Greece

Stamatis picked us up at 10:30 AM and we headed to Glyfada to see if the Hotel Rial, where fortune brought us together 44 years ago, was still there. At that time Stamatis, still in his teens, was the night clerk as he attended university during the day. My brother Michael and I shared a room and my parents shared another next to it. We were not far from the lobby. As Stamatis tells it, it was after mid night and he heard rather scuffling, loud laughter and giggling coming from our room. Worrying that it would disturb the other guests he came to our door and asked us nicely to quiet down. Simple as his request may have seemed to him there was a small but daunting problem. We had just flown to Greece from California and there was a 10-hour time difference. As far as our bodies were concerned, it was 12 noon not mid night. Stamatis ended up entertaining us for several nights until our sleep patterns synced up to our new time zone. My parents were very grateful and thought Stamatis was great. An uncommonly lasting friendship was born.

Today being Thursday meant that Stamatis could not drive through the city since in Athens the number on your license plate regulates which days you can drive in the city center. Actually, it worked out well because we had a very pretty drive around the city to Glyfada. When we got to Glyfada we took the King George Highway which is the road that ran in front of the Hotel Rial. He had not been back to look for it since he had stopped working there shortly after that. Since that time the two lane road had been widened and there were tall Eucalyptus trees in the median separating the outgoing and incoming lanes. We were on the outgoing side (heading away from Athens) and the hotel would be on the incoming side. Stamatis sensing he was close, needed to get to the other side. The problem appeared to be the “No U-turn” signs, but I’ve learned in Greece those are merely suggestions. We made the U-turn and went half a block, even after 44 years, I immediately recognized the hotel. Interestingly although it is still the Rial, it now serves a new purpose, Home for the Elderly. No wise cracks!

After experiencing our moment we visited a shopping plaza and where Stamatis treated us to café and then to a delicious lunch, of meatballs, fried potatoes and Greek salad, at the famous George’s Steak House.
I ate in this same restaurant, as boy the only difference was that it is much bigger and nicer now.

Following lunch Stamatis drove us back to our hotel. He was going on to Kimi. Phyllis and I walked up to a local mini mart and picked up a liter bottle of Coke Light and Liter bottle of Mineral water. We returned to hotel to chill, eat snacks and watch a movie. Tomorrow we intend to hit a museum or two and shop for the grand kids.

The whirring and sputtering of motor bikes and honking of horns heralded the new day. I awoke refreshed and switched on the television to see if Athens had burned during the night while I slept. I switched through all of the channels including CNN and learned that although Milan had been victorious hitting the net twice (once more than Liverpool) in what was touted to be a very competitive match up, the riot Stamatis had feared did not follow. There were some problems even before the game started due to a few Liverpool fans trying to enter the stadium with counterfeit tickets. Based on the condition I saw a number of the fans in I have no doubt some enterprising less than honorable person through the magic of Photo Shop who was willing to give them a reasonable looking hope for a very unreasonable price. To bad they weren’t a bit more sober because then they could probably have used the real tickets belonging to their comrades who were deemed by the police to drunk to enter the stadium. My theory about the lack of a riot by these very rabid fans is that they were so drunk by the time the game ended that they could barely walk let alone riot. I’m glad there was no real trouble as there are quite a lot ruins in Athens as it is and I doubt we can see them all in the time we have anyway.

Disaster averted Phyllis and I had our coffee and tea, dressed and went for a 45-minute walk run through the neighborhood around the hotel. Upon returning I tried unsuccessfully to upload the blog update I’d written last night and some of the pictures we had taken our first day before. As I’ve yet to explain, the hotel’s wireless internet access has decidedly put the emphasis on “less”. All of you that know me well know that I’m not brimming with patience, but in this case I have had to yield to my situation. So, this morning I was still unsuccessful, but later this afternoon I did get some pictures to upload and I almost got Phyllis’s update from yesterday loaded. Maybe tomorrow I can find an internet café or something.

An early morning call at 8:00am found us not quite ready to relinquish the night, but alas, our tour guide Stamatis had grand plans to spend the day in Athens soaking in the sights and the history.
As we left the hotel, it was clear from the overcast sky that the weather for out of doors sightseeing might be dicey at best. Rising up from the bowels of the metro under the main city we heard a low rolling thunder which we thought was the forbearance of pending storms. As the light of day from above grew stronger so did the thunderous noise rising and falling in crescendos. I thought that it might be the welcoming of the Gods for their wandering son, Herby (as Pete is known to Stamatis) who had at long last returned from his Odyssey. Alas, it was only the throngs of thousands of Liverpool football fans chanting their pre-game rallying songs while spraying their robust red clad bellies with beer, Heineken only, if you please.

