Page 3 from: June 2007
V I E W P O I N T
After a wonderful time spent sailing around theSaronic islands of Aegina, Poros and Hydra, we
took a taxi from the port of Piraeus to Athens where
the BIR Spring Convention was to take place the
following week. And the first thing we did when we
got to our hotel room was to fill the bath-tub with
warm water and soak in it for an hour or so, scrub-
bing a week’s salt from our skin and washing our
hair for the first time in what seemed like ages.
The next morning, we decided to go to the oldest
part of Athens – the Plaka – which is located at the
foot of the world-famous Acropolis. According to the
Greeks, the Plaka is a must-see
place. And although it may have
been a charming part of town at
one time, today it’s just another
tourist trap like you find all over
the world. The area is stacked
with cafés, bars, restaurants
and, above all, tourist shops.
They sell all the stuff tourists
like to buy when in Greece: ouzo and olives; pista-
chios and pottery; sponges and souvlakia; clothes
and shoes; and, above all, jewellery.
Needless to say, this was an earthly Paradise for
my wife. Within a couple of hours, I was carrying
bags loaded with three pairs of leather slippers
(‘They are so cute and so cheap, darling, I can’t
leave them here!’), two coats of the same design but
in different colours, two blouses, pants, a shawl,
sunglasses and a beautiful green amber necklace
which, as Helga pointed out, matched the ring and
earrings she had bought four weeks earlier when
we had visited New Orleans.
As we strolled on, the heavens opened and rain
came bucketing down. We sat under the sunshade
of a restaurant and took an early lunch even though
we were not really hungry. A waiter appeared, took
our orders and headed back to the restaurant on
the opposite side of the street. The rain was leaking
through the sunshade on to the imitation leather
sofa on which I was sitting. And as I struggled to
prevent the stormwater from flooding my pants,
I looked up to see Helga staring over my shoulder
with a look of sheer exaltation on her face. I looked
round to see one of the assistants wiping rainwater
off the table behind us – a Sisyphean task given
that the rain was continuing to pour down with
almost Biblical vigour.
I turned back to find that Helga had not moved at
all – she was still staring with gleaming eyes and
lips slightly parted as if she was about to start
drooling. Worried she was not feeling well, I asked:
‘Is something wrong, darling?’
She did not hear me. I repeated
the question again, a little loud-
er this time. ‘Helga, are you all
right?’ She slowly returned to
the land of the living. ‘What did
you say?’ she asked in a far-
away voice. ‘Are you okay, dar-
ling?’ I said again. ‘Of course I
am,’ she said. ‘Why are you asking?’ ‘Because all of
a sudden you seemed to be in a kind of catatonic
stupor,’ I replied. For a moment, she looked
puzzled, but then a smile lit up her face. ‘No, no,
I was just looking at this waiter behind you,’ she
admitted. ‘He’s so handsome with his black curly
hair, steel-blue eyes like Robert Redford in his
younger days, thick eyelashes and sensuous mouth.
I just couldn’t keep my eyes off him.’
Was it just my imagination or was she really look-
ing at my 56-year-old and slightly overweight body
with disdain? ‘But he’s only a waiter,’ I said in a futile
attempt to deflect Helga’s attention from this Greek
god. Alas, my words had the opposite effect. ‘Well,
at least he’s taking good care of his body,’ Helga
snapped, ‘and that’s more than many other men
can say!’ As she resumed looking over my shoulder,
the same ecstatic expression washed over her face.
Wasn’t it Homer who once said: ‘Beware of
Greeks bearing gifts?’
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In April, Helga and I spent a great week on holiday with
friends in the Mediterranean. We sailed, sunbathed, and
enjoyed great food and drinks together. And on return-
ing to Athens for the BIR Spring Convention, we had
some time available to sample the city’s attractions…
Beware of Greeks…
BIR
‘I just couldn’t
keep my eyes
off him’
Manfred Beck
Editor
RI_003 Viewpoint:Viewpoint 11-06-2007 09:01 Pagina 3
