One of the nicest old gardens in Addis Ababa on the premise of the Greek Club has a decent restaurant and balconies that offer sightseeing to the tennis as well as the basketball courts. It is a great place to go with kids as it has an old playground in the back of the basketball court. Good place to hang out with the family on the weekend, as expressed by the current Greek Ambassador to Ethiopia Nikolas Patakias.
Initially, the aim of the association of Olympiakos (Greek Club) is absolutely for athletic privileges through several competitions. The Greek club coordinates such sport festivals and cultural shows. It hosts open spaces competition.
So, we can focus very far for cheaper ways to get relaxed. But what is also facinating is the foods, the greenery, the basketball courts and the stunning view. It looks for continuous functioning all the time and for cultural presentations. It is also the right place where at least people of different originality can come and have recreations.
That was what I had been doing the last four years during my tenure to enhance the Greek Club as part of the extension of my diplomatic activities in Ethiopia, added the Ambassador in an exclusive interview with The Ethiopian Herald.
The first purpose was to promote Olympic experiences. Olympiakos means Olympian symbolically where sports are held. So it is like the Olympic Games. Its proposals were treatments irrespective of where one comesfrom, what one’s color is, what onebeliefs are or one’s political affiliations.
In the Greek Club, there are restaurants and a cafeteria that prepare European and local foods and beverages. So anyone can go there for cultural night, including weekends. And those are some of the important allurements to present
“Both Ethiopia and Greek cherish their oldest relation that starts from the Name Ethiopia (a Greek Name) and Orthodox Christianity. There is a bulk ancient history about the two.”
something, especially the sort of having lanes by plans. It motivatesnationals of other countries to share cultural shows.
The Club is helpful to boost cultural diplomacy of both countries, stated Ambassador Patakias.
“I like sitting there on terrace watching the greenery, children playing, happy people dinning. What I had had was a very delicious fish goulash and I was able to take excellent veggies as side dish. Only 180 Birr (net). Also good lasagne with aubergines,” Jakub Warszawa a visitor from Warsaw, Poland twitted after visiting the Greek in Addis Ababa.
Nice, but very sweet crème caramel with orange syrup. The menu is rich. The long catalogue proposes both Greek and Italian food, among some Ethiopian specialties. The ambiance and atmosphere is simple, with a big dining room. Cooking is good but not what I tasted best in Addis Ababa. The service is welcoming, and the prices are correct, another visitor Kedest A, from Sydney gave her witness.
The place is unique that one can spend many hours. If one wants to experience the happiness of lifeone has to go there.
The are also special events.On such occassionsn TV shows of musician are presented and Magazines are made available besides public lectures that bring together an ample number of people from both sides (Ethiopia and Greek) in the interest of furthering cultural and people-to-people diplomacy.
In addition to the Club, there is the Greek school. It is one of the two best schools in Addis Ababa, as to the Ambassador. Students stay there, learn, eat and live for free.
Both Ethiopia and Greek cherish their oldest relation that starts from the Name Ethiopia (a Greek Name) and Orthodox Christianity. There is a bulk ancient history about the two.
Historical ties
The ancient historical ties of Ethiopia and Greek according to Diodorus Siculus (1B 37), is dated back to the period Ptolemy II sent an expedition to Ethiopia (perhaps around 270BC), not just in an effort to conquer but to find out more information, as Diodorus claims that no Greek had reached so far to the south.
Diodorus’ claim is contradictory as he also mentions several examples of famous ancient Greeks that debated matters regarding Ethiopia, most notably the source of the Nile and its floods.
Anaxagoras the poet declared that the cause of the rising of the Nile river is the melting snow in Ethiopia. His pupil Euripides the poet agreed and added a reference to this to one of his works.
Democritus of Abdera, who was reputed to have travelled to Ethiopia and India, claimed that Ethiopia had the tallest mountains of the world.
Agatharchides of Cnidus tried to explain the phenomenon of regular Nile floods based on seasonal rains in Ethiopia.
Following Ptolemy Philadelphus’ expedition, Ptolemaic Egypt had trade relations with the Ethiopian kingdoms and Ethiopian mercenaries served in the Ptolemaic armies, according to Greece AuthorEvangelos Lolos.
Specific mentions of territories corresponding to modern day Ethiopia were much later. For example, the 1st century AD Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, written by a Greek inhabitant of Roman Egypt, mentions the Kingdom of Aksum as a major trade centre specialising in the sale of ivory goods.
The Ethiopian Herald July 14, 2019
BY HAFTU GEBREZGABIHER
