Welcome December

I can't believe it is already December!  These last 3 months have really flown by.  I feel lucky that we have had the chance to see so much since we have been here and I know the next 4 months that I am here are going to be even more packed with activities.  I go home on Monday and am so excited, but sad to leave Brian.  The house will be very quiet without Marco and I!  He will either love it or hate it :-).  The town has decorated the streets and shops for Christmas time and I love it.  Some of the apts. also hang decorations from their balconies.  I love this time of year!

This past weekend Brian's team played a team from Crete.  They needed to win, and by a lot, so I think everyone was a little nervous.  Fotis came up to me before the game and said, we need to be up 10-5 from the very beginning.  I was sure the boys could do it.  It turned out to be very close to 10-5 and they won 13-7.  Brian scored 4 goals and pretty much dominated the whole game!  He and some other players missed some shots, so they could have been up even more, but Brian definitely showed everyone what he was capable of.  It was an exciting game!  This Saturday is going to be the biggest game of the year against their rival NEP.  I think the stands will be packed.  Keep your fingers crossed that NOP wins!

There was also a street fair in front of the big cathedral.  It was the anniversary of the crucifixion of the Saint of the Cathedral so there was some sort of celebration.  We walked down the fair where they were selling everything from toys to jewelry to candy.  It was right in front of the park where we tried to take Marco the week before and this time there were other people there with their little dogs, so I got excited.  We let him run around for a bit, he mostly just wanted to roll around in the grass :-).  On Monday he got his final shots and his pet passport for the big trip!  He also got a micro-chip put in him b/c they require that here.  The needle was HUGE and I felt so bad for him!  I couldn't look.  Luckily Brian was brave and held on to him.  I just heard him yelp but then he was ok.  But now he is registered here in Greece and he is legal!  He will be quite the little traveling companion :-).

Our Thanksgiving Feast!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  We decided to try to make our own Thanksgiving feast.  A guy on Brian's team's dad actually has a turkey farm but we couldn't get one that was small enough to fit in our oven so we decided to use a whole chicken instead.  We spent a couple of hours Wed. at the big grocery store here deciding what else we should make.  I found a recipe online for Potato Gratin that I thought I could find all the ingredients for then we decided to wing a stuffing and stuff our chicken like a turkey :-).  I found  a really simple stuffing recipe online but we couldn't find half the ingredients so I made it up basically.  I spent most of the day cooking and it actually all turned out really good!  My favorite was the stuffing. Brian brought home a really good apple pie and we successfully had a Thanksgiving meal in Greece :-).  

Happenings this week

I haven't written much lately b/c ever since we got the pup we haven't gone on any exciting trips so if I write once a week I can pretty much sum up what we did :-).  This past week was fun b/c the two Slovakian players on Brian's team had their girlfriends here visiting so I got to hang out with them.  You see me in the picture with them above.  The one in the middle is Romana (Josef's gf) and she is from Croatia and is so nice and speaks really good english.  She made me really want to go to Croatia, it sounds so beautiful there.  The one on the right is Nika (Michel's gf) and she lives in Slovakia and is much quieter but also very nice.  The boys left on Fri. to go to Athens to play their game so Maria took us to W for dinner.  The food there is sooo good and as you can see so is the dessert!  We definitely enjoyed ourselves and I left Marco home alone for 5hrs (the longest he has been alone!) and he was not happy when I got back.  Oh well, he has to learn.  On Sat. Maria, Romana and I walked around the shops and it started to pour rain so we sat and had a coffee while the boys were in Athens playing Panathanaikos.  They lost, unfortunately, but Brian said there were around 1000 people at the game screaming, banging drums, and basically creating chaos and making it so loud the boys couldn't even hear themselves talk to each other in the water.  He made it sound like it was a big distraction.  Hopefully they will beat them when they play them home!  Our fans aren't as crazy, that I've seen yet, but maybe we will gain more as the season continues.  This Sat. is a home game against Chamia and the boys are due for a win!

