Thursday Thirteen #5: Random facts about Greece

Tomorrow we leave for two weeks of sea, sun and sand on the Greek island of Corfu, so this week's theme had to be Greek. Here are thirteen random facts ...

1. The Greek name for Greece is Ellas or Ellada (pronounced Ell-ah-tha)

2. The Greek prime minister is Konstantinos Karamanlis, leader of the Nea Demokratia (New Democracy) party.

3. Greek soldiers can wear skirts and pom-poms on their feet and still manage to look military.

4. The Greek sewage system cannot handle toilet paper :(.

5. Do not dither when waiting to disembark from a Greek ferry. You might find yourself being carried off to the next destination.

6. In 2002 the Euro became the Greek currency, after 3000 years of using the drachma.

7. Greece is the only place I have stood inside the crater of a volcano. To be honest, it is the only place I have ever seen a volcano.

8. Never, ever, go to Athens in August. The Athenians don't - they migrate somewhere cooler and less polluted.

9. The tallest mountain in Greece is Mount Olympus. Yes, it is real.

10. In the Greek Orthodox Church the sign of the Cross is made in the opposite direction to the practice in the Roman Catholic Church (touching the right shoulder before the left, instead of left, then right).

11. The population of Greece is just over 11 million. Over a quarter of the population lives in Athens.

12. Corfu is said to have over 3 million olive trees.

13. The Greek for "Good morning" (kalimera) sounds rather like the Greek for a certain marine animal (kalamari). Greeks are very polite, so when accosted by tourists with a cheery greeting of "squid!" they will smile sweetly and not point out the error.