Larissa, Greece - Day 7 (Last Day)

Today was my last (full) day in Larissa, Greece and boy was it a relaxing one. :)

I woke up around noon... yes, noon. When I woke up, I could smell the smoked lamb filling up Yiorgos' apartment. His parents live directly below him and it had been cooking all morning on the terrace. I yelled down to the lower deck and told Yiorgos I was awake and that I'd be down shortly.

When I arrived, everybody was just relaxing and enjoying family time. I started with a glass of Heineken and prepared myself for the feast ahead. Everybody mingled and the kids played while lots of family and friends came and left throughout the day. The lamb was cooking out on the terrace the whole time and it was looking and smelling delicious.

Yiorgos was in charge of the meat and he managed it like a rockstar; checking on it every 5 minutes or so.  There were 3 skewers, the top 2 was the actual meat of the lamb, and the bottom skewer was the insides of the lamb, wrapped in the intestines to hold in the juices. I tried some of the meat from the bottom skewer, but I wasn't to keen on the texture or the taste, so I filled my plate with meat from the top 2 skewers instead.

A few hours of relaxing and conversation went by and then we all sat around the table and enjoyed dinner together. My dinner consisted of lamb, tsadziki, greek salad, bread, and beer. Oh yeah, afterwards, I had an ice cream bar too. :) It was a festival of family, food, and fellowship. It was very similar to the Easter celebration that we do at home, but with a few custom traditions that differentiate it from ours. I felt very comfortable and relaxed the entire time. Yiorgos family really welcomed me with open arms and I enjoyed this day immensely. It's a day that I will never forget.

Here are some pictures from the event:

Around 5pm or so, Yiorgos and I came back upstairs to relax for a while before heading out for drinks with his friends later tonight. After drinking so much beer and consuming so much lamb, I was really fighting to keep my eyes open. I decided to lay down and take a quick power nap. I ended up sleeping for 2 full hours. :) I never take naps, but all this eating and relaxing must have been hard work. :)

When I woke up, we got ready to go out for drinks with Yiorgos' friends. We stopped and picked up Alexandra and headed to the coffee shop. We spent about 2 or 3 hours there and Thenassis met us around 10:30pm. After a while, we all headed down the street to a nice little bar where we met up with Thomas, "Michos", and Athena.

Thenassis, Yiorgos, Alexandra, Mitsos, Athena, Thomas, Me

We hung out there for about an hour or so and then decided to look for an all-night Gyro restaurant. Unfortunately we didn't find one, so we all went our separate ways. It was hard to say goodbye to everybody, knowing that I'd probably never see them again. However, we did offer our homes to each other the next time any of us visit the others home country. I told them that I'd make a place for them in my barn, next to the goats if they ever visit Ohio. :) Kidding aside, they will always have a nice warm futon in my basement whenever they come to Ohio, and I mean that.

Yiorgos' friends and family have been so hospitable and very kind to me. I'll never forget my week here in Greece. It really has been an amazing visit and I made so many great memories here. Thank you, everybody for an unforgettable week.

When we got back to Yiorgos house, Yiorgos and I were able to Skype with Jennifer and the girls one last time. They told us about their day and we had some good laughs back and forth.

Next stop is Cologne, Germany for a week with the Ghobad family, which I'm looking forward to very much. Not sure when I'll get another chance to post, but know that I'll be in good hands...

Oh yeah, a big shout out goes to Brother Farley on his big finish at the Forget the PR, Mohican 50K today. It was his first ultra and he rocked it!! Congrats Bro! :)

Larissa Greece - Day 6 (My Birthday)

Today was yet another awesome day in Greece. I got to sleep in, relax, meet with friends, and relax some more. The night ended with an un-forgetful candlelit midnight celebration in downtown Larissa. I'll explain...

The day started off around 11am, when I woke up with a headache. This was the result of going to bed so late while still "under the influence". When I woke up, it was hard to get moving and I just sat around watching the BBC News channel with Yiorgos until around 2pm. It was around this time that Yiorgos and I headed into Larissa to run a few errands for his coffee shop. We got to visit a greek version of Sams Club where he purchased lots of items in bulk for the Playful Room.