We have been trying to find a park for Marco to run around in.  He is small and a few sprints down our hallway tires him out but he still deserves to be outside in the grass.  We are learning that the manicured lawns here are few and far between.  You don't even see any lawns in front of any of the houses.  There is dirt everywhere, or cement.  There is a park right by our house that is fenced in and everything, would be perfect, but we quickly learned that we were not allowed to bring him in there.  There is another nice park by the sea but it is full of creepy refugees and stray dogs.  It is right by NOP's pool so one day Brian and I walked along the boardwalk there and let Marco play a little in the grass on his leash.  It is a beautiful location and they really could make so much more out of it but it seems like the refugees have taken over any locations perfect for relaxing and hanging out, since that is all they do all day, that and chase trucks on to the ferries.  We eventually had to pick him up though b/c we unintentionally made friends with a stray who followed us most of the way.  We let them sniff each other but Marco hasn't finished all of his shots so he isn't supposed to play with the potentially diseased.

On Mon. we decided to just drive up into the hills to see if we could find any open land for him to run.  It was an interesting adventure.  Up in the hills is where the nicer homes are supposed to be but you see a lot of construction, a lot of unfinished construction, so there is trash and dirt and noise everywhere.  We climbed pretty much as high as we could go and found a tilled farm that had some grass and Marco had fun getting muddy in that.  On our way back down the hill we ran into this guy in the top picture shepherding his flock.  It was pretty cool to see.  Just down the middle of the road.  Quite an authentic Greek moment :-).

1st Game against Panionios

This Saturday Brian finally had his first official league match!  Luckily for me it was a home game and they played the second best team in the league, Panionios.  All the boys have been anticipating this day for almost three months now!  I also have been anxiously waiting for the season to start.  The two Slovakian player's girlfriends are here so the three of us (and Marco) went to coffee before the game while the boys were together gearing up for the match.  I drove us to the pool and hesitantly brought the puppy, but it turned out fine, nobody said anything (at least not to my face) and he was quiet and well-behaved the whole match.  

The game started out great.  The first quarter Brian's team was up two goals.  Brian played an aggressive defense and got kicked out twice in the first quarter but he scored an amazing goal.  After that though they seemed to get a little disorganized and started to get scored on.  They ended up losing 11-13 but against the second best team in the league it proves that they can hold their own!  Brian scored two great goals and I think the overall attitude after the game was relief that they didn't get their butts kicked and an elevated sense of capability.  I think it was a great way to start off the season.  They definitely have the ability to beat this team and I think they will prove this the next time around!

It is getting MUCH colder here AND we don't have our heat turned on yet.  I heard that there has to be three cold days in a row before they turn the heat on in the buildings.  I think this is the third day of what I consider cold so I hope they turn the heat on soon!  I sit in the house in my winter coat.  Especially since we have to leave the door open so that Marco will go potty outside (even though he is still struggling a bit at this skill).  He is getting much better at being on the leash and we have taken him out a couple of times to run around and get some exercise.  After about 20mins he tires out though, a little running goes a long way for a little pup.  We even left him home alone today for the first time, for about 2hrs, and when we came home there was no evidence of a panic attack so that was great news!  So far he has been great!

Next weekend Brian travels to Athens for his next game.  This week we are just staying warm and playing with our new toy, Marco.  He is lots of fun :=).

