The Big FIVE for Dimitri!

Hi everyone! Sorry it’s been awhile since we’ve blogged but we’ve been traveling again so we're a bit behind. Bill and I have been spending the majority of our time up in Thessaloniki but last week we traveled back to Athens to celebrate Dimitri’s 5th birthday.

But first, Saturday Oct 28th was Ochi Day, one of the major holidays on the Greek calendar. Greeks commemorate the day their government said “Ochi!” (“No!”) to Hitler and Mussolini using Greek land for military operations during World War II. John and Iro took us to the Ochi Day parade in Voula, where all the spectators waved Greek flags along to the music while all the local schoolchildren and marching bands filed down the street.

After the parade, Bill and I visited Mary, a friend and former co-worker of mine. Mary and her husband Nick live in Athens with their twin boys, Johnny and Teddy (who are so big now and doing extraordinary things). They’ve been living in Athens for the past 3 years so it’s been awhile since we had seen them. Their home in Filothei sits atop one of the highest points in Athens, overlooking the new Olympic stadium and the other Olympic venues. It was great catching up with Mary and getting some more pointers about Greek life, as Mary seems to thrive wherever she is. Nick was out of town but we hope to see them all again before we head back to the States.

That Sunday afternoon was Dimitri’s birthday party and like all Greek festivities, it was quite an event. It was a perfect fall day for the kids (all 30 of them). Iro made a huge spread of delicious food, they hired a really funny clown that the kids (and adults) loved, and most importantly Dimitri had a blast! We were so glad we could be there.

On the following Tuesday Bruce and Tina arrived. It was really good to finally see them and we had so much fun together. Bill will give you all the details…..

Yiasas!

Amanda