2004 Greece Olympics photographs posted
With the 2008 Olympics winding down and our plane tickets to Germany purchased, I thought that I would upload and post my photographs from my month’s stay in Greece for the 2004 Athens Olympics. I worked within the International Broadcasting Centre (IBC) for the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC). You can still read my blog from Athens, called It’s all Greek To Me, Stephen at the Olympics over on Blogger. I was able to write between day and evening shifts while I was employed. I did not however blog about my stay in Greece after the Olympics were over which included my trip to Ancient Olympia. My trip to Greece was my first plane and international travel. It created my interest in seeing more of the world, and made the world smaller, yet more foreign and amazing.
The following is an excerpt from one my posts called “List of Athenian Institutions - Friday, August 27, 2004.”
List of Athenian Institutions
- The Greek Orthodox Church
- Feta Cheese
- Coca-Cola (NOT Pepsi)
- Sprinkled oregano and salt
- Afternoon in and nights out
- Street side kiosks of ice cream, soft drinks, and magazines
- Dining outside
- Family bakeries
- Sitting silently on public trains and buses
- Anything with a techno beat
- Cucumber or olive mayonnaise on dry, chewy bread
- Cans of soda with to-go meals
- Exact change, yes, EXACT change
- Parties of eight paying on one meal bill
- No paper flushed in toilets
- Pictures of cats with blue and white cloth on postcards for tourists
- Half-built buildings with rebar (it’s for tax purposes)
- Roasted corn and sugared donut stands
At the time, I was somewhat timid about traveling and as a college student ever aware of my budget. I did not travel as much as I would have, nor see as much as I wanted to. If I visited Greece again, I would travel to more islands, rent mopeds and get lost. As one Greek told me, Athens is as ugly as any other city and that I needed to get into the countryside to really see how beautiful Greece is. I had no desire then and still do not want to visit bars or clubs at 2am. I’ll pass on the ouzo and olives, too.
View my photographs from the 2004 Olympics in Greece.
Reminder to subscribers: In order to distinguish personal from professional, our photography address has changed. It is no longer at SMJdesign.com. Our new photography site is LlamaAndLamb.com/photos/
Further Reading on Current Events
- And we wonder why we have a debt problem
- Voting and photographing the election in Indiana
- Scaffolding rescue from my building, downtown Indianapolis






September 12th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
I’m with the Greeks on the Coke, but I don’t even want to contemplate what they do with the TP if they don’t flush it.
I’ve only traveled around the western part of the US. I look forward to travel in my future, after my kids are grown, and I definitely want to see Greece.