New bundle of joy

Not a lot has happened this week.....mainly because one BIG thing happened, and that is we got a PUPPY!  Yes, mom and dad you can curse now but after much deliberation we decided to get one.  We had been talking about it for some time, and while getting a puppy might not have been the most responsible decision of our lives it sure has been special.  His name is Marco, he is about 7 weeks now and he is either an Italian Spinone or a Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, or some sort of mix between them maybe?  There is a pet shop that we often pass on our walks because it is on one of my favorite streets here and we always peek in to see the puppies.  We almost took another one home a while back but I talked Brian out of it because it was much larger.  This time though I knew when he called me to meet him there that it was going to be a struggle to talk him out of this one.  On the phone he said, "Where are you?  If you don't get here soon I'm just going to buy him."  So of course when I walked in the shop and saw this ADORABLE face laying in Brian's arms like a baby I fell in love as well.  We were in the shop for about 2hrs discussing it.  How big will he get?  Will we be able to bring him on the plane?  What about the costs?  etc. etc. etc.  The pet owner even let us take him to a vet to get a quick physical to make sure he was healthy before making any decisions.  She told us he was a Spignoli Griffon mix and was a mini dog and would only get to be about 5kilos (about 10-15lbs I think).  So neither one of us wanted to say no, and he was becoming more and more part of the family with us standing there holding him so I finally said OK!  I've had several panic attacks since then, mostly about the worry of taking him on the flight all the way home more then once, but he is young and resilient and I am sure he will be fine.  So after much research we could not find any type of breed called a Spignoli (only Spinone) and Griffons are small weird looking dogs that look nothing like Marco (yet Spinones are also known as Griffons) and so we are utterly confused on his breed.  There are breeds called American Wirehaired Pointing Griffons that I think look a lot like him and Italian Spinones also look similar so we are guessing he is one of them (I think they are pretty much the same dog).  That scares us a little though because those dogs can get up to 60lbs...so I'm wondering where the mini comes from ....?!  Anyways, he is part of the family now and he has been wonderful!  He listens and is cuddly and loving and is learning to sleep in his crate (he slept for 8hrs straight without a peep last night!!  We were so proud :-).  He is pretty good about pooping and peeing outside on the newspaper...he's had some accidents but luckily we have tile floors so we wipe it up and it's like it never happened.  Yesterday he got his first round of shots so we thought we would celebrate with a day out on the leash.....but that didn't go so well.  He wouldn't move so Brian more kind of dragged him for a few feet and then we gave up.  I think it was a lot to take in at once...I'm sure he'll learn.

Well that is the excitement in our life right now.  Brian has his first real game tomorrow (YAY!).  We hope Marco will be a great traveling dog so we can take him on some of our adventures in the future!

Nafplio

A lot has happened in the last week (including a futbol game where there was a HUGE fight in the stands) but most importantly was our trip to Nafplio.  Nafplio is one of Greek's prettiest and most romantic towns (according to my lonely planet tourist book).  Brian had been here in 2001 with the Junior National Team and fell in love with it so he wanted to share  it with me, and I of course fell in love with it as well!  It is located on a small port on the east side of the Peloponnese, about 2hrs away from Patra.  We pulled out my book and found a pension they recommended so we headed straight there when we got into town hoping they would have a room available at such late notice.  Luckily they did and the receptionist was so jolly and friendly he instantly put me in a great mood.  The pension was called Pension Marianna and sits way up on the hill so our room had this magnificent view of the town and the water.  We could even walk out the back and look up to another magnificent view of the breathtaking fortress up on the tip top of the mountain.  After dropping our stuff we immediately hit the streets and went for a little walk.  The town is graced with attractive narrow streets filled with adorable shops and restaurants.  We instantly saw the Museum of Komboloi and we got excited.  The Komboloi are the worry beads that all of the Greek men flop around their hands when sitting at coffee or at a futbol game or just chatting with their friends.  It is a very Greek custom and we were intrigued.  Brian even entertained the idea of getting one but I kind of talked him out of it since it is such a Greek custom and well....we aren't Greek :-).

Nafplio was the first capital of Greece after Independence and has been a major port since the Bronze Age.  Despite its relatively small size it built three fortresses to protect its strategic position.  We visited two of these magnificent fortresses.  The first you can see in the pictures sits on a small islet and is called Bourtzi.  We took a little boat out there on our first day to explore.  The views of the sea and back towards the town are beautiful.  The second fortress is called the Palamidi fortress and is located 216m up on top of a rock overlooking the town (you can kind of see it behind Brian and I in the picture).  It was built by the Venetians between 1711 and 1714, and is regarded as a masterpiece of military architecture.  It is VERY intimidating but the minute we got to Nafplio we decided, we are going to do the walk.  There are two options of getting to the top of this fortress, one is walking the 999 steps to the top, the second option is driving.  Of course, us being our young energetic selves decided we were going to walk.  After all, you can always drive up there but someday we will not be able to make the walk!  So we decided to leave that for our second day, for the morning when it wasn't quite so hot.  After a large lunch our first day and a short nap we had dessert and some coffee on the water and hit the sack, gearing up for our big adventure.

