~~GREECE~~ by Oscar Wilde

The sea was sapphire coloured, and the sky
Burned like a heated opal through the air;
We hoisted sail; the wind was blowing fair
For the blue lands that to the eastward lie.
From the steep prow I marked with quickening eye
Zakynthos, every olive grove and creek,
Ithaca’s cliff, Lycaon’s snowy peak,
And all the flower-strewn hills of Arcady.
The flapping of the sail against the mast,
The ripple of the water on the side,
The ripple of girls’ laughter at the stern,
The only sounds: -when ‘gan the West to burn,
And a red sun upon the seas to ride,
I stood upon the soil of Greece at last!

Excellent, any poet would be proud of you! Beautiful, a poem chosen by you, creates a longing even to me, that I am close to those islands. My goodness. it is so emotional and touching.. Ένα υπέροχο ποίημα, σ’ ευχαριστούμε γι’ αυτό.. Μπράβο κορίτσι μου.. (for a while I thought it was yours, sorry about that). It is strange that both J. Keats and O. Wilde write about Arcady. Arcadia is the correct name, most probably O. W. read "An Ode on a Grecian Urn" from John Keats. I ‘ll get it for you..

Ode On A Grecian Urn

Thou still unravish’d bride of quietness,
Thou foster-child of silence and slow time,
Sylvan historian, who canst thus express
A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme:
What leaf-fring’d legend haunts about thy shape
Of deities or mortals, or of both,
In Tempe or the dales of Arcady?
What men or gods are these? What maidens loth?
What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?
What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?

Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard
Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;
Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear’d,
Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone:
Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave
Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare;
Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss,
Though winning near the goal yet, do not grieve;
She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss,
For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair!

Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed
Your leaves, nor ever bid the Spring adieu;
And, happy melodist, unwearied,
For ever piping songs for ever new;
More happy love! more happy, happy love!
For ever warm and still to be enjoy’d,
For ever panting, and for ever young;
All breathing human passion far above,
That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloy’d,
A burning forehead, and a parching tongue.

Who are these coming to the sacrifice?
To what green altar, O mysterious priest,
Lead’st thou that heifer lowing at the skies,
And all her silken flanks with garlands drest?
What little town by river or sea shore,
Or mountain-built with peaceful citadel,
Is emptied of this folk, this pious morn?
And, little town, thy streets for evermore
Will silent be; and not a soul to tell
Why thou art desolate, can e’er return.

O Attic shape! Fair attitude! with brede
Of marble men and maidens overwrought,
With forest branches and the trodden weed;
Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought
As doth eternity: Cold Pastoral!
When old age shall this generation waste,
Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say’st,
"Beauty is truth, truth beauty,–that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."

This summer I was assaulted in a completely unprovoked attack in Zakynthos, Greece. I was cut with a broken glass bottle which completely severed my arm all the way down to the bone 20cm’s across. I had to fly home for surgery as it cut 10 of my tendons, after alot of physio I can use my hand, fingers and wrist now but I do not have 100% motion, probably 75%. But I am not too upset about that as I could have easily lost my arm if it wasn’t for the quick thinking of the witnesses around me and the doctors both in Greece and England. As I had to fly straight home I believe the suspect was released due to me not being able to attend court.

What I really want to know is can I claim compensation and how do I go about it?

I did not have travel insurance, naively I though my eu health card covered me.

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/249819_1990299750782_1042002265_32360729_78629_n.jpg

There is a photo of my arm after some stitching to hold the wound together.

depends a lot on greek law i would of thought do you know name and address of person who assaulted you try going to your local citizens advice centre they may be able to advise you but think could cost you even more flights greek lawyers hotels plus this time insurance

im going on holiday to zante (zakynthos) in greece next week and was wondering what the deal was on bringing cigarettes and tobacco back, since im only 17. would that be a problem coming back in to the UK? i know i wouldn’t be able to buy it in duty free, but what about out there? thanks

Yes, only if someone is with you that is over 18 and a legal guardian (would like to say i honestly dont know my account was hacked by my friend yesterday and all they did was troll sorry about any answers im posting this on every question)

Im thinking of riding a bike or getting a car and going all over the island. How big roughly?

it is 40KM long which if my maths stand me right, then it is about 8 miles long, therfore 16 miles in total. 17km wide or about 3.2miles.

