I knew that Greece was more “open” to things like nudity and sexuality than the US, and I knew that coming from Yemen, it might be a bit of a shock. I was not prepared for just how open they are. When I was in Athens, there were several “Greek Women” calendars that featured totally naked women on the covers. It wasn’t bad, they weren’t in any sort of sexual situation, just perfect bodies out at the beach. When we got to Crete, things were a bit different. There’s a newsstand right in front of the hotel that sells magazines. In addition to the usual Playboy and Hustler (the European versions with lots O’ nudity on the covers) there were a bunch of much “harder” magazines as well. We’re talking full penetration, right on the cover, right out front.
I was shocked on several levels. There’s the obvious, I find it odd that that kind of graphicness doesn’t faze anyone. I’m also shocked that those sorts of magazines are still being made. I would have thought that the dirty magazine would have gone the way of the adult theater. The internet has made it incredibly easy to have access to pornography. That has obvious downsides, but a not so obvious upside is that it takes that material and puts it people’s bedrooms directly without the need for a shop or newsstand. I wonder why people who want that sort of thing still buy magazines?
I remember a shop that I used to go to when I was in college. It was in Johnson city and I’d drive down from Ithaca on occasion to look for LPs and singles. All he sold was records (not cds, records) and old girly magazines. It was a great place to go to score quality jazz and classical LPs. His usual clientele seemed to be after “Frampton Comes Alive,” Styx’s “Paradise Theatre.” anything by Rush, and maybe a couple old copies of Penthouse forum. I went back there a couple of years ago and sure enough, it was gone. He just couldn’t compete with the internet…
We had been seeing many restaurants advertising “toast” on their boards outside. We thought that was a rather strange thing to advertise. Today I found out that it meant toasted sandwiches. That makes more sense…
There are innumerable roadside shrines here. They don’t look like much, just a white box on a pole with a small cross on top. There is usually a door with a small window in it on there and through it you can see what is inside, usually an icon and some candles. I don’t know what the significance of these things are, or who sets them up and maintains them. You can see many Orthodox priests around, all of them in long robes. I have yet to see one without a full beard.
Will add more as I think of stuff…