Well…we are our way back after 10 days of wonderful sights, fun volleyball, and new found friends.  I think this was actually 3 trips in one: training camp, the season, and vacation.  Let me explain:

Training Camp was held at the Loutraki Sport Camp.  The Sport Camp reminded me of the cabins you would rent at a campground.  We all had to adjust to new shower requirements as there were no shower curtains or bath tubs.  You had to stand in the corner on an elevated tile platform and use a shower head on a hose.  This led to soaking everything in the bathroom, several near slips and lots of laughter.  Cindy and I shared a cabin with 8 bunk beds.  I could not convince her to take a top bunk so we both had our own bottom bunk, Lucy and Ricky style. There was an air conditioner with a mind of its own.  We woke every morning almost seeing our breath. I’m pretty sure the Greeks did this to us on purpose.  The days at the camp were busy.  We were either on a tour or the girls were at practice.  Most of the parents slept in when the girls had gym time, our neighbors Barbara and Anna slept in regardless of the schedule.  The sight seeing tours covered everything you would see on a post card.  The Parthenon, Acropolis, numerous theatres, naked statues, etc, all were awesome.  It was hard to imagine a culture able to accomplish these great works 2500 years ago.  The attention to detail coupled with the engineering capability would rival anything we build today.  Truly amazing and I would recommend Athens to anyone.  We all agreed that you need about 2 days in the city to see all of the sights and get a little shopping in.  I felt safe and the Athenians spoke enough English to make it all work.

The Season: The girls played last weekend over two days in 2 different gyms.  The matches were fun to watch and everyone was proud of the play.  The Iraklis team was extremely strong.  They are a 15 and under team that is one of the top clubs in Greece.  They played very disciplined volleyball and beat our oldest girls the first day.  The oldest team is a mixture of high school seniors, current college players and has beens (sorry Janice).  By day 2 the senior team was clicking on all cylinders and came back to win. After the weekend play CJ created beach teams and we had a beach volleyball tourney at the Sports Camp.  All of the teams were mixed up and everyone had a blast.  We were even visited by a stray dog wandering on the courts and interrupting play.  Fun night! The evening concluded with a Toga contest won by our daughter Claire.

Vacation in Paros!  What a great little island.  This was the icing on the cake for me.  Beautiful sunshine every day, a crystal clear blue ocean, and friendly people.  The hotel was simple and clean.  We had real bath tubs and shower curtains which brought a return to simplier hygene habits.  The dinners were all wonderful.   We were served by Marco and Marco who introduced the “1 for 2” concept, one plate of food for two people. The parents were able to rent mopeds and dune buggies for an island tour on Thursday.  This was a sight to see, groups of 6 to 10 mopeds cruising around like a biker gang. We explored small towns, remote beaches, and a few ruins.  The buildings are all painted white and blue remains the most popular trim color.  The beaches were clean and the views were remarkable.  Yesterday was a beach day and one last volleyball match.  The volleyball match was entertaining.  I think they pulled moms out of their homes and threw jerseys on them.  This little town all came out to watch the show.  We played on a concrete court at a small school in the middle of town.   All of the town folk surrounded the court and cheered for every Greek point.  I was hoping to avoid any international incident here because our setter was taller than any of the Greek players.  Our girls played well and won gracefully.  At the end of the match you realized it was not about the volleyball.  It was all about this friendly little town on the island of Paros who got to play these giant Americans.  It was about strong family relationships and beautiful churches all centered upon centuries of history and tradition.  I bet they will be talking about this one match for years to come.

Well, my story in Greece has almost concluded.  We’ll spend most of the day on a ferry returning to Athens.  We all fly out in the morning and the real world will return.  It has been a great pleasure making new friends and spending time with your wonderful kids.  These young ladies are amazing people. You would have been proud how they conducted themselves during this memorable adventure.  From somewhere in the middle of the Aegean Sea….