had settled, the owners took an empty hive box, held it under the swarm in the tree, and just shook the swarm into the box. They put a chunk of partially crystallized sugar syrup in the hive box as initial feed for the new colony. It was fascinating to see in live action what I had read about years ago.

Meadow with hundreds of beehives. (1476k)

Close-up of the entrance of one of the hives. (790k)

The beekeeper blows smoke into the hive in order to calm the bees. (1.6M)

Pulling out one of the frames with honeycombs. It is full of bees. (1.5M)

He was looking for the queen to show it to us. They bees don't seem to mind being handled. The beekeeper said that he doesn't react to bee stings anymore, he is used to that. (1323k)