The last couple days have been truly enjoyable. We've been staying in a villa just outside of Athens with friends of Chris's family (named Marcy and George). They have been extremely hospitable and both of them seem to embody the attitude and personality I expected from native Greeks.The first night we were there they picked us up from the metro station nearest to their house and then took us for a late dinner (around 10:45). Since most people in Greece eat dinner quite late, this was not out of the ordinary. The place they took us to will be something that will stay with me for quite a long time when I think back about this trip. They made reservations at a nice little outdoor restaurant that sits just along the Aegean sea. The atmosphere was absolutely amazing. It was a topas type restaurant where you order multiple appetizers and share them among your group. The food was hands down some of the best greek food I've ever eaten.
We had everything from domathis to spanakopita plus several things I have never eaten before. Of course all this was served with a considerable portion of wine (which Greeks seem to drink at almost every meal). I'm not a big wine person, but even the wine here is phenomenal. After we started working our way through the copious amounts of food that had been laid out in front of us, a greek band came on and started to play live music.
At this point it was about 11:30 (on Sunday night keep in mind) and people were just starting to trickle in for dinner and drinks. The local band was absolutely amazing. I can't even begin to describe the musical style that they performed because I have never heard anything like it. They had traditional a traditional bouzouki guitar, a regular guitar, keyboard, and bongos. Plus an amazing female vocalist. Everything was sang in Greek of course, but George was kind enough to translate some of the lyrics for us as they were playing. The music was filled with tragedy, drama, heartbreak, and hope. The poetry wrapped in these songs was like nothing I've ever heard before. I never realized how poetic the greek people can be when writing about their lives.After about a half an hour into the show, it really started to get interesting. There were two large tables in front of the band filled with people probably in their early to mid twenties. Suddenly, the bongo player came off the stage with this bongs and hopped on their table and started cranking out a bongo solo like no other. Then the female singer started the lyrics and the guitar players came in, in dramatic fashion. All the people at this table seemed to know the lyrics to this song and several extremely attractive greek women hopped up on the table and started dancing as well. It was just amazing to watch. The guys at the table then took some more women from the table and started greek dancing in front of the band. Then they started selling flowers that were to be thrown at the dancers while dancing. After they finished that, the men and women split off and one of them began doing a solo dance while the others knelt in front of him singing and encouraging him. They each took turns doing this and then the women did the same. It was an unreal experience to watch how differently these people in their twenties party in their culture. In America I can't really even fathom a restaurant that would allow people to get on their table and start dancing. It made me feel like in a lot of ways we really don't know how to truly celebrate life in our culture and have a good time. There are too many rules and restrictions around everything that we never can really break free and celebrate like we all should.
After a fantastic evening, we left the restaurant at around 1:30 a.m. and the party was still going strong. A lot of people were actually just starting to come out at 1:30 a.m. Most of the bars and restaurants along the sea are open until 6:00 a.m.
We ended our evening at about 2:15 a.m. and slept really well with the windows open enjoying the warm breeze coming off the Aegean Sea.
