AMONG the few great churches of the Byzantine civilization to be found in modern Greece one is, surprisingly, on the Cycladic island of Paros. During Byzantine times, Greece was merely an impoverished outpost of the great empire centered around Constantinople.
WHAT’S the weather?’ A likely one-word answer is, ‘Fisai”. It’s blowing.
The White Pelican, a scarce species declining in numbers, is a large impressive waterbird, with long thick beak, flesh-coloured, four-toed, webbed feet, and well-preened glittering white plummage. These birds swim gracefully in the water, then lift to fly in long lines, soaring at great heights and showing black beneath a wide wing. They are an enthralling sight, and one would travel far to see them.
The best — in fact almost the only—place to see them is in northern Greece. But it is a diminishing species, for it requires a specialized habitat less and less common in Europe: marshland, swamp, and delta. Obviously, strong conservational measures are called for if the White Pelican is to be preserved for the delight and education of succeeding generations. Such a movement is active in Greece, and one of its brightest lights is Byron Antipas.
