Author Archives
Alexander Billinis
The Merchant Marine: An Integral Part Of The Greek Identity
When pondering why Greeks are so involved in shipping, the answer seems obvious. A country of peninsulas and an archipelago, it is hardly a surprise that men of the Aegean have plied the waters of…
The Blessed Liberty Ships: The Yeast that Caused the Greek Fleet to Rise
I grew up in a family of Greek merchant sailors. My father, from Hydra, served in the Greek Navy and then the merchant marines, as did his father, grandfather, brother, cousins, and most of his…
The Battle Of The Atlantic: The Gruesome Tale The Numbers Tell Of Triumph And Tragedy
I have always been a textual type. I am a writer, a lawyer, and now a historian in training. I have always been text-heavy. Having said that, I have a business degree, I own part…
Taverna Nostalgia
Quite rightly, Greece is celebrated for her food, producing some of the tastiest dishes on the planet, and the most beautiful setting. While lacking the cachet of French or Italian food, Greece’s food fundamentals are…
Smederevo: Last Stand of Serbian Byzantium
Serbia is a small country, filled with so much history on so little land. This provides the traveler with ample opportunities to visit places of immense historical interest and importance, all within easy reach. In…
The Absent Byzantium
Late 1912, in a stormy Aegean lately thundering with the cannonades of the Greek and Turkish flotillas, a victorious Greek squadron sends marines ashore to the island of Lemnos, only recently under Turkish rule. With…
Mystra: Byzantium’s Indian Summer
Mystra figures less prominently in historical commentary and touristic itineraries than other Greek sites, but for profundity and for a true taste of sublime, understated beauty, it is peerless. Here is where Byzantium expired, yet…
Venice: Modern Greece’s First Diaspora
Diaspora is a Greek word, connoting a dispersion of seed or people. It is quite appropriate, as Greeks from time immemorial have left their shores. Greeks in America or Australia are part of a long…
Nostalgia for My Favorite Athens
I am not the greatest fan of Athens. Having lived and worked there for two years, I believe that my impression is based on the hard facts of daily life there. And yet, the city…
Hydra: Summers On My Father’s Isle
Permit me this nostalgic moment, recalling my late father, John Alexander Billinis, and his island, our beloved Hydra. I wrote this nearly ten years ago after my father passed away. When necessary, I will edit…
A Humble Taverna: Culinary Memories In Thessaloniki
It had been a long day, and, as often the case when traveling, and in Greece, a frustrating one. No doubt, for my then six-year-old son, sweating in his new PAOK soccer shirt in the…
Belgrade: Danubian Byzantium
Geography, so goes the saying, is destiny. Belgrade is a city founded by natural geography and political geography. A hilly salient at the confluence of two major rivers, the Danube and the Sava, Belgrade always…
