The 2004 Olympic games have ended and I am feeling a little depressed. It began during the marathon which I watched after a day of swimming and snorkling on the island of Kea and increased in intensity last night watching the closing ceremony at a taverna in the town square of the village of Ioulida. I was filled with a nostalgia for the days and nights I spent in Athens, the energy of the games, the nightlife and just being on the familiar streets of the city I love, with so many people from so many countries. I know that the Olympics wont return in my lifetime so it is a feeling that may never go away because there will never be another time like Athens 2004, and those who were here will know what I mean. It was a wonderful experience to watch the Greek Baseball team take the Cubans to the brink while beyond the outfield Mount Hymmittus glowed in the setting sun. Hearing the cheers and chants that had become so familiar during Greeces unlikely run to the EURO 04 Football Championships being used to urge on the Greek baseball team in a packed stadium no less, was as close to heaven as I suppose I will get in this lifetime. Or watching the Greek basketball team scare the hell out of the US Dream Team in a stadium so loud it would make Ozzy Osbourn jealous is a memory I will treasure as will my 11 year old daughter who sat with me. I cheered for Greece and she cheered for the USA Even so for me the Olympics were a backdrop for the city rather than the other way around and I was caught asking myself during these games I wonder what is happening in Psiri? Or in the Plaka? Or Thission? Getting back to the center after an event was never disappointing. The city streets were alive no matter when you showed up and Athens was sparkling, playing the role of host city so well that it made the warnings of the US media look like sheer paranoia.

Website: http://www.greecetravel.com/2004olympics