A big part of the trip to Greece involved driving to the various archeological sites, and since they are literally everywhere in the country, we were in the bus for long stretches of time, as many as eight hours’ total one day.
As we left the insanity of Athens and drove into the mountains, and later down along the coastline, I noticed a veritable plethora of signs like the one shown above. Astute readers will no doubt notice the similarity in shape and color to the N.T.A.B. logo. This was no accident.
Greece, given its extreme age, is no stranger to war and conflict, and considering that it played host to actual gods, goddesses, and various world-ending monsters of old, it only stands to reason that they’ve been making apocalypse bunkers for centuries. I mean, it’s obvious, once you think about it. At least it was to me.
Our bus driver, Kostas, and our tour guide, Mike, both feigned ignorance when I questioned them about this. *Wink* Right, guys. I get it. It’s all got to stay hush-hush, in case the Turks get any funny ideas again.
Left to my own devices, I had no choice but to try and make sense of so many signs. I finally came to the conclusion that they were warning signs for other Greeks, so no one would go blundering into a stranger’s apocalypse bunker. That can be embarrassing.
I tried to take as many photos as I could. It was difficult, because Kostas refused to cooperate with me when I screamed, “Stop the bus! I want to take a picture of that road sign!” On the plus side, I learned what the word malaka means. Instead of showing you a bunch of blurry photos of these signs, I used a little Google-fu to get clean images. They are paired with my explanations of what each warning sign means. If you’re traveling abroad, study up on this; it could save your life one day!
Many of these signs were paired with other signs for additional information, such as the example below. Clearly, Greece may well be the most prepared country in the world. I’m tempted to quote that old chestnut about planning for war makes peace, or whatever it is. In any case, I hope you’ve enjoyed this glimpse into European Bunker Culture.
