Snow in Athens

It's snowing in Athens and all over Greece and it is snowing in my computer in North Carolina. Today half the e-mails I have received are photos of snow in Athens and I am going crazy because it is 61 degrees, sunny and humid (as usual) here. I got an e-mail from Athina at Fantasy Travel that said "SOS-Please put on the site that it is snowing in Greece and we have 60cm of snow and probably nobody will be able to get to the office for at least a couple days". My friend Erin in Santorini says its even snowing there and people are freaking out and driving to see the snow on the caldera. Businesses will be closed for 2 days (at least). The last time I was in Greece and it snowed was the winter of 2001-2 I think. See http://www.athensguide.com/snow/

Every time there is an 'event' in Greece I have this gnawing feeling inside that I should be there. I feel out of place in the USA anyway but I really feel it when everyone in Greece is having a similar experience and I am not. Its a cross between nostalgia and jealousy. My most memorable snowstorm as a kid was in Athens in 1963-4 and I remember taking the school bus from the American School to my friend's house in Kifissia and passing the house of George Papandreou and everything was covered in snow.

It rarely snows in North Carolina. It doesn't rain either. It's hot and humid in the summer. It's even hot and humid in the winter sometimes. So why are so many Americans moving here? They are following the money. There are jobs here and the more people who come the more service jobs are created. But right now I would sell my house for the price of an airline ticket to Athens to get there in time to play in the snow.

Still getting things together for the NY Times Travel Show next week. I am printing up a few thousand postcards to give away and hopefully they will be done by the time I leave. I had a dozen photos to choose four from and it took me all weekend to decide on them. Stella from Asimina helped and so did my friend Laurie who is a hairdresser but travels all the time. I asked Andrea to help me and instead she showed me a thousand of her own photos and tried to get me to use one of hers. Are all artists so self-absorbed? She didn't even look at my photos. Finally I forced her to choose from mine and she picked one that I was not even considering. Anyay these are them. Let me know what you think. The last one is the one Andrea picked. Stella and I chose the middle two and I chose the first one which is sort of my logo since it is pretty much what I see when I look out the window of my house in Kea. Let me know what you think even though it will probably be too late by then and they will all be printed. matt@greecetravel.com

But to be honest with you the fact that I am in the states is what makes my site good (or at least large). If I lived in Greece I would not get anything done. Its too much fun there. Sitting in front of a computer for hour after hour writing about Greece, answering e-mails and editing photos and web pages seems like a waste of time when the alternative is going out exploring, taking pictures, eating, drinking and meeting new people in Greece. In America where my options are shopping, taking a walk, or going to an ethnically challenged restaurant (there is not one Greek restaurant in my town!), spending 10 hours a day writing about Greece is like therapy. But I am looking forward to New York. George from Fantasy Travel will be there and my rock n roll pal Leigh, and there are more Greek restaurants to experience. And if I can't get to Athens I guess NY is the next best thing. Maybe it will snow!

Play All My Friends from Greece