Trikala – always a high point of our Greek trips! After a week or two of staying in goat farms and mountain villages we finally arrived in a city. You know, shopping, night clubs, internet cafes – whoa – internet cafes?!!! Yeah – so, despite that fact that we had a welcoming committee the size of a village, Thea Rena and I basically dropped off our bags and hightailed it to the nearest internet connection – about a 20 minute walk downtown. Facebook – check. Twitter – done. Oh yes – this feels so right! Guess I should check my email while I’m at it. What’s this then? An email from iCoke (Coca Cola) saying I’ve won something. Hmmm – I need to sign and mail back this release form within 7 days?! Humph – this email was sent 10 days ago. Ah crap. Well, what did I not win? A chance to run with the Olympic torch?! Double crap. Well, maybe I’ll just print and mail it now – I mean, what’s a couple of days between friends? So, in broken Greek I’m eventually able to get them to print it for me and I make my way to the post office – I mean, I might as well try right? So, I figure I’ve done what I can and we return back to our aunts – where about 20 people have met – we are going out for a BIG family dinner. Awesome! It was a great time, with my cousin Laki being a master of the English language I was able to enjoy 10 or so beers while discussing MJ, the internet, James Bond movies and a thousand other topics. A real fun night. We return home around 11:30PM and I decide to touch base with my mom, and check the messages at our house. Ah crap – its iCoke. They have been unable to reach me within the seven days and I need to call them right away or give up my prize. I frantically call the number and get a rep. As it turns out I really needed to have that thing postmarked within the 7 days. However, maybe if I can fax them a copy today they might be able to make an exception for me. Humph – everyone is asleep, I don’t speak Greek, I’m not really sure of the way and I’m half drunk. Not good. Well, we are talking a chance to run with the Olympic torch so I decide to throw on my shoes and head back downtown. I reprint the forms, sign them, and then make my way from hotel-to-hotel trying desperately to get someone to fax it for me. I return home around 3:00AM, having never got the forms faxed, I fall exhausted and defeated into bed. Anyway, this is dragging on long enough. In short, my cousin Laki does end up getting the fax sent and I have since learned that while nothing is official until the final winners list is revealed – I should not be making any plans for December 27th, 2009 – when I (hopefully) be running with the torch! It was a real pain to pull off but well worth it!
Mrs. C in the 'cousin buffet'
Anyway, back to Trikala. There were a TON of cousins, lots of great food and good times. Since I had one question about the food – let me just talk about it here – about the food in Greece generally. While I do like Greek food as a rule, I absolutely LOVE Greek food in Greece. The meat, vegetables and fruit are absolutely better tasting there. The theory is that all the food is fresh and local – the meat is never frozen and you can absolutely taste the difference. The fruit and vegetables there make ours taste like Styrofoam by comparison! Even there pizza is better! Greek pizza is good?! Oh hell yes – real cheese, fresh toppings, it really is awesome! Yes, there is a LOT of Greek salad being consumed, and feta cheese. Still, the food is just great – this cannot be said enough. Okay, well – I didn’t actually say much but that was week two in a nutshell. Join us next time when the Canucklehead family hits the beach and then makes our way home. Until next time …. OPA!
