Kesäkuun viikonloppureissusta Ateenan pride -tapahtumaan on jo kulunut useampi kuukausi, mutta miten voisinkaan unohtaa tätä Ateenan vierailua! Osallistuin ensimmäistä kertaa kyseiseen seksuaali- ja sukupuolivähemmistöjen oikeuksia edistävään tapahtumaan ja myös liftausmatkamme Xylokastrosta Ateenaan oli ikimuistoinen. Odotimme K:n ja E:n kanssa tukahduttavassa helteessä moottoritiellä auton pysähtyvän kohdallemme. Samalla meitä jännitti, jäämmekö kohta auton alle niiden väistäessä tielle kaatuneita varoituskartioita. Pian meitä pyydettiinkin poistumaan teiden turvallisuudesta huolehtivan auton toimesta. Xylokastron ohi menevä moottoritie oli tietöiden vallassa, jonka takia keltaiset Safety autot olivat meille liftareille jo tuttu näky aiemmilta reissuilta. Tämän jälkeen meidän täytyi koettaa onneamme pysäyttää auto sisääntuloliittymässä, mikä tuntui erittäin epätoivoiselta. Lopulta meitä kuitenkin onnisti, sillä Xylokastrosta kalastusreissulta tuleva kuski pysähtyi, vaikka hänen autonsa olikin täynnä kalastustarvikkeita. Mies oli matkalla suoraan Ateenaan, joten päätimme hypätä kyytiin. Istuin toisen kämppikseni kanssa takakontissa erittäin ahtaasti, mutta pääasia oli, että saimme suoran ja ilmaisen kyydin Ateenaan. Olimme myös tyytyväisiä, että kuski oli jättänyt saamansa kalat ystävilleen eikä meidän tarvinnut matkustaa kalanpyydyksen kanssa :D
Several months have passed since our weekend trip to Athens pride on June but how could I forget this visit to Athens! I took part for the first time to this event which promotes rights of sexual and gender minorities. Also our trip from Xylokastro to Athens by hitchhiking was memorable. We were waiting with K and E on the highway a car to stop next to us in stifling heat. At the same time we were nervous to get hit by a car because they tried to avoid warning cones that were fallen to the road. Soon one safety car asked us to move off from the motorway. That road next to Xylokastro was under construction so the yellow safety cars were familiar sight for us hitchhikers from previous travels. After getting off from the highway we tried to stop a car in entrance interface that seemed to be very desperate. We had finally luck though because one driver stopped next to us when he was coming from fishing trip from Xylokastro. The man was going directly to Athens so we decided to jump aboard although his car was full of fishing equipment. I was sitting with my flatmate very narrowly in a trunk but the most important was to have direct and free ride to Athens. We were also pleased that our driver had left the fish for his friends and we didn't have to travel with the fish :D
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| Iloinen liftaaja Happy hitchhiker |
Athens pride event was arranged in Klafthmonos square where were lot of people and many associations had their own stands. Two of my other flatmates came also to Athens by hitchhiking but little bit later. We were still all together when the first speech started and after that everybody had an opportunity to dance during the Zumba show. Although we didn't do every movement correctly we were still sweating! Periptero (the kiosk) was very close so besides the sun, we enjoyed also some cold drinks.
