A series of pictures and factoids for Create's NaJoPoMo Challenge.

It's amazing what changes, and what doesn't. That picture was taken in 1901.

Monistiraki hasn't changed a whole lot. Okay, they probably have cybercafés now. And the dresses are shorter. Okay, and they sell more t-shirts. T-shirts with dumb sayings on them, like, 'Then ksero tipota, it's all Greek to me', and 'Retisna dancing'. Some of these slogans were suggested by drunken students on spring break.

But people have been selling things in Monistiraki since the days of Pericles. And you can still buy a genuine replica clay vase, complete with naughty silhouettes.

Go around the corner, and you can get some gyros me pita, and a fresh salata horiatiki. Wash it down with some retsina. And you'll be eating essentially the same meal as an ancient Greek Olympian. The only foods they've added in 2,000+ years are tomatoes, potatoes, and coffee. I can live with that.

And they'll still give you a special discount if you're the first customer of the day.

One thing that Pericles didn't build: the metro. But he left all those cats there. If the sun's not too high, you'll see about fifty cats on the tin roof over part of the station.

Mediterranean people love cats. It was those Egyptians. All of those Greek cats are descended from kidnapped Egyptian cats. Back in ancient times, the Egyptians would send a strike force to recover kidnapped cats. It was illegal to export them, under pain of the death penalty. In fact, enemy armies were known to defeat Egyptian forces by the sneaky trick of releasing kittehs onto the battlefield. The Egyptians would fold, rather than risk injury to the sacred moggies.

This explains why Greek cats have such a superior attitude towards the ubiquitous Greek Brown Dog. They're special, and they know it.

Enjoy your souvlaki. And share with the cats!