We woke up kind of questioning our decision to make the walk, after all we had our very own car and we could zip right up to the top, even though I argued our car had the potential to zip right back downwards unannounced........so we eventually motivated, after our small pension breakfast (still no pancakes, omelettes or strawberry/banana smoothies we crave).  So off we went beginning the ascent.  Supposedly the number of actual steps is up for debate, so naturally Brian decided to count all of them.  Once we began I was immediately drawn into the views and couldn't stop taking pictures.  We could see over to the other side of the peninsula and saw a beautiful beach with only one person wading in the water (we should have brought our bathing suits!).  It was a beautiful day and we started early enough because the stairs were still in the shade.  After about 912 steps, and lots of water and short breaks later (only about 15min. actually) we made it to the fortress.  It was amazing being up there.  The fortress isn't actually much to look at, a bunch of stacked stones to be honest, but it is well preserved and quite large and unlike anywhere I've been in the states they let you explore on your own.  There are no railings to catch you if you trip and plummet off the side, no restrictions on where you can go up or down or thru.  So of course we went exploring.  Brian wanted to go as far as possible so I followed him.  In the top picture you can see we found these stairs seemingly leading off the cliff but they lead us to a path around the side of the mountain, over a very creaky unstable bridge, under a hornets nest and basically into rattlesnake heaven.  After hearing two rattlesnakes at my feet I panicked (to say it mildly) and made Brian leave.  That might be the last time I follow him to explore ;-).  We made the descent with much more speed and once we got to the bottom we knew we would be hurting the next few days (oh the burning calves).  We walked around the town for a little while longer, had another coffee and then headed back to Patra in time for Brian to make his evening practice.  Brian and I have both listed Nafplio as one of our favorite cities and we are excited to take our next visitors there!

Bozukia

We finally got our Internet back!  I have been restricted on the number of TV shows I can download.  Hopefully we won't have any more problems because it was a BIG pain and kept me from blogging about all of the fun things we have been doing!  First off, we finally made it to Bozukia.  Quite the event.  I almost didn't make it b/c we didn't leave until midnight and I am still not quite motivated to go out past let's say 11pm but Brian reminded me that this might be his one and only chance to go, since they start games soon, so I rallied!  I'm glad I did too b/c it was a lot of fun.  When we drove up to the building I had a strange feeling that I was walking into a cult-like ceremony and for some reason had butterflies in my stomach!  The building was large, with a neon sign, kind of like a strip joint, haha.  When we walked in I was shocked by how huge the place was.  There was a stage in the middle and tables that sit 8-10 surrounding it, almost like a wedding.  It was definitely not what I was expecting.  There were already performers on the stage singing and dancing, but the place was practically empty.  We were seated at our table and I immediately got into the show b/c the singer was a girl singing American pop songs!  I was so happy!  After a few minutes the waitress came over and dumped three plates of carnations on our table (as you can see in the pic).  Singer after singer came on stage.  They were all great singers but the ones you like the best you are supposed to chuck carnations at, kind of a funny concept.  Brian and I felt a little awkward about the flower chucking, especially since almost every time someone threw flowers the singer would come over to the table and sing to them.  They also came over to sing to their friends and the guys we were with knew quite a few of the singers so we had them coming over to our table often :-).  Towards the end they started playing the traditional Greek songs.  Bozukias are the guitar like instruments you see in the picture.  There were two men playing these and then some other musicians.  We had fun listening to the music and throwing flowers at each other and eventually made it home around 3am.  It was a fun night but very expensive so we don't know if it is worth going again.  But we're glad we can now say we went to Bozukia!

