Romulea linaresii subsp. graeca

IMG_2098 [Romulea linaresii]

 

This dwarf plant with small flowers (up to 1.5 cm wide) flourishes in the Balkans but has been on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Endangered Plants since 1997. 

 It blooms from February to April.

 

Photographed on Tourkovounia (in Athens) on February 23, 2023

 

 

Anacamptis collina

IMG_0404 [Anacamptis collina]

 

One of the first orchids to flower. It blooms from January to April in two consecutive waves.

It is quite rare and appears in localized populations in heights of up to 1300 meters.

It is found in few locations of the Peloponnese but it is more common in Crete and Rhodes.

 

Photographed at the foot of Mt. Egaleo in Attica

in the month of January a few years ago. 

 

 

302_5136 [Anacamptis collina]

 

From the island of Iracleia in Cyclades

 

Alexandos Papagos

IMG_1294 [Papagos]

 

Field Marshal Alexandros Papagos (1883-1955)

Commander-in-chief of the Greek National Forces (1940-1941 and 1949)

Prime Minister of Greece (1952-1955)

 

The man for whom Winston Churchill on December 4, 1940 said:

“I wish Papagos would command the British army”.

 

The sculpture above, crafted by Iraklis Xanthopoulos,

was wisely placed a few meters away

from the entrance to the Greek Ministry of Defense in Athens.

 

 

 

IMG_1294 [Papagos]

 

This picture was taken through a hedge

that surrounds the little “Pl. Enoplon Dynameon” (= Greek Military Forces sq.)

where the statue was placed in 2000.

 

Both photographed on October 23, 2022

The Runner

IMG_1054 [Runner]

 

I have a piece of advice for you, my friends. If you are ever caught up driving in a traffic jam, lower your window and have your mobile phone ready. You may be lucky to see “The Runner” or something else interesting enough for you to press the trigger. This is what happened to me in the center of Athens on September 25, 2022.

 

The Runner is a piece of work created by the sculptor Kostas Varotsos in memory of the Greek Marathon Race winner Spyros Luis. Currently, it is standing on a little square next to a well-known hotel in central Athens but reportedly there are plans to move it to Omonoia square.

 

For more info and a different view of the Runner please click HERE.

[Clicking is free and doesn’t cost a penny!😂]