When we delivered the items to his coffee shop, we ended up chilling out and visiting with his friends. This was a great time! We basically hung out inside the coffee shop for about 4 hours drinking coffee and beer while talking and laughing with Thenassis, Thomas (a fellow computer programmer), Dimitrious, and Athena (Dimitrious' girlfriend). I got to see many familiar faces throughout the day and really enjoyed every passing moment.

To try and snap out of my funk from last night's partying, I decided to get some coffee. I ordered a double espresso and tried to let it kick in. I didn't feel the effects of it, so I ordered another double espresso... Yeah! About 10 minutes later I had the jitters. :) Yiorgos even asked me if I was sure I wanted the second one and I assured him that it was ok... "I'm a professional coffee drinker" I said.

I realized that I was jacked up on coffee the moment that I tried to debug a programming problem that Thomas presented me with on a small piece of paper. I couldn't hold the pen and my hands were shaking like crazy. I felt like I could just "exit stage left" and just run for miles without stopping. However, I was confined to a small stool in the middle of a relaxed environment with this pen and a piece of paper while everybody was focused on me and my coffee buzz... Bzzzzzz. :)

While at the coffee shop, Yiorgos surprised me with a cake and a celebration song over the stereo system. I was having a conversation with Thenassis and the music started to get very loud. I didn't understand why, and just assumed it was time to turn up the music in the bar...? Eventually I started listening to the words and it was saying "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!" Then I got a clue and realized it was for me. About one second later I see Yiorgos coming around the corner with a delicious looking chocolate cake, and everybody in the bar (about 20-30 greeks) started clapping and singing happy birthday (in English). Needless-to-say, I was a bit surprised and it is a moment I'll never forget! I have been officially accepted by the greek community. :) I blew out my candles and everybody in the bar cheered. It was amazing!! We all shared the cake and I thanked everybody for the awesome present.

We stayed at the bar for about an hour or so afterward and just enjoyed each others company. Around 7pm or so, we headed back here to Yiorgos apartment and chilled out on the couch. I was able to catch up on my Facebook chaos (thank you everybody) and read my birthday wishes! It was great to see so many people's names on my wall who I'd not heard from in a long time. The one name I didn't see was NIKKOS VALASSIS though!! (j/k it's a joke).

Around 11pm, Yiorgos and I headed downstairs to his parents place and picked up Nikkos, Misty, and Thenassis (their son / Yiorgos' nephew) and headed to the center of Larissa to celebrate the coming of Easter day. Everybody had a candle and we even took candles for those that couldn't join us. Yiorgos parents stayed home and Cleo was asleep, so Yiorgos and Nikkos carried their candles. I even had my own candle. I didn't fully understand what the significance was of this, but I went along with it. As we made our way to the center of the city, the streets were packed with people of all ages walking towards the center as well. It was quite a sight to see! We have nothing like this in America as far as I know...

Let me first apologize if I get any of this wrong, but here is how I understood it from Nikko's description: In Greece, they celebrate an Orthodox Easter. The way that I understand it is that each Orthodox church sends their "high priest" (?) to Jerusalem to enter a cave where a holy light is burning. They enter the cave with a single candle each and no means of making fire (no matches, no lighter, nothing). When they exit the cave, the candle is said to be lit from this "holy light" that burns within the cave. They then fly this flame back their church and light other candles from this single flame. Those candles then light other candles, which light other candles, and so on and so on. This is considered to be the sharing of the holy light. So in essence, my candle was lit from a single flame that originated from the holy light cave. Pretty cool, huh? :)

Watch this short video to see how big of a deal this Easter celebration is in Greece. When the bells ring everybody does a small prayer and kisses cheeks with those around them:

I was fascinated by it and was so happy to be a part of it.

Another aspect of the bells ringing at midnight, is that it signalled the end of their fasting. Yes, Yiorgos and I were not supposed to be eating meat all week... Whoops! :) So anyway, once the bells ring to signify Easter Sunday, all Greeks go back to their homes with this holy light and are then able to eat a "small" meal before going to bed... It's typical that they eat lamb on this night.

