Out of Athens

This weekend my team didn’t have a game, instead having two weeks of practice between contests. A week between games seems long enough so two weeks gets to be a bit unbearable. To break things up we had a whole day and a half off of practice and I decided to leave town.

In Greece, Carnival/mascade is celebrated the weeks leading up to the start of lent with the final weekend being a huge festival. Shops open up in February selling costumes of all types and every restaurant is decorated with rainbow colored crepe paper and masks on the wall. On weekends the metro is filled with witches and cross dressers, children dressed up like tigers and school girls with face paint and devil’s horns. Last Friday school was out so I think every high school kid in the city gathered at the local square and chased each other around with shaving cream cans. I was trying to sit in the sun and read but the wind kept splattering me with white particles.

Athens was fairly quiet this weekend as everyone left town to celebrate the three day weekend outside the city. Sunday afternoon I left too. We drove over to the Peloponnese to a town called Napflio. It was a beautiful drive once we got out of the city. Over the Corinth Canal and through mountains and rolling hills. There wasn’t any traffic so we drove peacefully with the afternoon sun shining through the windshield as we turned off the highway to the countryside. Goat herders had their flocks grazing on the rocky hills and down in wine country, old men sat on the side of the road in makeshift shops selling wine in plastic jugs. We turned into a small town where orange trees lined the road on both sides and little houses peaked out between the foliage. As we turned onto a main road we fell in behind a float with a giant cowboys wobbling behind a worn down pickup that slowed on curves and puttered into the oncoming lane to avoid trees that threatened to knock the cowboy on his butt. Finally we made it into Napflio and turned toward the water. What a site! It was packed with people for the festival and it was the cutest little town ever. The town is nestled between two hills with castles on top with the curve of the town’s waterfront welcoming the Aegean sea. Cafes lined the boardwalk with shops, tavernas, and hotels moving up the hills. Narrow streets weaved in between crepe shops and jewelery makers, clothing stores and abandoned buildings. Apartments and tiny hotels occupied the top of buildings with wrought iron balconies with plants overflowing and people relaxing in the twilight. Older churches and buildings have been restored, modern touches may decorate the inside of trendy cafes but the outside is all traditional architecture which gives pedestrians a sense of simpler times.

The parade was just starting as we walked into town, Latin music playing incongruously from a loud speaker. A blow up doll served as one float, the red bikini pulled down revealing a very large breast. And kids ran around mindlessly in their costumes, their parents unconcerned with trivial details like naked blow up dolls.


The cafes and tavernas were packed with people and every hotel had been booked months in advance. We grabbed a sandwich and decided to walk up the 999 steps to the castle that stood on the highest point in Napflio. Napflio was the first capital in Greece and the castle stood on what was once the acropolis of the town. The castle itself dating back to the 19th century. So we began the climb as the sun was coming down to rest. Up and up we went stopping every level to remove sweatshirts and appreciate the view. Finally at the top the sun is setting behind mountainous islands in the Aegean. It was beautiful, the sun, the water, the little town below with people shouting and dancing to the music while others sat sipping coffee during their three day weekend. But of course, this being Greece, the sign located after the 999th step announced that the castle is close. Every day the castle closes at 2:45 despite the fact that the site gives view to a spectacular sunset. Not only is this ridiculous to close this early, the sign should be on the bottom so people don’t climb up to the top only to be disappointed. I didn’t care much, the sunset was beautiful from the stairs.

So after not seeing the castle, we climbed down the stairs and made our way to a taverna. It was nearly 8 o’clock so the tavernas were empty but we ate great Greek food as usual and made our way through the narrow streets back to the car.

In the morning it was time for café. It was a beautiful sunny morning and every Greek that was awake was sitting enjoying the slow pace of the town over coffee. Napflio is much like the islands, where the pace of life is dependent on how you are feeling. The carnival had people dancing in the street, men dressed as women, craziness all night long. But the morning brought people slowly out of bed, gathering along the water and feeling the sun beat down on their shoulders. Life there is for enjoyment.

And so we did enjoy ourselves. After coffee it was time to join some Greek friends for the big meal to start Lent. One of our men’s team players has a villa on the sea next to Napflio so that is where we went on Monday afternoon. We pulled into the private gated area, parked the car and walked into a huge living area with one side made up of two huge sliding glass doors looking out over a pool and the sea. When its warm the whole front of the house opens up to the seaside air. Past the pool and purple blooming rosemary bushes we made our way to the beach where a large group of people were eating and drinking. Greek people don’t eat meat during lent so it was all seafood. It was difficult eating fresh grilled octopus, huge prawns, and shellfish paella while looking out over the water with the sun shining. Did I mention they have servants? I was wondering when the guy grilling the octopus was going to sit down and eat something but then I realized he was the hired help. Yeah, that’s normal for me.

Another tradition for this holiday is kite flying. People used to make their own but now most people buy huge trapezoid kites from the gypsies with team logos or Pocahontas decorating the plastic. On the beach kites were flying so high you could barely distinguish the birds from the kites. Bright colors flew over head as we sat and ate and all weekend no matter where you were, you could see kites high in the sky. The kids of course wanted to fly one too so some of the dads attempted to launch a red and white kite. It wasn’t working…. at all. The kite got caught in the wind, flew up violently and then spun rapidly down to the beach reeking havoc on the fragile wooden beams and plastic cover. The duct tape was brought out, meetings were held, and procedure was changed. Too much ouzo and wine was the main problem. I kept thinking how many drunk Greeks does it take to fly a kite?

After eating for hours with sand under our feet we moved into the house to play games in the living room that opens up to the pool and sea. Playing games such as charades gets interesting when you don’t speak the language. My contributions consisted mostly of thinking up obscure movie titles that translate into something indescribable in Greek. Other than that I just watched and laughed or talked to the cute old Greek woman who, thinking I was English, told me of love letters she received from London from a young English soldier that had stayed in her parents house during the war. She was also the only non American I have ever met who like Bush. Maybe she was senile.

After an afternoon of too much food, drink, and games we started on the trip back to Athens. The sun was going down as we drove through farm country, the light caught in space between the hills and the seas. An old man sat on his porch , his Greek fisherman’s hat pulled down on his head, content with the moment. He looked like he had been there all day, and if I drove back next week he might still be sitting sideways in his chair. Farm workers, their skin visibly tanned from a distance, worked in a field on a day when the country all but shut down. It was a three day weekend, and much like in the states, the world felt deserted. People were gathered in houses and villages, everywhere but where we drove. We made our way up through the mountains, winding are way back to the mainland on steep roads through abandoned towns and closed up shops. Finally we made our way back to civilization when we joined 150,000 other cars on a piled up highway.

A trip that should take less than two hours ended up being about five as we crept slowly along, bottlenecking at every toll station and turn on the only road to Athens. For two hours we didn’t see a rest stop, restaurant or gas station because this strip of highway has nothing. Cars were pulled over on the side of the road, the shoulder being used as another lane. Men stood peeing over the metal barrier, looking out over the dark hills and nameless towns, one hand holding a cigarette, the other their…. you get the picture, as cars slowly passed.

Finally we made it into Athens and although the drive was long, the weekend was splendid. Napflio was the cutest town, the weather was ideal, and the Greek holidays are always fun to be a part of.


Happy Birthday Mommy!!!!