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.

Achaia Clauss

Brian finally has a few days off so today we decided to check out the local winery here in Patras.  It is called Achaia Clauss and it was amazing!  It was started by a German man named Gustav Clauss who came to Patras in the late 1800's and fell in love with a local Greek girl.  Also having fallen in love with the local beauty of the town he decided to build his own winery here.  In 1854 he built the first wine estate in all of Greece.  It is atop a mountain overlooking the city.  He created a settlement, complete with cathedral towers and his home here, enabling an entire village to live, work and develop around his wine production.  When we arrived we were the only soul in sight.  We found the tasting room and met the two friendly servers who talked to us about the wines, the man being particularly interested in talking with Brian about NOP.  We learned that this winery is the oldest one in all of Greece, and the first to ever bottle wine.  It developed a wine called Mavrodaphne, named after Gustav's fiance named Daphne and her dark (mavro) eyes.  This wine is now the wine used in all of the Greek Orthodox Churches and is considered a holy wine.  The woman let us taste three different aged versions.  One from 2004, one from 10yrs ago and the last from 20yrs ago.  As it ages it gets sweeter and changes from a violet color to more of a brown shade.  It was delicious.  We saw a boxed version selling for 1,550 Euros and she told us that for the 2004 Olympics in Athens they bottled 108 bottles from one of the oldest barrels they have from 1896, the year of the oldest modern Olympics.  She then took us on a tour of the old wine cellars (I don't think they do this for everyone, Brian is so charming ;-).  The old cellars were amazing filled with old wood barrels dating back to their oldest barrel from 1873!  Some of the barrels had wood carvings on the front, like in the picture, of old Greek methologies.  On this barrel Athena is giving wine to Zeus.  They were works of art done by a man who is now 90.  Mavrodaphne is a magical wine because it lasts for seemingly forever unlike most wines that die at some point.  Mavrodaphne only sweetens and improves with age, and like the wine bottled 4yrs ago from 1896, you can save your bottle of Mavrodaphne for your great grandchildren.  On some of the barrels there were plaques honoring certain celebrities and royalty who have come to visit the winery over the years.  She also explained to us that every three years the Mavrodaphne has to be topped off with wine from a barrel a year younger then its own so that it remains smooth and doesn't harden otherwise it will become more like a syrup.  So every three years the barrel from 1873 gets topped off with a barrel from 1874 etc.  It is amazing to think that that barrel we were standing in front of had been holding that same wine for over a hundred years.  Unfortunately she said there was no one left who knew how to maintain these wood barrels since now a days they do all of their aging in stainless steel barrels.  So these magnificent carvings will fade over time.  I am so glad we were able to see them!  And we plan on going back again soon.  I think the man is a big fan of NOP because they gave us a free bottle of wine when we left (we also bought a bottle of their young mavrodaphne and a white).

What to say

Last night was a nice dinner with Maria and her friend Olga.  I was finally feeling up to being out on the town (which I tribute mainly to the chicken soup Brian made me from scratch, AMAZING) so I was excited to meet them at Psilalonia.  We were planning on going to this bar called Bara rara that Brian goes to a lot with his team for coffee but they were already full with reservations at 9:30pm (very early here for a Sat. night).  So instead we walked down to this adorable street (I don't know the name) that is lined with cute outdoor cafes.  I was tricked by the look of the weather from my windows and I dressed for winter but as I discovered it was actually really warm out.  I was happily ready to sit outside when I saw Maria and Olga discussing and looking up into the black sky.  I glanced up, saw blackness, glanced to them and suggested we sit?  They said, no, we think it's going to rain.  I glanced back up again into the black pit of the sky and I said, oh really?  How do you know?  Maria said, see how the sky is kind of red.  I looked again, and sure enough, red.  Wow, they are good weather people here.  So we sat at a table that was technically outside but in reach of an overhang to protect us from the impending rain.  After a nice mellow dinner, sure enough, I was startled out of my seat with a bolt of lightning.  Me being the CA girl that I am I was ready to jump under the table, can't you get electrocuted being outside!?  No one else made the plunge so I held my seat.  To my cruel enjoyment it started to pour and all of the people who were not weather experts and who did sit outside had to rush under the awning, practically in our laps, grabbing what they could, wine glasses, salads, bread bowls.  I found it quite entertaining.  I didn't want to be rude so I waited until no one was looking then snapped this photo above of the table that had just been filled with young 20 somethings moments before the downpour.  They managed to throw their salad and bread bowl onto a chair at our table.  I of course was thinking of the poor restaurant that was going to have to reimburse these people with all of their dishes, but no one seemed to care too much and they waited around until there was a table undercover available for them.  And just in Greek character the rain ended a few minutes later and the red sky disappeared.  

