Weekend in Athens & Beginning of Carnival

(Ian, Elsie, Me, Brian, Nina & Lauren)

Here are some pictures of the main square in Patras, Plateia Georgiou, now that Carnival has officially started.  It started last weekend and the stage and statues were set up for an event we missed because we were in Athens.  Carnival lasts about a month and includes a host of minor events leading up to a wild weekend at the end of Feb. that consists of costume parades, colourful floats and lots of celebration.

Elsie is the American here playing for the women's team of NEP.  Her boyfriend is in town for the month visiting and his sister plays for a professional team in Glyfada.  Her name is Lauren and both she and Elsie went to these past Olympics in Beijing and won a silver medal!  Well Ian, Elsie and I drove to Athens on Saturday to follow Brian and see his game against Faliro.  It was quite the adventure since none of us had ever driven there on our own and weren't exactly sure how to get there.  Elsie volunteered to drive, since she knew the roads, having traveled it many times with her team.  I wasn't about to let Ian drive since he is just visiting and doesn't know what he's getting himself into driving here.  I think I emasculated him a bit but he had to get over it :-).  Elsie was a very responsible driver and I felt very comfortable with her behind the wheel.  We made it to Athens successfully but finding Faliro and the pool was quite a challenge.  We followed a few signs and stopped to ask a few Greeks and literally by a small miracle stopped at a gas station that was owned completely by an English family.  I got out of the car to ask directions, preparing myself for a gas attendent to look blankly at my face after I spoke English but when I asked the women if she spoke any english she said in PERFECT english, yes, I speak it very well, haha.  So luckily they pointed us in the right direction with specific details and we made it to the pool after 3hrs, a few frantic moments and only having missed the first quarter.  When we arrived the boys were up by one goal but as we seated Faliro scored to tie the game.  That's how most of the game went, and I really thought NOP would win but just with a few seconds left on the clock Faliro scored to tie the game 9-9.  Oh well, they still gain a point for a tie and so they are up to 6th place!  There is supposed to be a game tomorrow against Hercules but we just learned that thousands of farmers are on strike in Northern Greece and have planted their tractors in the middle of the National Roads so no one can get through so we don't know if the team is going to be able to make it down for the game and they might have to reschedule.  It would be a real bummer.  Leave it to the Greeks.

On Sat. night Lauren took us to the BEST dinner.  It was in a very simple cafe and they ordered us Beafsteaki (sp?) and they brought them out on wax paper covered in potatoes (french fries).  It was so delicious and we devoured them.  I tried not to keep up since Ian and I were the only non-professional athletes at the table and I especially did not need as much as everyone else!  After dinner we went to an Irish pub called Mollys and enjoyed ourselves like true Americans with lots of beer and games!  It was one of the best nights I have had since being here.  Lauren was kind enough to let us crash at her apt. and the next day we slept in and had another fabulous meal and then took it easy because she had practice the next morning early.  On Mon. we cooked breakfast and then drove home.  It was a great weekend!  Oh and Marco was with us, the trooper that he is, the whole time and everyone just fell in love with him.  

Yesterday Ian, Elsie, Brian and I went to this really cool Beer Factory here in Patras that Brian and I had driven by many times and had been wanting to check out.  The bar was really nice and we will definitely be going back!

Kalavryta or Bust!

We have not had Internet for the past week, hence no posts, so this post is from last week.  I will post a new one from this week soon :-).

(This picture directly above is just a fun little picture of one of the typical Greek buildings.  As you can see, it is about 4 stories but only one of the stories is done and appears to be an apt.  Who knows when the rest of the building will be done.)

Well we are back to the grind here in Greece.  On Saturday Brian played a game against a team from Chios, an island in the Northern Aegean.  They Won!!!  The score was 12-11 and they outplayed them for most of the game.  They were even up 7-4 at one point.  After some questionable calls on both sides they succeeded, Josef scoring 6 goals, Brian scored 1 and played stellar defense.  Everyone was so happy and excited, it was a really fun game to watch, especially since Chios is ranked 4th I believe.  That brings NOP up to 7th place.  They have 3 games coming up that could be instrumental in moving them up and possibly taking them to the championships.  The boys are lookin good!  After the game Brian and I went to a nice dinner near our house.  I think the other boys probably headed off to Bozukia but we wanted our energy to go to Kalavryta the next day.

Kalavryta is a town about 77km from Patras high up in the mountains.  Looking up towards the mountains from Patras you can see that they are tipped with snow caps so we were excited to head towards what we had heard was the elite ski resort town.  Since it is not far we took our time in the morning getting ready to leave and didn't leave the house until around noon.  Marco came along for his first Greek road trip.  We followed the signs and headed in the direction that we were told to.  The signs weren't as clear as we had experienced from other driving adventures but we spotted a few Kalavryta signs pointing in semi-clear directions.  After a few u-turns and fork debates we started heading up the mountain, and assumed we were heading in the right direction.  The road we were on leaded up and up and in no time we were high up in the mountains, looking down on the sea and small towns that speckle the hillsides.  What confused us though was that there was no snow in sight from where we were.  We had assumed once we were getting close we would start seeing lots of snow, it being a ski town and all.  We pulled over a couple of times to inspect the map, no help really.  Finally, after about 2 hrs, we hit a more substantial road then the dirt, pot-holy, bicycle lane-sized one we were on and realized that we had somehow gotten to a sign leading us to Kalavryta but from the wrong road.  Oh well, now we knew we were heading in the right direction.  Snow around any corner we kept saying.  Up and up some more we went.  We spotted a few piles of snow, ah ha Brian said!  But then, once again, no snow.  It was getting colder though and finally we made it.  Kalavryta here we are!  To our surprise, an average town, with no snow.  Where the heck is the snow we wanted to know.  In our heads we had imagined drinking hot totties at the bottom of the ski slope enjoying watching Greeks on skis and snowboards, similar to what we had done in Mammoth (with many less Greeks of course).  We, and by we I mean I, was very sick of being in the car winding up the mountain so we got out and had a short walk through the town, cute enough, nothing special really, then had some hot chocolate and a crepe.  The hot chocolate was good at least.  Brian was getting frustrated at this point.  He wanted to see snow and skiers damnit.  We did see some cars with ski/snowboard equipment on top so we decided to follow them, guess what, up another mountain.  On the way up this mountain though we did see the Martyr's Monument.  On December 13, 1943, in one of the worst atrocities of WWII, the Nazis set fire to the town and massacred all its male inhabitants over the age of 15, as punishment for resistance activity.  The total number killed in the region was 1436.  The hands of the old cathedral clock stand eternally at 2.34, the time the massacre began.  The monument is a huge white cross, as you can see in the picture above, on a cypress-covered hill side.  Beneath the imposing monument you see a poignant little shrine to the victims.  It was worth coming to see that in my opinion.  

It was getting late in the day and we had read about some other worthy sights in the area that we thought we could at least fit in to make the trip worthwhile, but after just a glimpse of the ski slopes so as we were turning one of the many sharp turns up this mountain to the phantom slope we hit a gnarly pothole and I saw our tire rim fly off and start rolling down the hill.  I shouted, Brian our rim just flew off!  He pulled over the car and ran down the hill to get it, kicked it back on and off we went again.  This was getting rediculous, all for a little snow.  Around the next turn I see the rim come off again.  Do I mention it?  I thought it best to so I softly said, Brian the rim.  That's it, no more snow for us.  Brian had had enough.  This time the rim stopped in the middle of the street so he quickly jumped out threw the rim in the back of the car and off we were, back down the mountain, and back home, the correct way.  No more mountain trips for us, at least not for a while.

We're Back!

Well after a month of relaxation and family time I am back in Greece. Brian also had two great weeks back home.  Here are a few photo highlights of our trip.  Marco made best friends with Roxy, my mom's goldendoodle, and it was really sad to have to take him away.  He is growing like a weed though and barely was able to fit in his carrier for the plane ride home.  He has turned out to be quite the traveler though and knows when he goes in a car or plane it is time for him to sleep.  It was definitely a lot less stressful then I had anticipated.  Unfortunately for him he has one more plane ride home in May and then I promise to never take him on a plane again.  He has been quite the sport.

Mammoth was great and I think I got Brian into snowboarding, we had a great time.  He brought his sister Danielle and she got her time on skiis, ultimately with a slight collision into a fence but I think she is optimistic for the future :-).

We also had an amazing time in NYC.  My friend Sarah's wedding was something out of a movie, it was so beautiful.  All in all we made the most of our time back home.  Now that we are back in Greece I plan to do the same.  It was actually nice to get back here after some reflection back home and realize that there is still so much to see and that we are so lucky that we get to experience this.  Saturday Brian has a home game and then we are thinking about going up to the mountains on Sunday where there is snow and a small ski resort.  We just have to figure out whether Marco can come with us.  Oh the joys of puppy ownership ;-).