Saturday, January 15, 2005

The Year That Was 2004........


As it is January, it seems only fitting to have a quick look back at a few of last year's highlights. Obviously the major point was leaving work to move to Greece, not a small step under any circumstances, but one that has so far had been a complete success.
Travelling again was a large part of the year, visits to Amsterdam, Barcelona, Iceland, Venice, The Maldives, Paris, Athens and America etc were brilliant fun.
The Olympics were way beyond expectations and we got very lucky with our selction of events. When we attended the athletics, Great Britain were in top form. We were fortunate enough to see Kelly Holmes and the relay team collect gold, possibly Steve Backleys goodbye and Amir Khan secure the silver medal. Wheeling and dealing in a huge market square called Monistaraki was quite a thrill as we secured tickets valuable to others, which meant we could swap them for more important events to us. We also saw Basketball and the final of the football amongst others.
Continuing along this theme, one of the funniest moments of the year had to be our pursuit of tickets for the closing ceremony. We did originally have them but sold them as we got a very good offer which meant we made a profit and got tickets for the final of the boxing. This was three or four days before the ceremony. Anyway, we had no joy finding any more throughout the actual day so we went to the Olympic Stadium to see what we could do. The going rate appeared to be in the region of 500 euros at best....that is until I stumbled upon a small guy, well built, trying to sell one ticket. After MUCH debate on price, I finally got him to sell it for 100 euros. I was ecstatic. I saw Tony about 100 yards away and approached him as he was trying to buy two tickets for us, at 300 each. I said I had just got one, worth 750 euro for only 100. Well, it turns out matey boy, who just sold me the ticket, saw this. Tony was actually talking to his "council". The guy I got the ticket from was the coach of the Azerbijan Wrestling team, recently awarded the Gold Medal. I have to say, a huge row ensued as he tried to get the ticket back from me. It actually got pretty scary at one point. Anyway, I gave him a bit extra money and he went on his merry way. Tony also managed to get a 100 euro ticket at face value.
Tony was kind enough to provide me with another highlight of the year. I mean, who could possibly forget the sight of him rolling down the inside of a dormant volcano in Iceland as he tried to beat me to the bottom. The frozen lake at the bottom beckoned but unfortuantely his somewhat rotund frame did not reach the bottom. The comedy value involved in that was unrivalled.
I know I have a photo of the clean up process, I will try and publish it soon.
Keep Safe. Posted by Hello

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.