"Trouble in Paradise"

On Wednesday night (July 10th) a sudden , out of nowhere, terrifying hail storm, hit Halkidiky peninsula , leaving seven dead people, dozens of others injured , and  huge damage.   According to the locals it was an "unprecedented phenomenon", "a weather bomb". Halkidiki (also spelt Chalkidiki), near the greek town of Thesaloniki - is popular for its beaches and hotels, so most of the casualties were tourists.

There were no specific warning signs which could enable alertness and preparedness (except, perhaps, a hint from the unusual heat waves Europe is going through now). 
That's the worst case scenario - bad things happening suddenly like with earthquakes. Is this the big news of Climate Change? Sudden, abrupt, deadly? 

The above piece of news reminds me of a conversation I once had with a farmer living under the Vesuvium volcano. The authorities, he believed, were keeping an eye on the volcano's activity and constantly planning  the safety of the local farmers. Well, nowadays, with all this climate change, the volcano might erupt suddenly and forcefully, 'forgetting' to give any signs of its intentions to the  monitoring authority...

on the edge of the Vesuvio crater

Anyway, we should pay attention to these  places: islands and peninsulas; this is where climate change is and will be seen at its worst.

An Unsolved WW 2 Mystery

It wasn't there two years ago when I visited the spot. 
I  went nearer to contemplate it. No inscription. So, for a change, that was no memorial of some kind,  just an environmental exibit made of stone and marble. Beautiful. 
Behind it,  a bakery/ coffee shop with chairs and tables outside. There were no customers because of the heat. I couldn"t even take some decent pictures because of the strong sun.

face and back (identical) of the exhibit

sides (identical) of the exhibit

empty chairs at the coffee shop

At the far end of the street, however, there was the monument dedicated to the swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg who had rescued thousands of people (mostly hungarian jews)  from the Holocaust. The street was named after him: a long, busy street in a respectable, high-tech tel avivian neighborhood called 'Atidim' ('Futures').

statue with face overlooking  Raoul Wallenberg street

Nearby, a beautiful park with a lot of facilities.  (There is a park on the opposite side of the street too).

park (toilets)

The monument (unveiled in June 2002)  looked rather gloomy. The diplomat's fate was also gloomy. 74 years after his disappearance in 1945, and nobody knows for sure what has happened to him.

jogger from the park approaching the back of the statue

monument seen from across the street

Many cities in the world (New York, Budapest, London, Buenos Aires,) have erected statues in his memory. However, little was done by the world to search for him. It was convenient for them all to  accept the theory  that he had died in a soviet prison.

Only two swedish women - his sister Nina and his niece Nane Annan (the wife of Kofi Annan , the african  from Ghana,  former UN general secretary) spared no effort to try and find the truth. Apparently with no success. ׂ(his half brother Guy van Dardel and   two US - based researchers should also be mentioned).
His disappearance in January 1945, remains one of the unsolved mysteries of World War 2.