Sunday in the Sun

A beautiful autumn day today. 

 A tough old rooster is slowly stewing on the outside gas stove.  We'll boil rice in the juices.  The tastiest rice you can imagine , full of flavour with a  little olive oil, lemon juice and lots of pepper added to the mix.  





The, hopefuly by now tender,  meat gets liberal squirts of lemon juice, a sprinkle of good fresh olive oil ( the first press of this years olive harvest) , and lots of fresh ground pepper.  A rustic meal with local sourdough bread and liberal doses of last years wine (it's Sunday so we can drink an extra glass or two).  The rooster was almost local. He came from a small rural 'farm' with goats and rabbits, just down the road, up the hill and round the corner .   Oh and a typical greek cabbage salad with a couple of cloves of garlic, carrot, celery and our own lemons.  The garlic will keep vampires and loved ones at bay for a few days.

Enough of the food.  Being a blog written in Greece the food always come first. Or almost first, behind the wine.

The men are outside in the sunshine happily fiddling with men-things 

In Athens the 'Authentic Marathon' (Classic Marathon I think we would call it)  has started.  42 odd kilometres from the town of Marathon, site of the 490BC battle between Greeks and Persians, to the Kallimarmaro (beautiful marble) Stadium in central Athens

The marathon finish line

Marathon start line

Thousands and thousands of runners from all over the world.  The first Kenyans and Ethiopians have already crossed the finish line in just over 2 hours.  

28 kilometres behind are hundreds of runners, many of them walking after their first 14ks but pushing on hoping to finish whatever time it takes.  We just saw a lady from Rotorua NZ with nordic sticks.

Marathons and triathlons are popular all over Greece.  Even Poros has it's own Triathlon.  The longest 'marathon' is the Spartathlon. This is an Ultra race, 250kms, from Athens to Sparta following the path taken by Pheidippides who ran from Athens to the city state of Sparta . 

If you're an athlete then put Greece on your running calendar

Kali sas mera

Good Sunday to you all