On Friday the third of September, there was a group of tired and fairly pale people gathering at the airport Kastrup in Copenhagen, Denmark. We were excited about the next ten days which we would spend in Greece. In Athens and Naxos, celebrating the wedding of C and G.
The first day, arriving in Athens we were greeted with scorching heat and a waiting bus which took us to our hotel, Marriott Ledra. We had some lunch on the roof and then went for a nap.
The rest of the afternoon were spent relaxing by the pool and catching up with old friends.
We had dinner and met with some of G's family, on the roof of the Hotel, looking out over Athens with Acropolis in focus. I felt something come over me, starting at the top of my neck and moving down my shoulders and into my tummy. I was starting to relax and unwind.
The next day I went on a sightseeing tour with Jeanette, Jimmy and their two boys Neo and Adrian. We travelled with a sightseeing bus and saw many of the old Greek buildings, Acropolis obviously being the main attraction
After a quick shower and some curling of my own and Jeanettes hair we were picked up by the bus and driven to a small village by the sea. C and G said their "I do's" and promised to love each other forever and ever as the sun set over the small chapel on a cliff.
Even though I didnt understand what the orthodox priest said, it was very moving and emotional, there is something very special about being part of a wedding, especially when it is a dear friend like C who is getting married.
The dinner and party was held in a small cosy tavern, it felt very authentic and I cant imagine C and G and G's family arranging a wedding in anything that wasnt traditional Greek. So we ate dinner under the stars and drank a lot of wine.
It is not custom in Greece for the guests to make speaches, like in Sweden so we were able to start the dancing shortly after dinner. The maid of honor Sandra and the sister of the bride did say some beautiful words to C and G and since I was already in a bit of an emotional state I had to fight hard and think of some seriously funny things to stop me from crying like a crazy woman. I love personal speaches, no one have ever held a speech for me - which can be because I am not married - but I hope that one day there will be close friends saying nice words about and to me at a party where we celebrate love.
Sandra toasting the bride and groom
The rest of the nght was spent dancing
And dancing
A lot of dancing
Then we danced some more
Very late at night, after we had eaten cake and after we had finished the wine, the bus came and picked us up and drove us back to the hotel where me and my roomies Frida and Lina crashed in bed, talking and giggling like we did at sleepover parties when we were still in school.
The next day, Sunday, I went to the salon in the hotel to get my eyelashes dyed. Turns out it was easier said than done...the ladies didnt speak very good english so when I said I wanted colour on my eyelashes they brought out the mascara. It took a lot of bodylanguage, handgestures and nodding of heads, but in the end we had established that I wanted "blue/black" eyelashes. I was very happy with the result, but then I was offered to dye my eyebrows aswell. I was prepared for this and had established with myself that this was NOT going to happen. Since my hair is blond and my skin extremely pale I always end up looking rather odd with dark eyebrows. Even when they are supposed to use a "lightbrown" colour...
So I was a bit surprised to hear myself saying "OK" to having them coloured...
I had a niggling feeling in my belly that it wouldnt end well, and I was right...the "lightbrown" was infact bordering on black..
But the ladies in the salon opened their eyes wide, "ooohhed" a lot and said I looked PERFECT!! "Just like Greek!"
I tried to put it gently to them that I am not Greek...and I havent got the skin tone of a greek lady. I was then offered to spraytan my face to make it more even...
I just thanked them for their help and ran up to my room.
The rest of the day was spent by the pool on the roof or in my case, in the room reading a fantastic book I borrowed from Lina. I had a terrible stomachache and realised a day spent in my own company was just what I needed at that point.
When my roomies returned after their day in the sun they persuaded me to come in to town for dinner, which was great.
We got a cab from the hotel which dropped us off in the Plaka district, wandered around, looked in the shops and bought some souvenirs before heading off to find a nice restaurant. We were stopped by a gentleman who introduced himself as Langos, and he showed us the menu from his restaurant. He was very persuasive and wouldnt take no for an answer, so we ate souvlaki, greek salad, bread, lamb and drank red wine and ouzo.
It was a great evening, taking in Athens by night. It is a beautiful city, although the fumes and toxins from the cars are sometimes overpowering, and I would like to return maybe in November or the early spring.
Sitting in a taxi back to the hotel, driving through the streets in the warm night listening to the radio playing "Only you" by the Platters, I had a sense of being truly alive. I wanted to put my head through the sunroof (although this cab didnt have one...) and drag the dirty air deep into my lungs and awaken the beast, the travelbeast which have been asleep for too long now...
Back at the hotel we bumped in to a very happy Andreas, who had been for dinner with Sandra and their closest friends. He was wearing a ring on his fourth finger matching the one on Sandras hand. In a very romantic place he asked her to be his wife and be with him forever. And she said yes! So now we had one wedding and one engagement to celebrate.
We carried on up to our rooms to pack and get some sleep before a very early start on Monday morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment