If you have ever wondered what is going on in Myanmar (Burma), Isaiah has a great new background post on the recent history of the country and the current political situation, including the Rohingya refugee crisis and the upcoming national elections.   It’s very clear and thorough. You’ll appreciate reading it here at this link.

Athens is packed with ancient history. The Parthenon in the Acropolis, the ancient theatres, history museums, artifacts, sculptures, you name it.  But the city is also filled with incredible photography exhibits, modern art museums, art galleries – temporary and permanent. While my dad and Isaiah dove into the ancient history of Athens, my mom and I explored the different neighborhoods of Athens, its amazing cafes, and beautiful art.

We took a tram to Art Athina, an International Contemporary Art Fair that is held every year in Athens, with artists from 16 different countries. It is held in a small stadium, with exhibits on the ground floor, and more around the sides of the upper level. Each artist is granted a cube – three white walls – and they are able to display their artwork in any way they want. There was so much energy in the stadium, such a love for art – and so many creative ways of producing and displaying it in each space. There was this one painting, (below) that I absolutely loved. I was fascinated by the way the people in the photo were portrayed, how there was so much movement, even though it was a frozen moment of a day.   

The next night, my dad and I went to a neighborhood of Athens known for its nightlife, art and music. As we rode the escalator up from the metro, we could hear live music being played, and a slow stream of people going into an area full of stalls and food vendors. In the center was a stage with musicians setting up for a jazz concert. We bought wraps and lemonade from a vendor, and wandered around before ducking into a dimly lit room. A line of small, square, framed photos lined all four walls. There was no connection between the different photographs, but each one seemed to tell its own story. I walked around the room twice, trying to take in every photo, every story.

As the sun began to set and the clouds turned pink, we walked to the Athens Benaki Museum, which held the 2015 International Festival of Contemporary Photography and Related Media. The Exhibit includes work from 76 different artists from 37 different countries. I was blown away by the photographs in every room I went into, and I’m sure I could have stayed in that museum for days. They have a book you can buy, that showcases some of the best photographs from the festival (140 photos). I bought it (and am obsessed with it). Here is the link if you would like to purchase it. (http://www.photofestival.gr/product/aphf15-catalogue)

We had the most perfectly located hotel. It was on a residential street, which made it quiet and interesting, to see how people in Athens live. From the balcony I could see rooftop gardens, and plants lining the balconies across the street. At the end of our block was a cute little market with fruit and veggies, and in the evenings before it closed we would get berries for breakfast the next morning. We were a few blocks from a lot of delicious restaurants, and the metro. Another street down, the tram ran all over the city. Walking in the opposite direction about 10 minutes up hill brings you right to the Acropolis, which is packed with people, but the ruins are so amazing it really doesn’t matter. The lines are usually super small, making it easy to go whenever you want. My dad and I went the last day before we left. We also visited the outdoor Theatre of Dionysus (built in the 5th Century BCE), just down a path from the Acropolis, and I got to sit in one of the original stone chairs built into the theatre.

[For more information about the Greek financial crisis and ancient Greek history, look forward to Isaiah’s upcoming post]

-Natalia

While we have been traveling, we have seen and heard about many current events relating to the countries we are visiting. Most significantly, the Rohingya crisis, where Muslim migrants from the Rankine state of Myanmar were abandoned at sea. During our time in Asia, the catastrophic earthquake in Nepal and the “Bali Nine” case, relating to executions of foreigners in Indonesia, also made headlines. And during our travels in Europe, the Greek debt crisis, the Turkish elections, and the Pope’s encyclical on the environment have all been major stories in the news.

Since you have been reading about our adventures on this blog, we’ve created a new page to give you some background information about these current events, in the context of the history of the countries we have visited.  We’ll be updating this page regularly with new posts.

You can read the first post on the history of Indonesia and Papua here.

-Isaiah Paley Whitman