Athens for H20 polo

This blog is going to have to be a two-parter because we did so much this weekend!  And because our Internet has been down so I am at Starbucks right now trying to put my 6 Euros worth of Internet to use.  Brian left on Friday for Athens to play some "friendly" games and scrimmages against a couple of teams there.  Luckily Fotis was following them up on Saturday and offered to take me along, I jumped at the opportunity!  So he picked me up at 8am and we were off on our mini-roadtrip.  He is quite the entertainer so the drive with him was full of laughs and not too many death defying road maneuvers.  I was exhausted by the time we got to the first pool and had one too many cups of coffee in response.  The athletes were tired as well and their first game was a little messy but they managed to win 12-11.  Afterwards we had to kill time before their next scrimmage against Vougliameni so we had lunch at their hotel and then headed to a coffee shop, what else?  The pictures above are from the coffee shop looking across the water towards Vougliameni's pool.  The area is beautiful, one of the upper scale suburbs of Athens.  There were many windsurfers in the water and after our 9 Euro coffees we were snapped back into reality and headed off to the pool.  Vougliameni's pool is beautiful as well, as you can see.  The water is this cartoonish blue and it is right on the water so when you are sitting in the stands it feels as if you are floating over it.  The boys played better but were still tired nonetheless and impressively won by 1 goal, Brian scoring 3/5 of them.  After the game, and a quick chat with Tim Hutten  who plays for vougliameni, we jumped in our cars to begin the 2hr journey back to Patra.  We were all so exhausted I was sure we were  going to all pass out but after a quick pit stop to eat we found some new energy and began a dance party in the car.  By the time we got into Patra I think we were a little delirious.  We were dancing and singing and at a red light Bull (nickname of a player on Brian's team) even jumped out of the car and gave his own personal dance performance in the street for the cars stopped.  It was a fun way to end the trip :-).

Greek Futbol

This past Sunday we went to our first local Greek futbol match.  Fotis told us there are around 300 local futbol (soccer for you Americans) teams in Patras alone!  I can't say enough how popular this sport is here.  The local teams are just made up of young men, and some older men, who live in the area.  Each neighborhood has at least one team.  So it is customary to go out and support your team from your neighborhood.  Fotis is quite the sports supporter so naturally he goes to as many games as he can.  He is also very proud of the fact that there are only 2 or 3 teams that have their own field....his being one of them.  We were happy he invited us to join him in watching one of the games.  We even recognized some of the players as waiters from the restaurant where Brian gets his free meal from everyday!

The field was dirt.  Despite this, they play with as much energy and importance as any soccer game I have ever seen on TV or in person.  They take this very seriously I must say and the rivalry between the teams and the fans is just as intense.  As the game got going we started to get into the mood and the feel of cheering for every positive thing "our" team did and oohing and ahhing for every bad.  Most of the fans in the stands were older men who you could tell live for this sort of thing.  All of them were flipping their worry beads and discussing the match and the players like they had bet their life on the outcome of this one match.  A younger man in front of us had a bullhorn and would blow it at any opportune time.  Finally "our" team scored a goal and I felt like I was at the World Cup, the hugs, the hi-fives, I swear I saw a tear.  After the goal things really got heated.  The screaming intensified and the players and coaches even started to scream back at the men in the stands, it was awesome.  It was all so dramatic, even the coach for "our" team is missing a hand, can you imagine what he looked like waving around his little stump in excitement?  The game got really excited at the end and some of the older men rushed the railings over the field not failing to lose one word of harassment (Malaka was every other word....this is the worst thing you can call someone here).  Just minutes before the end the other team scored!!!  So the screaming intensified and then the game was over in a tie!  Brian and I rushed out of there sure there were going to be a hundred fights but everyone seemed to just jump in their cars or on their motorcycles and zoom away...just another futbol game, all good fun.  I can't wait for the professional games to start here!  I can only imagine what those must be like!  

With that said, I can't wait for Brian's games to start!  He finally got his schedule this week and their first game is November 15th here at home.  It will be so exciting to finally have the season start.  It feels like we have been here so long without anything really happening!  They will play a couple more "friendly" (versus unfriendly) tournaments up til then.  I think they are all sick of all the training and lack of games, so it will surely boost their spirits and motivation to start playing (and hopefully winning) some games!

