Diary Athens: Jan 27 - Feb 02, 2018

Feb 02
I have had E-readers since 2011. One of the best inventions together with email, that has happened in my life. Since I got my first E-reader I am reading a lot more. In my work as a tour guide it is imperative to have "mobile" things. Waiting at airports, sitting in planes and buses. Travelling, no "home base".
I think the Amazon Kindle paper white are the best of the bunch.
I needed some new books and since Tim Powers is my favorite writer and he belongs to the "Steampunk" movement, I decided to buy 3 books from James Blaylock. I will start reading them tomorrow.

Feb 01
Time is progressing rapidly. I'm flying back to Holland 3 weeks from now. I booked a flight to the US for March 28. Laundry this morning, everything is hanging up on the east side balcony, should be drying fast, it is another nice day!

Jan 31
Today was the warmest day, so far. Last night night I didn't sleep enough, but at 11.30 I fell asleep on the balcony for 90 min. When I woke up I decided to walk to the National Archaeological Museum and spend some time in the Egyptian collection.

Jan 30
After running, shower, hanging of wet running clothes on the washing line, a half hour rest on the east balcony. Only 45 min, it was getting too warm...
I have a 9 day tour starting March 31 in Las Vegas. So now I am looking for flights to Phoenix and Las Vegas from Amsterdam.
I could go from Amsterdam to Vegas on March 31, and wait there for the group to arrive from Germany.
If go home first I could take a Greyhound bus from Flagstaff to Las Vegas....
So, it all depends on airline ticket prices.
It is weird that a round trip is cheaper than a one-way ticket....

Jan 29
Stayed home today (half the day on the balcony), and worked on another video for my friend Hara.
Hara - Paintings (Space)

Jan 28
Beautiful day. After running I went sunbathing on the balcony.

and at noon I walked to my friend Hara's house. Brunch with her and a couple of other people.
Hara's brother, his daughter and Ira, a friend of Hara.

Also Achilles who was cooking in the kitchen, and Hara who did not want to be in the picture.
Ira's cat, watching all...

My contribution was Belgian chocolates

Nice day!

Jan 27
Sunny, no wind and chilly. I went to the market near Panormou Street.

oranges and apples

 small tomatoes and small fish

I had fish this small for the last time when I was thirteen. With my friend Max we went to his oldest sister and we had deep fried fish (which we had caught ourselves) with rice and vegetables. This was not, at the time, typical Dutch food, Max and his family came from Indonesia.
I have no deep fryer, so I'll have to try it with a skillet.

Diary Athens: Jan 20 - 26, 2018

Jan 26
Condition wise I am as good as I can get. If I lose 10 kg I would run about 20 seconds per mile faster, and then I could participate in the Olympics....Not really, I just want to keep running...

Germany

 Bryce Canyon

 Grand Canyon

 Canada

 USA: Flagstaff

Greece: Athens

 Den Haag

 Groningen

Jan 25
Yesterday and today where the coldest days, so far. Cold wind from the North, clouds and rain at night. Winter in Athens....well for Athenians, not me.

Jan 24
Utility bills came in the mail. They are 3 monthly. I went to the respective offices and payed the them (electric and water). The owner payed me back, we agreed that I would pay the gas bill (which hasn't come yet).

Jan 23
This was my morning:
Got up at 05.00. Drank tea and read newspapers on the internet. At 08.45 I walked to the Victoria station and took the Metro to Omonia. From there I walked over Stadiou Street to the
1) DEH Electric Utility office and paid the electric bill for Sep 2017-Jan 2018.

Next door was the head office of the Euro bank. I went in to ask about the possibility of opening an account. So many hoops to jump through (Although one, a 10,000.00 euro deposit is no longer required. But still needs verification, through the Dutch Embassy, of proof of residency, income, phone number, passport. In the USA I can open an account online in about 10 minutes).
I walked over Stadiou street to Syntagma to Voulou Street.
2) the Madras Tea store. 1 kilo of Chinese ChunMee tea for 3.68 euro. I am taken that back to Holland.
I took Ermou street towards Monastiraki and got vegetables at
3) The Agora Market on Athinai Street.
From there I walked to Omonia and took the metro back to Victoria station.
Total walk 6 km.
And now I'm back home and taking a 30 min siesta on the balcony. In the sun...

Jan 22
Went running this morning. In the rain (first time since I have been here), it went very well.
I have been running for +40 years now. There have been periods that I have not, when I am doing tours it is hard to with the time schedule, but I have always come back to it.
What I have noticed that conditional improvement does not go in a straight line. It seems to go horizontal for a period and then suddenly take an elevator up, stay horizontal again for a period, etc. The hard part is mental: there is no way of knowing when the elevator is there. I have to put in the miles on my 2 day schedule. Running without an end goal.
I wonder if decline works the same way, in reverse.
Does Dementia decline also stay horizontal (static) until it hits an elevator? Except that one goes down, not up.....
Anyway, pictures!

Jan 21
I stayed home the whole day, not sick anymore, but not enough energy....

Jan 20
Throwing up last night. Something I ate two days ago. I had two apples and an orange today and some Vounou (local herbal) tea.
I went to the market at Panormou this morning but other than that, I am staying home.

Diary Athens: Jan 13 - 19, 2018

Jan 18
I bought a sterling silver egg. The silver casing is wrapped around a solid core of some other material, 8 1/2 cm tall.

On the other side of the egg is an illustration of a seahorse and dolphins.

Jan 17
The Dutch Embassy: I left at 09.30 and took the subway to the Akropolis station. Walked from there to the Embassy. On the way some pictures

The notarisation of my "Proof of Life" document did not take long and it was free...
The last page of the four page document.

Repeat 1 year from now....

Jan 16
A lot of clouds in the morning, but it cleared up around 11.00. Laundry! (By hand)

 and Sun bathing....

After running I went to the Agora market.

1 kilo lamb. It is slow cooking now with onions, lentils, garlic and curry. Making a stew....

 and here is a sunset

Jan 15
I got a letter today from the Social Security Office in Holland. It said that I needed to get the letter notarized that I am still alive (I had to do the same in October), apparently this letter gets send out every year around my birthday. What it means is that I have to go somewhere in front of somebody who then writes on the letter that I am standing in front of him/her.
In the US I went to my bank, here in Athens I am going to the Dutch Embassy. I called them and asked for an appointment, and I was told to make an appointment through a website: www.nederlandwereldwijd.nl  So I did, I have an appointment on Wednesday.

Jan 14
Cloudy today, but it stayed dry. Cold wind from the North East.
Today was my best run since I have been in Athens.

The gaps on the timeline is for stopping at traffic lights. Today the average per mile was 30 seconds faster than on Dec 05. But that is because my uphill speed is faster and on the flat and downhill I'm recovering faster. (look at the heart rate difference)

Dec 05, 2017

Jan 13
It rained most of the night until about 10.00 this morning. Then the sun appeared.
So, I went to the "Van Gogh Alive" Exhibit. Interesting.....