When we returned home to Yiorgos parents house, Dimitra had a lamb cooked and ready to serve at the dinner table. All of the lamb is used for this meal. Yes, all of the lamb. The head, the brains, the eyes, the heart, the stomach, the liver, the intestines, everything...  All of the organs, other than the brains and eyes were made into a soup, and it was served first. I didn't let the contents of the soup scare me and wanted to try it with an open mind. It wasn't bad, but I don't know that I'd order it at a restaurant anytime soon either. :)

Another tradition is that everybody at the table takes a hard boiled egg and turns to the person next to them to bump them together. Whosever egg doesn't crack from this collision is said to have good luck. Both ends of my egg cracked... Crap! :)

Dinner was delicious, I had bread, feta cheese, tsatziki (a yogurt/cucumber/garlic spread), my bad-luck egg, and of course a few helpings of lamb meat. I washed it all down with two glasses of wine. Oh yeah, and I had an ice cream bar for dessert. After the small feast we sat around and talked... Greek family style. :) Loved it!!

Dusseldorf Marathon, here I come!... 10 kilos heavier.

Larissa, Greece and Athens, Greece: Days 2 - 4

I've not had a solid internet connection since the airport in Thessaloniki, Greece. I've only been able to talk to my family via Skype from Yiorgos' iPhone yesterday.

Tonight, I'm online and ready to catch everybody up at home.

Monday, April 9th

Volli's flight arrived shortly after my last post. Immediate we headed back to Larissa with all kinds of stories to tell and life to catch up on. Yiorgos took us to an AMAZING restaurant in Larissa, Greece by the name of Takis. We had some beers and lots of meat. It's amazing how much food 3 extra large humans can put away in a short period of time. We sat right next to a fire place and gorged for about an hour or two. The setting was amazing. The restaurant sat at the top of a huge cliff and overlooked the Greece countryside. It was located at the end of a long cobble-stoned street and there were very few people in the restaurant. Perfect!

When we arrived back at Yiorgos house, we traded gifts and drank a few glasses of Johnny Walker scotch, which I purchased on the plane. We called Jennifer, my Mom and my Dad (it was his birthday), and then we watched Mission Impossible 4 before calling it a night around 2am (Greece time). My total time awake was about 33 hrs. Phew... Love it!



Tuesday, April 10th
We all woke up around 11am and were ready to get started. Immediately, Volli and I had Nikko's (Yiorgos older brother) drive us to a local park in Larissa so we could take a nice slow run together. We ran about 4 miles before coming back and preparing for the day.

Our day finally started with some pastries and juice on Yiorgos' terrace. From there, we went to visit his parents. I was able to finally meet Yiorgos father, Thenassis. He has only known about me through pictures and stories. I've only known him through stories. It was great to finally meet him and it's clear how Yiorgos and Nikkos are so likable; they have amazing parents. Dimitra and Thenassis are amazing people.

From there, we went to visit Nikko's wife and children. I met Nikko's wife Misty and their two children Thenassis and Cleo-Dimitria. We had a great time, and stayed to visit for about an hour or two. From there, we went to see Yiorgos' coffee shop / bar. Yes, Yiorgos owns a bar! He and Nikkos run a bar by the name of The Playful Room (link). It was awesome! We hung out there for about 3-4 hours drinking beer and enjoying each others company. I met many people here and the atmosphere was awesome. They have a good thing going here and I'm so happy for them!

After leaving the coffee shop, we scooped up Yiorgos' awesome girlfriend, Alexandra and headed to an amazing restaurant in Platamonas, Greece named Psaropoula. It was right on the Mediterranean Sea and the weather was simply perfect; a bit overcast with a nice peaking sunset. We sat outside the restaurant for about 30 minuts and enjoyed a few beers before going inside. Our seat was right by a huge glass window that let us look outside at all the boats. We gorged.

From the restaurant, we headed back home (~30 minute drive) and had more Johnny Walker and enjoying each others company before calling it a night.

Wednesday, April 11th
We all woke up around 9am and got ready for a full day. Today was the day that we were going to see Volli off. We ran a few errands and let Volli get a few gifts for his family before heading to Nikko's house to chill with Misty, Alexandra, and Cleo for a few hours.

