Sam I am

After leaving the Main Press Center in Athens at 4:00 am, I arrived at the Airport around 4:45 am. Athens airport is not such a great place to hang out. Maybe it picks up after 6 am. I got on my Alitalia flight to Milan at 6:30, and arrived there at 10:30 am or so. Milan’s airport was really nice, although going through security again to get to the international departures terminal was a bit of a pain. The business class lounge in Milan was a lot nicer than the lounge in Athens. The people working there were nicer, and the food was a bit better. I got a nice espresso.

My flight from Milan to Washington, DC was simply incredible. The airline staff was wonderful, the food was quite good, and the seats were luxurious. And when I say the food was good, I mean it–it wasn’t just good for airline food, it was legitimately good food. I had two kinds of pasta, a nice dish of grouper, and a really nice dessert of fruits. There was gelato as well, but I didn’t want to stay up. I was able to sleep for four hours, and then I had a small meal before we landed.

Business class makes a big difference. If I had flown coach for nine hours, I would be a wreck right now. Getting in a really decent four hours of sleep made a ton of difference in my life. I was able to be a human being at the wedding, and I was able to actually work effectively today. Time Inc. definitely got its moneys worth.

I might dig up the menu from the international flight a bit later and pound it into the computer. It’s pretty impressive.

Many people have asked me what events I got to see in Athens. I left just after opening ceremonies. Before the ceremonies, there were only two soccer games and an archery session. (Two world records were broken at the archery session!) There were also a couple of dress rehearsals for the opening ceremonies, and I got to go to one of those. I loved it. I think some people are cynical about sporting events, but I still really enjoy going to most live events.

Here is my vantage point of the opening ceremonies of the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens:

:-) I’m not complaining; work went really well there and the technology is working out nicely. Part of me is really looking forward to going back on Thursday.

Our Athens offices are quite nice. We have a decent amount of space for everyone. An extra writer showed up at the last second, but we were still able to accommodate him. The office looks empty in the photo below, but keep in mind that it was taken at 11:00 PM Athens time on Friday as opening ceremonies were going on. Not only was it really crowded and busy before hand, but also it was really crowded and busy after.

Everyone say hi to Spencer! My desk was the one closest to the camera with the sign, “No pins at this desk.”

Opening Ceremonies are tomorrow. My flight to DC is the next morning. Yee ha.

The Lonely Planet Greek Phrasebook is a very nice phrasebook. It has a nice history of Greece and describes the cultural norms. I have tried to speak Greek a little bit. For example “thank you” is efcharisto. I also tried using some Greek last night for our cab ride home. “Right” is dheksios. Depending on the gender, it can also be dheksia or dheksio. “Straight” is isia. “Left” was the most interesting. According to the Lonely Planet Greek Phrasebook, “Left” is dheksia. I thought this was a bit odd at the time, and every Greek person I have mentioned this too thinks it is hilarious. “Left” is actually aristerA. I’m not sure if I like this phrasebook anymore.

Nine items left on the todo list; four of them are critical and are my responsibility.