Birthday Party

Cristo, Bull, Mihaeles, Fotis, Panos

the cute couple :-)

Maria & I!

the boys

Last night we celebrated Fotis's 33rd birthday at W.  The whole team was there and as you can see there was a fiery cake :-).  We just hung out, had some finger foods and some drinks for a couple of hours and then headed home.  A lot of the other guys stayed out and went to Bozukia (sp?) and probably stayed out until like 7am.  Some of them didn't even make it to practice this morning and they are in big trouble.  It is becoming more and more apparent how young the team is.  I do not blame them for wanting to make the most out of their weekends.  They are juggling being professional athletes and the responsibility that goes along with that and being at the prime of their social lives.

We keep hearing more and more about Bozukia and how we HAVE to go.  Apparently it is a Greek party where you stay out all night with a live band and they do the traditional greek dances.  Men throw flowers at the women (I am sure there is some sort of hidden meaning here) and they used to break plates on the floor but that has been banned probably b/c of all the wasted plates!  You really have to be prepared to be in bed the entire next day, though, so we have yet to commit to that kind of weekend!  I am looking forward to seeing what it is like though.  I have been told that the first time I will be a little taken aback but then the more and more I go, the more and more I will enjoy it and participate.  Apparently some girls dance on the tables and on the stage.  Brian saw a glimpse of it when we first got here.  In the back of some of the bars they have the parties and Kate pulled him in to see one the first night he went out.  He said it was cool but nothing too crazy.  I think we have to experience it to the fullest, and I am sure we will soon, and I will tell you all about it!

Picture Time

Here are some of Anita's pictures from her visit!

This is from our Mexican party.  You can see the delicious burritos in our hands :-).

This is in the Drogarati Cave on Kefalonia.

This is at our first beach visit on Kefalonia.

I'm gearing up to drive onto the ferry!

At the National Gardens in Athens.

My Big Fat Greek Baptism

I'm sorry again for letting so much time pass before writing!  I have actually been quite busy (for a nice change) lately.  This weekend was packed with authentic Greek activities!  On Fri. night, Brian, myelf, Fotis, Maria, Fotis' brother Taki (sp?) and Taki's gf went to dinner at a really popular restaurant on Ag. Nikolau.  The food was delicious and there was a live saxophone player.  Afterwards we decided to go dancing so we went to one of the many indoor clubs that are starting to open for the winter season.  It was called The Disco Room :-).  It was PACKED.  We could barely get through the door and we squeezed our way to the back of the club and up the stairs so we could get a birds eye view of everyone down below.  They played some really great old American classics and Brian and I were singing along and having fun.  The later it got though the more packed the place got and my eyes started to burn from all of the smoke.  Those places are like hot boxes of cigarette smoke, I don't know how the people here do it!  Around 2:30am we decided to leave and go to bed since Brian had practice in the morning.  I am sure the night was just getting started for everyone else there.

On Saturday, after Brian's practice, we had been invited to Billy's niece's baptism.  A few weeks ago Kate had given us the adorable invitation.  Baptisms here are big occasions.  We followed Billy and Kate to the very small church, in the middle of nowhere really, off of a dirt road.  The ceremony lasted about an hour but the church was so small Brian and I sat outside (and I got ATTACKED by mosquitos, grrrr!).  People kind of took turns cramming themselves into the church to see what was happening, but we were content just sitting outside looking in through the door.  There was also a loudspeaker outside so we could hear what was going on (even though we didn't understand).  Billy had explained to us that at the baptisms here in Greece a big part of the ceremony is the naming of the baby.  Here the Godfather (who was Billy) formally gives the name to the baby during the baptism.  I can't tell you the name of Billy's niece, it is very Greek and we were having a hard time pronouncing it.  Something like, Avrodavia....?????  Afterwards we all went to a restaurant.  There were about 100 people there!  It was just like a wedding.  There was a dj and formal seating on these long tables.  The family, the baby and her parents (Billy's sister) and Billy and Kate, sat at the head table.  Billy had gotten tons of pink balloons and giant minnie and micky balloons, they were really cute.  The food was brought out to us in three courses.  It was all AMAZING.  Some of the best food we have had yet!  There was tons of wine too!  People started to dance the typical Greek dancing.  Everyone holds hands in a circle and the leader holds a napkin and leads everyone around.  Of course I got dragged up there and of course we didn't have our camera!!!  Oh well, I'm sure we will be doing more of that another time :-).  It was really nice of Billy and his family to include us in this celebration.