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| Nyt zumbataan! Let's zumba now! |
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| Glitter sade! Glitter rain! |
Esitysten jälkeen osallistuimme pitkään paraatiin kiertäen lenkin keskustassa hitaaseen kävelyvauhtiin. Kulkueessa oli useita rekkoja erilaisilla kokoonpanoilla ja jokaisessa soi erilainen musiikki. Välillä juoksimme kiinni muita rekkoja, joiden musiikin perässä halusimme kävellä. Kulkueeseen osallistui monen ikäisiä ihmisiä ja näin muistaakseni ainakin yhden koirankin kävelevän emäntänsä vieressä. Ennen Athens prideen lähtöä olin melko epävarma tapahtuman turvallisuudesta. Mielessä kävivät aiempien vuosien murheelliset tapahtumat, jolloin ihmisiä menehtyi kyseisissä tapahtumissa väenpaljouden ja ahtauden takia. Ateenassa meno oli kuitenkin rauhallista. Vaikka ihmisiä oli paljon, meillä oli hyvin tilaa liikkua :)
After performances we participated in long parade walking slowly a round in center. In pride parade there were several trucks with different types of people inside and different kind of music. Sometimes we were running behind the trucks and trying to catch those which had good music. People of many ages joined in parade and I saw also atleast one dog walking next to its' owner. Before going to Athens pride I was quite unsure about the safety of that event. Some sad things came to my mind that happened some years ago when people died in those events because of narrowness and lot of people. Everything was still calm in this Athens pride. Although there were lot of people, we had enough space to move around :)
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| Hilpeät EVS-vapaaehtoiset mukana marssimassa Hilarious EVS volunteers participating to the march |
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| Norjan ja Ruotsin lähetystöt edustavat Embassys of Norway and Sweden are representing :D |
Illalla tapahtumalla oli tietysti jatkot samalla aukiolla jonkun dj:n tahtiin. Olimme siellä vähän aikaa, mutta päätimme lähteä Monastirakin kautta Psirin kaupunginosaan illanviettoon. Emme löytäneet sieltä kuitenkaan hyvää tanssipaikkaa, joten päädyimme istuskelubaariin. Psiri yöaikaan oli aivan erilainen kuin päivällä. Nyt kaikki kaupat olivat kiinni, vain seinät vedetty niiden eteen eikä ostoskaduilla ollut ketään. Pidän Psiristä enemmän kuitenkin illalla ja yöllä, jolloin kaikki ravintolat ja baarit ovat auki ja ihmisiä on kadut pullollaan.
The pride had of course afterparty in the evening in the same square and there was also some dj playing. We were there a while but then we decided to go to Psiri through Monastiraki and enjoy our evening there. We didn't find any good place for dancing so we ended up in to small pub. Psiri was very different at night than during the day. Now all the shops were closed, only their walls were front of them and there were nobody on the shopping streets. I like still Psiri more in evening and night when all restaurants and bars are open and streets are full of people.
The pride had of course afterparty in the evening in the same square and there was also some dj playing. We were there a while but then we decided to go to Psiri through Monastiraki and enjoy our evening there. We didn't find any good place for dancing so we ended up in to small pub. Psiri was very different at night than during the day. Now all the shops were closed, only their walls were front of them and there were nobody on the shopping streets. I like still Psiri more in evening and night when all restaurants and bars are open and streets are full of people.
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| Upea kuu Monastirakilla, takana Akropolis Gorgeous moon in Monastiraki, Acropolis behind |
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| Missä myö ollaan? Missä ne baarit on?! Where are we? Where are the bars?! |
Herättyämme mielenkiintoisesta Hotelli Zorbaksen makuusalista, jossa ei ollut edes peittoja huonehintaan lähdimme kävelemään kaupungille. Kävimme E:n ja K:n kanssa Kansallispuistossa, jossa on muuten pieni eläintarha sisällä sekä Panathinaiko stadionilla (kreikaksi: Παναθηναϊκό στάδιο). Se tunnetaan myös nimellä Kallimarmaro (Καλλιμάρμαρο), joka tarkoittaa kauniisti marmoroitua. Stadionilla pidettiin ensimmäiset "nykyaikaiset" kesäolympialaiset vuonna 1896. Emme maksaneet sisäänpääsystä, joten katselimme stadionia ulkopuolelta. Se oli hieno niinkin!
After waking up in a dorm of Hotel Zorbas which didn't have even blankets included to the price of the room, we went for a walk to center. With E and K we visited Panathinaiko stadium (in greek: Παναθηναϊκό στάδιο) and National Garden where is by the way small zoo. The sadium is also known as Kallimarmaro (Καλλιμάρμαρο) which means beautifully marbled. The first "modern" Summer Olympics were arranged in the stadium in 1896. We didn't pay for entrance so we were watching the stadium from outside. It was nice also like that!
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| Olympiastadion Olympic Stadium |
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| Taustalla näkyy Akropolis In the background you can see Acropolis |
Our Athens weekend trip was in good point because my mother and aunt came for their Greece visit on next Tuesday. So I stayed in Athens and waited for my guests from Finland. When my flatmates left back to home I had still time to go around and photograph for example Acropolis during the sunset. It was beautiful!
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| Parthenon ilta-auringossa Parthenon in the evening sun |
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