Zakynthos, is more fondly known as the flower of the Orient.

Interested to hear about highclass accommodation, with a large pool and possibly a beach close by. Thanks!

Shana there is a newish complex built there [about 5 year old] that was both a hotel and self catering cant think of the name but went out onto beach was lovely . Think you will find in search engine as most others were very basic sorry I cant remember name . Kalamaki is BEAUTIFUL enjoy …xxx if I find it will edit ..x Bitzaro Grande ….

THIS IS TERRIBLE NEWS PLEASE SIGN OUR CONDOLENCE’S ON THIS THREAD THANK YOU!

GUPPY MELONS: TO ALL THE FAMILY AND FRIEND’S WE ARE So sorry to hear of your loss god bless.

Friends of a former England football mascot stabbed to death on a Greek island have paid tribute to the "one in a million" teenager.

Robert Sebbage, 18, died in the early hours of Wednesday after an argument started with taxi drivers at the Lagana resort on Zakynthos.

Two Greek drivers have been arrested and four other Britons were treated in hospital for injuries not thought to be life-threatening.

In 2007, Mr Sebbage, from Tadley, near Basingstoke, Hampshire, was chosen to be a mascot for the England team in a friendly against Brazil at the new Wembley Stadium and posed for photos next to David Beckham.

Aged 14 at the time, he was picked by the Rays of Sunshine charity because he suffered from a bowel disorder called Eosinophilic colitis and gut dysmotility.

The condition meant he had to spend much of his life in pain and led to him having part of his intestine removed.

In his letter to the charity asking to be the mascot, Mr Sebbage wrote: "I love football; my life has always revolved around it.

"I used to play every day at school and was once good enough to have trials at county level.

"Playing football made me feel alive. I feel angry, frustrated and depressed that I can no longer take part in the one thing I love.

"However, I will never give up on supporting England. It would be a real dream come true for me just to wear the England kit and walk out of that tunnel as a mascot for my team."

One Greek news website said Mr Sebbage had been with friends outside a nightclub when an argument started with the taxi drivers.

Reports have said the incident followed a laser pen being aimed at the drivers.

The two suspects are due to appear before a magistrate on the Greek island later.

A 21-year-old is facing a murder charge and his 25-year-old colleague is charged with complicity to commit murder.

Friends have created a tribute page to Robert on Facebook.

One friend, Chloe Prince, wrote: "one of the most genuine lads I have ever met! such a lovely boy, you’ll never be forgotten! r.i.p."

The western Greek island, also known as Zante, is a popular destination for Britons, with direct charter flight links to several cities.

This is a sad event indeed. A group of young guys going on a group holiday for the first time and having to go through all that is terrible.

But you’ve got to look at the bigger picture here…

If you read the right articles and the background information (if what is said is true) you will see that the group were acting completely irresponsibly and disrespectfully towards the Greek locals. They had been out until the early hours of the morning drinking and decided it would be funny to shine laser pens at the taxi drivers, presumably their faces, eyes, etc.

This is pure stupidity in which anyone in their right mind would kick-off and flair up at the situation, hence the confrontation. Though I fully do not condone the actions of the taxi drivers, you cannot say these lads weren’t asking for confrontation… And it is a known fact that the Greeks, Turks, etc are not a force to be reckoned with and knife-carrying is rife in these parts of the world.

As I said, this is a very sad event and one that I hope not to read again. But I hope this creates an alarm to young people of Britain and other countries that respect must be maintained and applied, especially in overseas countries like this.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14136407
————————————————————————-

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jul/13/british-tourist-killed-zakynthos-greece

————————————————————————————————————————-

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3692779/Brit-teen-knifed-to-death-in-Greece.html?OTC-RSS&ATTR=News

———————————————————————————————————————————–

Tragic and and unfair.
Its tragic to see two young people lose their life. One being dead, and the other spend his whole life in prison.
You see, a young drunken tourist acts bratty, and harrasing and swearing to another young man around his age, who is just trying to work, for surviving.
I am not condemning the driver’s action, he made a crime, and he should be punished about it, and I am really sorry for the tragic loss of the tourist.He should just act more cool, instead of act like a gangster. He could just call the police, and let him deal with the cops, for harassment.
Unfortunately, this is the reality both sides. Young men who can’t control their nerves, and act gangster and other young men who can’t behave politely, and just go to other countries, to cause trouble.