On Sunday Billy's grandparents had us over for lunch.  They are the sweetest couple.  Don't speak a lick of english but it didn't really matter.  His grandma cooked delicious rabbit and chicken with potatoes.  It was funny because the grandpa would throw us bread from across the table.  They really encourage you to eat and if you refuse anything they just give it to you anyways.  Especially Brian.  I think they think since he is so big that he needs to eat an excessive amount of food!  They always make him finish off everything.  The best part of the meal though was the Greek coffee.  Greek coffee is made in this contraption called a Brinka (sp?).  They use the Brinka on the stove and cook the coffee in boiling water with a little bit of sugar.  It is pretty strong and you only drink a very small cup of it but it is very good.  When we finished our coffee Billy's grandma read our fortunes in our cups!!!   I guess there are only a few people left in Greece who know how to do this.  It was amazing.  Brian's was all good, she was impressed.  Mine was good as well but she said that I miss my family back home!

The picture of Brian above is from a restaurant we went to with Fotis and Maria on Sunday night for Pita Gyros.  They were delicious but Brian asked for extra tzatziki sauce.....I don't know if that was a good idea :-).

Roadtrip to Delphi

Here is the first batch of our pictures from our trip to Delphi.  On Tues. we drove the 2hrs to the mainland to check out one of the most sacred spots in all of Greece.  We got to drive over the Antirio bridge for the first time as well (pic)!  The drive was beautiful, and a little scary but to get to Delphi you have to climb the mountains.  The town sits precipitously on the edge of a cliff.  It is a magnificent location.  Ancient Delphi and the archaeological ruins were constructed here under the presumption that this was the center of the world.  According to Greek mythology, Zeus released two eagles at opposite ends of the world and they met here.  To me the most interesting part of Delphi is the story of the Oracle, which is next to the Athenian Treasury in the second picture.  You might be familiar if you have seen the movie 300, if you haven't you should see it!  

The Delphic Oracle, the most powerful in Greece, sat on a tripod at the entrance to a chasm that emitted intoxicating vapours.  A popular story proposes that the earliest oracles were young women who regularly ran off with their advice-seeking pilgrims, leaving the post temporarily vacant.  Hence it became customary for the appointed seer (Pythia) to be at least 50 years of age.  When she was consulted for divine advice, the priestess inhaled the fumes and entered a trance.  Her inspired, if a little vague, answers were translated into verse by a priest.  In fact, the oracle's reputation for infallibility may have rested with the often ambiguous or cryptic answers.  Wars were fought, marriages were sealed and journeys begun on the strength of the oracle's visions.  Legend holds that one oracle suffered for her vagueness, whether vapour-induced or not.  When Alexander the Great visited, hoping to hear a prophecy that he would soon conquer the ancient world, the oracle refused direct comment, instead asking that he return later.  Enraged, he dragged her by the hair out of the chamber until she screamed, 'Let go of me; you're unbeatable.'  He quickly dropped her, saying 'I have my answer.'

At this location is also the magnificent Temple of Apollo, one of the most well preserved ancient theaters and at the very top of a very steep climb is the also very well preserved stadium.  Just south of the sanctuary of Apollo is the Sanctuary of Athena, another beautiful archaeological site.  After hiking around to the point of exhaustion we understood Alexander the Great, and any other unsatisfied pilgrim's frustration at hiking all the way to to seek the Oracle's guidance and not hear what you were hoping for.  It is probably one of the most beautiful, sacred spots in Greece though and we were glad we made the trip.