My Greek Olympics: Dinner, Meeting, Meeting...

Out with Ron and George:

One night, George, Ron and I went to the Microlimani or "little harbor" or "Turkish harbor" for dinner. George was excited because it was the place where he had his wedding dinner some years ago. The restaurant was still there and Ron and I said it was OK to eat there. Though most people ate by the water, we went inside. George always said that you should never eat at a place that didn't have at least half the place full of Greeks, but this place had a bus load of American tourists. It was a group of American tourists all over the age of 60. The usual small talk of 'isn't this nice' could be herd over and over. We had a table off to the side of their large table and thankfully they were leaving soon, since they ate at an un-godly hour of 5 pm.

We went in and sat down, the expected talk of the elderly tourists filled the air, they were all excited to be there and what a wonderful dinner it was. We looked at the menu and did the usual Greek thing which was to ask to see what was in the kitchen. We picked out some fresh fish and shrimp, ordered some sides and wine, then out to the table to wait. The fish was good as well as the simply cooked shrimp and the sides were good as well. I enjoyed chewing on the fish head in front of the tourists. The bill was a lot, nearly 45 euros a piece. That was the last time I took George's advice on where to eat. Later I would find places that would pile the food on and it would cost a fraction of that meal.

Once we finished, we went out to walk around, the little harbor was lined with small seating areas and these were the seating area for the other restaurants. We should have eaten at one of these places, nice out-doors by the water, cooler and with more people, Greek people. We took a taxi back to the train station and rode back to the center of town, a stop at the Metropol was in order. This is the time when Ron would hang with us, he didn't drink, just a glass of wine or coffee. He would be the first off to the hotel calling it an early night. .

Meeting with EPSILON:

The first month was a fast paced secession of meetings and getting to know the sub-contractors. I took a taxi to the Epsilon offices, which was near Siemens in Marousi. I met with the GIS people at Epsilon and was introduced to Nikos, who was to be the person we dealt with. He was the person who helped during the demo to the government during the contract award process. I met the staff and the people at their office and saw their capabilities. The girls in the office were very cute and they all seemed to want to talk to me, but I didn't see much of the people at the office and only once in a while at a meeting. I met the president of the company, a woman who seemed happy to have me come by. I like the group and I would have a good relation with them during the project. Nikos was going to leave to do his military service and would be replaced by Dimitris, but that would happen in the summer.

Meeting at Coast Guard with Stavroula, meeting Tryphon:

I was called by Stavroula from the Coast Guard one day, she wanted a meeting and it would give me a chance to see the Coast Guard facility. The problem was I thought she had said to go to Voula, which is a town to the south. So I called Peter to drive me there, but at the last minute Ron told me it was at the port near Pasalimani. It saved me from going in the wrong direction, but I had to pay Peter for the ride and he wasn't cheep. I could have taken the train, but at this time I was still learning the place.

I get to the MMM and go in and tell them I have a meeting. I have to go through security and then wait for Stavroula to come and get me. She always looks good and her uniform wasn't bad on her. We go up and I am introduced to the Commodore and a few others. Tryphon comes in and we talk, this is the first real meeting with Tryphon. We talk and I am shown the current systems and they explain what they do. The Electronic Navigation Charts come up and I get an understanding of what they want. The contract specifies certain things, but the Police will get most of it. The Coast Guard wants more and this was a way for them to tell me.

Stavroula talks to me in her model type way and seem to always be posing for the camera. She should have been a model rather than a chemical engineer, though you would never know by looking at her. I am not sure if she wants me to ask her out on a date or talk about the system, I kept getting a feeling that she wanted something more from me. As it turns out, most Greek girls want/have to be married by 30 and if not they are looked down upon. I guess Stavroula was getting close, though she looked more like 25 than 30. She presses me on a few issues and I say I will look into them. Tryphon is all smiles and I give him my number to call me for any info they may need. Tryphon was a famous officer in the Coast Guard, he caught a ship smuggling cigarettes in the Med. I left and headed back to the center, I was kind of scared of Stavroula in that she always seemed to manipulate her meetings by acting the helpless girl.