From Nikko's house, we had to run a few more errands and then headed to the train station to send Volli back to his family. What a great time we all had! Yiorgos and Volli made it a goal to visit Ohio in 2015! We hung out in Romania first, now in Greece, next is Newark! I'm already counting the days...

After dropping off Volli, Yiorgos took me with an authentic Greek Football Game (that's Soccer in English, people). :) It was simply AWESOME!! Larissa played Veria and the crowd was nuts. Everybody was yelling and screaming in Greek, and the referee's had waaay too much help. :) The game ended in a 2 - 2 tie and all the fans went on with their day undefeated. Great experience! Everybody should make it a point to attend a European football game.

After the football game, Yiorgos and I picked up his cousin, Catarina, and began our 3 hour drive toward Athens. We arrived around 7:30 pm and dropped off Catalina with her boyfriend before meeting with some of Yiorgos' friends for dinner. We ended up eating at a very nice restaurant in downtown Athens by the name of Likiforos. Again, we gorged. It was great to be in the company of Yiorgos and his high-school friends. They spoke Greek at the speed of light, but took note to stop every now and then to speak English so that I could get caught up with the conversation. There were many times when everybody would speak English with one another so that I could be involved. I appreciated it, but also enjoyed listening to them talking in their native language.

We ended the night back at Yiorgos friend house, where we would be staying. His friend's name is Dimitrious (ie. Micho's for short) and he lives on the side of a mountain overlooking the Athens city streets. He was very hospitable and let me sleep in his bed while he slept on a cot in the living room. He insisted, and I couldn't say no. Like most Europeans, he has been a great host!

Thursday, April 12th
Around 9:30 am Yiorgos and I woke up and got ready for a full-on tourist day in Athens. Yiorgos was going to be my tour guide and he was VERY cheap. :) We started the day off by Yiorgos showing off his impressive parallel parking skills. The only parking place for miles around was on a 90 degree vertical drop and he nailed it in one fail swoop... in reverse. BAM!

From the parking wizardry location we began the climb up to the Parthenon and enjoyed passing all the ancient ruins of the Acropolis. We took tons of pictures! Between Yiorgos and I we probably snapped 200 unique pictures. I have both sets on my Mac and will cherish them forever.

We were supposed to meet Bamma somewhere in this area. Her and I were both going to be in Athens on the same day. Knowing this, she called me the day before my flight and wanted me to deliver a package for her from the states. Yiorgos and I walked around the Acropolis for about 2 hours looking for her while we were snapping pictures. Just as we were about to give up, I saw a face in a crowd:

After I gave her the package, we hugged and went our separate ways. What are the chances that two ex-exchange students in the French exchange program from NHS would be crossing paths in Athens, Greece (half way around the world) at the same moment in time without using GPS technology or a solid plan for meeting.

Yiorgos and I continued our climb down the Acropolis and made our way through the streets of Athens. We visited many sites and just soaked up the day in Greece, enjoying each others company. The streets were crowded with people and shops. On our tour we passed down Ermou street where there were hundreds of gift shops, we stopped for coffee at an outside table in Plaka. We also visited constitution square, where demonstrations take place almost daily. From here, we went up to the Parlaiment and watched the guards switch shifts for watching the tomb of the unknown soldier. It was quite a site to see. It was very similar to the tomb of the unknown soldier near Arlington Cemetery.

After watching the soldiers switch shifts, we headed toward the metro so that we could head back to the Acropolis where Yiorgos had his car (amazingly) parked on the hill. We got in his car and headed back to Michos house to get ready for yet another adventure at Eleni's house.

Eleni is one of Yiorgos friends that came to Newark with him back in 1998. At first I had a hard time remembering her, but as soon as I saw her I knew exactly who she was. The plan was to hang out at her house in Pireus (near Athens) and eat dinner. Her sister and brother-in-law came to join us and we all enjoyed each others company for about 3 hours. After dinner, Yiorgos and I headed back to Micho's house again and I began writing this epic blog post...

Tomorrow, we plan to wake up and drive back to Larissa so that we can enjoy the Easter holiday with the Valassis family. Rumor has it that we will eat so much food that we won't be able to walk. This is very similar to the last few meals that we've had here in Greece. I can't wait...

For now, this is my view: