You Follow Me?

"I will show you the views of Greece that you cannot see from the tour bus, or from the Acropolis," Nick says, as he picks me up at the Athens airport in his 10 year old jeep (referred to affectionately as "the Mule") and drives across the country to the village of his birth and younger days, Marathia. He is quick to point out all manner of produce, such that I can now recognize whether a given farmer is growing potatoes, grapes, watermelon, corn, beans, eggplant, olives, or grapes. The tour also includes trips to some classic local restaurants, where (as in Spain) beer or wine ("krasi") is always served with some food to snack on, whether ordered or not, and I have seen a women passing through a cafe at noon-time trying to sell the old Greek guys dress socks, of all things. Adn each night before supper we head back down to the beach, 2 minutes from Nick's place, to watch the sun set magically on the Ionian sea.

Yesterday Nick took me to Olympia, home of the original Olympic games - "tradition" has it that they first began in 776BC. Enjoyed lounging on the grass of the stadium, and rarely have I seen tourists behave as foolishly as when posing on this field in their cruise ship clothing, as if about to begin the footrace. It was fun to watch eager schoolkids actually run it, and silently cheer for those behind to catch the leaders. Ah, the live theatre of sport in all its guises.

The museum at Olympia is also outstanding, as the greatest collection of ancient weaponry has been found on the site, since the gear of past (victorious) wars were typically presented as votive offerings to the gods. The inscriptions on the old helmets etc. as to the battles won allow them to be accurately dated, some as far back to the 8th Century BC, and there are also amazing little figurines of warrior Zeus dating back even further that were found in the ash where the sacrificial altar used to be. Astonishing stuff.

In addition to pointing out the countryside and locations of memory from his youth ("I'll never forget this corner, where I had my first fall on a motorcycle," for example), the talk turns to politics, philosophy etc., and you have to love when the conversation on higher topics becomes a "symposium" by the Greek involved. "You follow me?" Nick often says at the end of a point or explanation, to make sure I understand. Happily, most of the time, I do.