I’m back from a week in Athens, and what a week. Patricia and I have been visiting my sister who heads the Art of Living in Greece, and between touring all of Athens and catching some olympic actions, it’s kinda nice to be home again, so we can relax after our holiday :o)
The people of Athens are incredibly nice. We were met with smiles everywhere we went, at the olympic games, on the beaches and in the streets. They’s all friendly, kind an open.
There’s plenty to experience in Athens, and we made the most of it. The acropolis is beautiful of course, and evokes the concept of Greece as the birthplace of our culture. The food is excellent. How a greek salad (tomatoes, cucumber, feta and olives with a simple dressing of olive oil and vinegar) can taste so good is beyond me. We went to an outdoor cinema, and saw a greek movie (with english subtitles) under the starry sky, with the lights from the Acropolis just off to our left.
We went to a couple of beaches and swam in the aegean sea. We also got great tans :o) We walked the streets of Athens withut much of a plan, sitting down at a caf? for beer or coffee frapp?s whenever we got too hot. We always pack books, so we can take a reading break if we want.
We went to no less that six different sports events: Fencing, badminton, beach volley ball, athletics and two womens handball games. At one of the handball games I had the pleasure of teaching two american guys the basics of the sport. They worked as volunteers, got free tickets and had never seen a handball game before.
We even made a new greek friend, Nick, who let us stay in his home for a few nights. That’s the hospitality of the greeks for ya.
It’s been a great week, that’s given us a great feel for what the olympic games do for a city. My main question now is: How quickly can we get the games to Copenhagen?
