Om en door den Peloponnesus De Aarde en haar Volken, 1909

Stepping onto Athenian soil as a newly‑appointed attaché, the narrator is overwhelmed by a landscape where the shattered grandeur of marble temples sits beside a stark, almost desert‑like Attica. The light of the eastern sun paints the ruins in shifting hues of rose, gold and violet, while the barren hills and dry riverbeds speak of a land both timeless and austere. He feels the ancient past pressing against the modern city’s quiet cafés, where the scent of bitter coffee mixes with the heat of the stone streets.

In the bustling port of Piraeus the city lives like an open agora: locals gather over coffee and water, newspapers change hands, and animated debates rise over politics, borders and everyday grievances. The chatter is as vivid as the surrounding sea, and the locals urge him to leave the capital’s dryness for the lush, tree‑laden valleys of the Peloponnese. Enticed by their invitation, he secures a short leave and prepares to board a ferry, eager to discover a Greece that promises both wild nature and untouched ruins.