Later the real storms did come forcing us to dash for any cover we could find sharing the shelter of doorways and awnings among swaggering beer swilling, Liverpool fans who were speaking completely incoherent English and uttering strings of obscenities such as a sailor’s daughter has never heard before. Apparently in Liverpool all sentences both begin and end with F**k or F**ken. Determined to reach the Acropolis we forged ahead crossing against rain gorged gutter rapids and the rapidly moving pedestrian and motorized traffic, all of which seemed to flow incessantly. The later ignoring all signals and attempts by the police to control or direct them. Atop the Acropolis the sun finally broke through and sanity seemed to reign as even the sulliest of fans stood in awe of the Parthenon, the Temples, and the incredible views of the surrounding city.

After hours of hiking, climbing, and gawking we finally found respite at a café where we dined on Moussaka and lamb. Struggling to find our legs we once again headed back to the city stopping along the way for Haagen Das to fortify us as we dove into the belly of the beast (aka the metro) as the football fans were all trying to get through the same area enroute to the stadium.

Thankfully, once we maneuvered the throngs at the metro station we headed off in the opposite direction of the cheering, beer swilling crowds to our peaceful hotel and blissful sleep.
By Phyllis

Our first day in Greece has ended. Stamatis dropped us back off at our hotel about 30 minutes ago at about 12:30 AM (May 23rd). Here is a brief recap.

At 4:45 PM last evening, we took off from the Atlanta airport aboard the Delta jumbo jet. I must tell you, Business Class, which is actually 1st class when you are on a transatlantic flight, is quite the bomb. We enjoyed wonderful spacious seats, gourmet style meals and quite a lot of attention from the well-trained attendants. Our seats reclined almost fully and the leg supports came up so they were nearly bed like (pretty nice on a 10 hour flight). We each had our own TV monitor allowing us to view current on demand movies, documentaries, and TV shows. We could also listen to a variety of music or even play some video games. On another Monitor on the cabin bulkhead displayed a constant update showing our planes location altitude, distance, ground speed, etc. I really cannot say enough about how terrific our experience was. Oh yeah, poor Phyllis lost the last 7 hours of her birthday. At 5:05 PM, the pilot advised us all to reset our watches for Athens time, 12:05 AM, May 22.

At 10:30 AM, we arrived about 15 minutes early to the gate in the Athens Airport. By about 11:15 AM we had passed through customs, immigration and picked up our bags. As we walked out of the containment area, my old friend Stamatis immediately greeted us. We followed up with warm hugs and introductions. Helping us with our bags, Stamatis took us to his car and carried us to the hotel he had arranged for us, Park Hotel.

We checked in, carried our bags to our room, and hurried off to a nearby square Eeyeea Paraskavie (Saint Paraskavie, we’ll worry about spelling later). There we had had some delicious fruit smoothies and lunch. We spent about three hours chatting and catching up. About 3:00 PM Stamatis dropped us off at the hotel and we each caught a catnap. At 7:30 PM Stamatis picked us back up and we headed down town to central Athens and an area called Plaka. To get there we took the new Metro, which is excellent. Tomorrow Athens is the host for a big football (soccer) championship between Liverpool England and Italy. We walked through a huge crowd of Liverpool fans who were well into the party mood. We managed to make it through there just before they began pouring beer on each other. During our walk through this very charming area we could see wonderful glimpses of the Acropolis high above us. Since they do a very good job of lighting it I attempted a picture or two. About 9:45 PM, we sat down at taverna Stamatis recommended and had a very nice dinner. Dinner was very pleasant in spite of about eight thoroughly drunk and obnoxious Liverpool fans sitting next to us for about the first 45 minutes. After dinner we made our way back to the square we visited for lunch and had some delicious deserts. For the next part it’s important to mention that we dined outside at each of these places, because at 12:00 AM they turned out the lights and closed. About 10 Minutes later our waiter brought us some water and collected for the deserts. It was time to get some sleep. Back at the Plaka I can assure you the night life was in full swing. Greeks and apparently obnoxious Liverpool football fans love to party! Well that’s about it got to catch some shut-eye.