No Receipt, No Pay!

No receipt, No pay! Is a new way in which the Greek state is trying to reduce the "black" income of the companies by forcing them to register the real income they are making.

For example when you go to a coffee place, a tavern or even a supermarket, if they don't give you a receipt you are allowed to leave without paying. That is the official version. What they failed to mention is that generally, you receive the receipt after you pay so what you would actually need to do is ask for your money back. With the traditional and well known Greek temper though I don't see that negotiation going very well. 

What the politicians from this country haven't figured out yet or, even worse, they continue ignoring, is that there is no law in the world that Greeks can't find a way around to.

The law starts to have effects from the 12th of January 2013, meaning last Saturday. Businesses were testing their "way around" even from last year. Now, you will probably receive a receipt, so you won't be tempted to ask your money back but the value on the receipt will be, if you're lucky, one third of it. If you are vigilant and ask for explanations they will apologies and bring you your receipt or, even funnier, several receipts that other customers didn't take that add up to the sum of your order. 

The people though usually don't ask for receipts not to mention ask for their own receipts. That is why I believe that this law, for as nice and efficient as is could have been it's going to end up like the "smoking law". 

Like in all other European countries, smoking is forbidden in bars, coffee places and restaurants in Greece. The law exists, the fines are high, they even have a phone number where you can denounce places that allow smoking. What they don't have is someone to apply the law. And there is where the law becomes useless. 

The thing that is the hardest to change here but once changed it cold improve a lot of things is the mentality of people. Everything starts and ends there. For as long as they don't understand that they'll keep chasing around their tails. 

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Pankration the Ancient Greek Martial Art

The Spartans were never known as being the most friendly nor the most welcoming of people but they were known for being the best fighters among the Greek tribes. Their own existence evolved around wars and warfare in general so training for battle was their main activity. 

Pankration was called the martial art the they created that was later on introduced in the Olympic games. But since Spartans didn't know the meaning of "play" or "sport", their only aim being to kill, they weren't accepted in the Olympian fights. 

Don't think that the Olympian games were in any way soft. Death was part of the routine there also. There have even been a player who won the Olympic games post mortem. His opponent got him into a strangulation that he couldn't get out of, giving up was not an option since pride was a man's best value, so with his last strength he broke his opponents fingers. Pierced by the pain of broken bones the fighter gave up and the winner was declared... post mortem. They realized later on that, because of the suffixation, he died. 

So the Olympic games were a pretty serious thing, still, Spartans were not allowed. They had the general tendency of not playing well with others. 


The things we know today about Pankration are taken from literature sources or from paintings and sculptures. Unfortunately there is no continuance to Pankration to these day. Pankration was forbidden from practice by Emperor Theodosios in 393 along with the Olympic games. Most probably it hadn't been practiced ever since then.

The one who reintroduced Pankration to the world in the 1960' was Demetrios Arvanitis. He studied the techniques and introduced it as the first Mixed Martial Arts.

I found some youtube videos that I think is going to help you make an opinion about Pankration far better when whatever I would say.

This could also be interesting to see.

P.S Don't forget about the on going contest on the blog
Contest - Choose a T-shirt for "It's all Greek to Me"

A Ride with the Ambulance

The other day we were in traffic and we end up behind this ambulance. There was something different about it but at first I couldn't put my finger on what. 

The door was open and they were driving undisturbed. At the next street light we stopped and told them. The were totally unaware that they were driving with the ambulance door open. I can imagine the conversation they had when they closed the door: 

- Iani, wasn't there suppose to be a patient on our ambulance? 

- Eh, what can I say, maybe he felt better and went home!:)

The Ancient Olympic Games

Olympic Games - Wrestling

The Olympic games are thought to have started sometime around 778BC as a celebration in honor of Zeus, the god of thunders and ruler over the human kind. The event took place every four years and, it was the only opportunity to see the Spartan generals near the Athenian politicians going along with philosophers all over Greece. For just a few days the Hellenic world would forget about all their feuds and embrace sports as their common language.

The Sacred Truce was an understanding between Hellenic tribes to stop all wars during the Olympic games and to allow free passage to pilgrims on their way to Olympia. Nothing was above the Sacred Truce. That is why even Philip II, Alexander the Great's father, well known for his temper agreed to pay a huge fine for disturbing the pilgrims that were considered to be sacred. Also, that is why King Leonidas was left alone with only 300 of his men to withstand the Persian invasion.

Olympic Games - Chariot Race

Greeks being of a very competitive nature, winners were not reworded with wealth as you might expect but with a simple olive wreath. What they would win though is social status. A winner at the Olympic games would obtain the right (socially speaking)  to merry a rich woman, he would be invited to feasts, get free meals or lodging. He would be the now days equivalent of a TV star. People would look up to him and everything he would touch would turn to gold (not literally of course - King Midas is another story)

At these events,  women were not allowed to participate or even to watch  but that doesn't mean that they did not come to the event. Pompous carriages, fatuous dresses and sparkling jewelry, they would do anything to impress. As Indro Montanelli says in his book " The History of the Greeks", women came there to be seen rather then to see. Around the close gates of the arena there was the today's equivalent of a Luna Park. From taverns to jugglers, from boutiques to street vendors you would find anything you could think of.

Regarding the women not being allowed in the arena...Well, there was one  exception. A mother who disguised herself as a man in order to see her son fight in the ring of the sports arena. Her happiness  gave her away though when her son won the olive wreath and she was taken away in order to be killed since that was an offense punishable by death. The story says that Hercules himself appeared to defend her since she was descendent from his family. She was not executed but as a result of this incident all spectators from the arena had to attend the events naked. That way there would be no chance of disguise. Simple problem, simple solution:) 

Stadium Entrance Olympia

The ancient Olympic games came to an end in 393 AD through a decree of Emperor Theodosios I. Since the Romans adopted Christianity as their official religion they tried to discourage and later even outlawed any form of pagan ceremony. And since the Olympic games were mainly a religious event being dedicated to Zeus it has been abolished. Olympia fell into decline and what was left of it was destroyed by the Romans in 486 AD through a decree given by Theodosios II.

An interesting thing that, I believe, is worth mentioning before the end is that the Marathon was never part of the ancient Olympic games. It comes from the battle of Marathon (490BC) in which the Greeks have won against the Persians. Pheidippides who was a courier by profession ran more than 40km from Marathon to Athens to bring the news of victory. Νικωμεν (nikomen - meaning "we won") was his last word. After that he collapsed and died. The was the first one to run the Marathon but he was also the only Marathon winner who did not enjoy the spoils of victory.