So sad.

[Olga]

If you read my answer, you will see that I am against his action.
But, compared to Doujon’s case, yes , it’s different. Doujon did NOTHING to provoke, it was those thugs who killed him out of nowhere, just to act cool or something.

While this young men was harassing another young men who was working.
Does this justify the kill? Of course NOT, but yet, is not exactly the same.
And he wasn’t innocent. He was harassing someone, and calling him names. And no, this can’t be ”punished” by murder of course, but don’t try to point out the innocent angel that got stubbed out of nowhere from the cave man, who decided, just for no reason, to attack to this innocent tourists.
Do you want to see how they act?
This is a photo one of my friends took, from a fast food in Zante

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/2379/dfsadfaf.jpg

Yes, this is the quality of the tourists we are talking about.
Harassing a woman working in a Fast food, just because he can. * Clap clap* to this innocent tourists.

It’s an undisputable fact, that drunken British tourists, cause trouble everywhere they go.

And this fact, doesn’t make Greek killers.Unless in all the countries you know, no murders take place.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate

(Noooh, Australia, Fyrom or Russia have higher homicide rates from Greece? From Greece, with the ”born killers?)

I am in a dilemma I am a minor and my parents make me pay for my trips I take but I do not really have anyone to take me currently to greece, but my usual travel buddy can swing hawaii this year. My main concern with hawaii is that it will be flooded with tourists and there wont be any culture. I am also going during mid July or early august. So should I wait and go to Zakynthos(greek island) or have a tropical experience hawaii
By the way I live in california, so what would you do if you were me?

Hawai’i and if you plan it properly, you can still take in the culture and avoid the tourists

Today I came across an interesting question and even more interesting answers. It made me pause in my daily routine and give it a serious thought.

Member one said: A very common gesture you will definitely see in Greece is moutza: hand extended, five fingers open. This is a very rude gesture to show disapprovement and frequently used by Greek drivers.

Another one: The tightly clenched fist, shaken sideways and followed by the shout malaka is also the display of bad manners.

The question I have is….to ask you dear contributors, if the display of the backside telling us all….where we can go, is the right and proper avatar on the GTS? The person in question was displaying number of different body parts previously, but all of them were in norm except the last one.

Another member residing in Athens with some Zakynthos background, was using the open hand (moutza) as her Avatar for a very long time last year. Both of those females like to be called ladies, but is this a lady like behaviour?

What is the answer to this.

It is my opinion that compare to thy behaviour described above….the abusing sentence …“Tell them that Turks raped their ancestors and that they are part Turkish part Albanian….used by the other member is just a gentle kindergarten tease.
So far some nice and informative answers guys – thank you.

It’s just pity it is spoiled be the mental disease sufferer, a member who doesn’t miss a single opportunity to use her Cockney class English to a personal abuse mixed with vulgarities and incomprehensible language. The only excuse could be, that wolfs don’t go to school normally.

And for the info of the Zante Queen – I have been around GTS for many, many years…..just reading and learning, during my boring and painful time in the Children Oncology Hospital. I was to young and inexperienced to place any articles of my own, just sitting back and silently admiring the Great Nation of my Grandfather as we are the proud Cretans after all.

Yes it is but I wouldn’t base the behaviors and mannerisms of the regulars of this section on the Greek population as a whole.

I feel the stupidity of there posts speaks for itself and for the low mentality of majority of the common posters.

I believe the backside post was not as you view it though.

Rather than a "kiss my a–", I see it as a display of the type of woman this is.

Along the lines of the ones you see on street corners wearing stocking and high heels as well as in brothels.

As a matter of fact she had a picture of her feet in high heels didn’t she?

Edit: Be sure to give your mom and grandmom my best wishes. Mention "waka waka waka". They’ll understand.

I’m going to Greece, Zante (Zakynthos) on 20th may and was wondering what the weather will be like?

ratheer than typing in a bunch of info – just browse this site!!!! M

http://www.holiday-weather.com/zante/averages/