The slap in the church, the nightmare in the center of Thessaloniki and the failure of the meteorologists

Yesterday’s slap in the church by its parliamentary candidate Victory to her deputy of New Democracy, Angeliki Delikari, ignited the blood in the political scene and in fact Kyriakos Mitsotakis wants – in theory at least – in his direction. Not even… the prime minister had an order for it. And this is because lately his effort to rally the New Democracy is focused both on stopping the leaks to the right, and on … repatriating voters of the party, who consider that in the second term of government he made a turn towards the center. In each case barbaric and profane acts, such as cannibalism – and especially in a church – they only do damage to the one who can’t control his nerves. Obvious fanaticism, which does not even respect pretenses, does not fascinate, repels. It doesn’t attract, it repels. That is why both PASOK and SYRIZA were quick to condemn.

Sluggish pre-election period

In any case, the current pre-election period is going sluggishly. Maybe because it concerns European elections. Perhaps because the opinion polls show the hegemony of New Democracy and Mitsotakis, so the real battle is between the second and the third. Maybe because the opposition insists on the agenda of last year’s national elections, mainly in Tempi and the follow-ups. With all this, the only real – and extremely serious – opposition to the government is exercised by life and everyday life, which meet in the field of accuracy. As for the rest, not a single word about Europe from the parties so far. And it is doubtful whether anything will be heard by June 9.

Nightmare in the center of Thessaloniki

Good marathon. The intermediate roads of five and ten kilometers are also good. The Olympic Flame is also good. Even better are the few thousands of Thessalonians who took an active part in these activities. But yesterday’s Sunday was nightmarish for the center of Thessaloniki – in fact for a much larger part of the urban complex -, since closed roads made the area inaccessible. One more Sunday out of many in recent years, when the streets of the city are “utilized” for something other than their mission. Because those who wanted to take a simple walk or those who had some professional or social obligation suffered so much so that -in some cases- they regretted it. And the question remains: Why is it that in a city like Thessaloniki, where transportation is only done via the streets – there is no subway – the large area of ​​the beach is not utilized, so that the functionality of the city is not greatly affected? Because in the cities that are becoming famous international marathon routes (New York, London, etc.) there are alternative ways of moving for someone or people who do not want to participate in the specific events, but also not to be forced to stay in their homes.

The failure of meteorologists

Our friends the forecasters were wrong this time. All the previous week they warned of severe weather – mainly storms – which ultimately did not come, with few exceptions. Thessaloniki, which was supposed to receive a lot of water, only experienced two showers, while in the rest of Central Macedonia the phenomena were sluggish. Two things are obvious: First, last year’s Daniel and Elias storms in Thessaly, as well as Janos two years ago in the same region, have scared so much that their shadow hovers to this day over any situation that could even develop into something serious yes, but smaller. Secondly, no matter how technological means for weather forecasting have evolved, natural phenomena can always – even in some cases – deceive. Conclusion: we still monitor the weather forecast on a daily basis to determine our moves, but always in the back of our minds it’s good to have the possibility that things could turn out differently. Toward the milder or even toward the wilder.

The May of the arts

Thessaloniki hosts two important cultural events in May and the preparations are feverish. THE 20th International Book Fairwhich has included the city in the international events of the space, will take place May 16-19 at the TIF-Helexpo International Exhibition Center, while a few days later, May 23-26, at the same venue, the 7th Thessaloniki International Contemporary Art Fair comes for another year to give a dynamic presence to the visual events of Greece.

The 20th DEBTH brings to the city 850 exhibitors from 40 countries, over 1,500 Greek and foreign authors and expects more than 90,000 people to visit the 1,600 sq.m. its premises and attend its 600 events. This year’s honored country in the anniversary event is Sharjah, one of the seven Emirates and the spiritual center of the federal state of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The multitude of events focus on discussions on the art of the short story, the cultural ties of Greek and Arab civilization, but also on the influence of Greek philosophy on contemporary Arabic and Greek literature.

The program prepared by the artistic director of the Thessaloniki International Contemporary Art Fair, Pantelis Tsatsis, is correspondingly rich. Almost 80 galleries and projects from all over the world present their work with a special place this year for the Hellenic DIASPORA Foundation with works by Lucas Samaras, Chryssa, Takis, Lynda Benglis, Philolaos, Peter Voulkos, Stamos, Yiannis Bouteas, William Baziotes. Honored artist for this year is the internationally acclaimed painter, Opi Zouni, a great figure in the visual arts, while for the 4th year the MATAROA awards for young artists up to 33 years of age will be awarded, in collaboration with the Cultural Society of Entrepreneurs of Northern Greece.

So, in May, Thessaloniki wears its best and we buy books and works of art. Because culture is the great value of the country and at the same time the compass of everyone’s personal path.

Tango at the museum

Every weekend – or even almost every weekend – he plays itpaved nose in front of the entrance of the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki Turns into field of action for tango dancers, which are practiced under the sounds of a portable sound system. Both the environment of the specific point, and the fact that it remains invisible from the streets that surround it, make the entrance of the museum ideal for people who are passionate about the music and dance that characterize Argentina and has a lot in common in the fields of social references and endurance with our own rebetiko. The photo was taken on Saturday morning with the required discretion so as not to disturb the concentration and emotion of the dancers.