Brian's team won their game today.  He said it was ugly but I say a win is a win!  They play one more and then he heads home tonight.  I, once again, am entertaining myself with the computer.  I was supposed to go to coffee with Kate but I think she is not going to show.  I was also supposed to go to a movie with Maria but she ended up having work to do.  Some people actually have responsibilities I guess ;-).  Instead I am deep conditioning my hair :-).   

It's a wet one here in Patra

Finally after two days of a nasty cold and bed rest I finally feel better.  Then Brian goes and leaves me home alone for two days to play in a tournament in Vougliameni ;-).  I was planning on going to watch the tournament but all of the girlfriends backed out.  I don't think anyone wants to drive to Athens.  Oh well, it's a bummer but I understand.  So today I had to entertain myself but just as I was about to go for a walk the rain clouds came and it started to POUR.  I've learned that here it pours, thunder and lightning, and acts all menacing for about 15min. and then it stops and the sun reappears.  By then though I was over my walk, scared that midway through the scary clouds would come back, so I stayed home.  The computer is quite entertaining when utilized but I've decided that I need to be more pro-active in finding other things to do, especially when Brian is away.  Tonight Maria and I are going to dinner, thank god for that!  

As far as Brian's tournament goes, I can't write much about it since I wasn't there.  All I heard from Brian is that they lost their first game to NEP 9-5 (grrrrrr).  I am sure we will be hearing lots about that back home here in Patra.  Their second game was against Tim Hutten's team but this time they lost by 1 goal.  Brian didn't seem worried since it is a pre-season game and they were expecting them to get better, but I think they still should have won!  They are all tired because their coach is working them to the bone.  Brian is always optimistic and I think he sees all their potential.  Tomorrow they play two games against teams they haven't played yet, so we'll see how they do!

Miss everyone back home!  XOXO

Welcome October

Anita has left =(.....it was so fun having her here!  I hope she had fun.  These pictures are from the night that we went to dinner at this restaurant called W here in Patra.  There are two W's.  There is a summer one in Rio and a winter one here in downtown Patra.  The summer one is really cool because it is on the street in Rio overlooking the bridge.  It is all outside and is much bigger then the indoor one.  This was the first time we had been to the indoor one because it is only open in the winter.  It is much smaller, and since it is indoors, much smokier.  We went with a bunch of the guys (and guy's gf's) from the team.  It took about 2hrs to get our food, resulting in about a 1am dinner.  I don't know if I'll ever get used to these late dinners.  I can't sleep afterwards!  The food was really good but we were so exhausted by then I don't think we enjoyed it as much.  In these pictures we are drinking Tedura snaps.  We wanted Anita to try it out before she left.  Tedura is a very typical Greek drink.  They drink it here to help with digestion after meals...but I think that is just an excuse :-).  It is a very cinnamonny and pretty sweet and I can't drink very much of it but Anita was a trouper and drank a whole glass!

Now that Anita is gone I have to start getting back into the swing of finding things to do.  Right now I am coming down with a cold or something so I am resting and drinking lots of fluids and Emergen-C to try to fight it.  Next weekend we go to Vugliameni for another tournament so that should be fun, don't want to be sick for that!