Today the team arrived in Rhodes Town, on the northern tip of the island of Rhodes. Rhodes is actually much closer to Turkey than to mainland Greece, but its residents have considered themselves Greek for over one thousand years. We'll discover more about the island tomorrow night, when the team visits the Town and has a traditional Greek dinner and dance.
Today, we were too tired to discover much of anything. That was actually a little strange, since almost everyone slept on the plane, including Avery Long:
Once we arrived, about 4pm local time (9am Eastern Time), the Greek police collected our passports:
Notice that he's dropping them into a plastic grocery shopping bag. Very professional.
Then we drove about 20 minutes up the coast to our hotel, the Rodos Palace. On the way we passed several landmarks, including this cross atop the highest point on the island:
and lots of Greek homes, which use solar power to heat their water and are constructed to make the most of the sea breezes:
When we arrived at the hotel, we found that it lives up to its name, at least in terms of the view:
Well, this is the view from the coaches' room, anyway. Alan Hill and Wes Thompson have a view of the pool and were a little shocked at the nature of male swimwear in Greece (photo not included).
Next, the team ate dinner, and Coach Ken proudly pushed the guys to sample the spinakopita, bakhlava, and whitefish with yogurt sauce, which most of the players did (especially Larry Mills and Brandon Chan!). Others clung to the spaghetti. Team USA thought the hotel did not live up to its name when they wanted to charge us for still water at dinner...but it says something when the hotel won't serve tap water, so the coaches have decided to supply the players with liters of water each day and each night, in addition to the good water they'll get at training.
After dinner, the team took an evening stroll on the rocky beach, which produced some collector's items and some nice skipping stones. Coach John, Larry, and Wes proved to be excellent skippers.
Then the walk finished with a great team picture:
...just as the sun was setting over the ocean:
After returning to the hotel, it was time to get to sleep. The guys are hoping to wake up with our bodies on Greece time and ready for an 8:30 am training session. Tomorrow's session may be followed by a friendly and final preparation scrimmage against Ireland (who is joining us in the Palace) on Wednesday or Thursday. Details to follow.
One last bit of news that requires no additional details...ESPN has just announced that it's online channel, ESPN3.com, will carry the Opening Ceremonies of the Special Olympics World Games live from Athens on Saturday, June 25, from 1-4pm Eastern time. Please visit espn.com to register for ESPN3 coverage, so you can look for us!!
Today, we were too tired to discover much of anything. That was actually a little strange, since almost everyone slept on the plane, including Avery Long:
Once we arrived, about 4pm local time (9am Eastern Time), the Greek police collected our passports:
Then we drove about 20 minutes up the coast to our hotel, the Rodos Palace. On the way we passed several landmarks, including this cross atop the highest point on the island:
and lots of Greek homes, which use solar power to heat their water and are constructed to make the most of the sea breezes:
When we arrived at the hotel, we found that it lives up to its name, at least in terms of the view:
Next, the team ate dinner, and Coach Ken proudly pushed the guys to sample the spinakopita, bakhlava, and whitefish with yogurt sauce, which most of the players did (especially Larry Mills and Brandon Chan!). Others clung to the spaghetti. Team USA thought the hotel did not live up to its name when they wanted to charge us for still water at dinner...but it says something when the hotel won't serve tap water, so the coaches have decided to supply the players with liters of water each day and each night, in addition to the good water they'll get at training.
After dinner, the team took an evening stroll on the rocky beach, which produced some collector's items and some nice skipping stones. Coach John, Larry, and Wes proved to be excellent skippers.
...just as the sun was setting over the ocean:
After returning to the hotel, it was time to get to sleep. The guys are hoping to wake up with our bodies on Greece time and ready for an 8:30 am training session. Tomorrow's session may be followed by a friendly and final preparation scrimmage against Ireland (who is joining us in the Palace) on Wednesday or Thursday. Details to follow.
One last bit of news that requires no additional details...ESPN has just announced that it's online channel, ESPN3.com, will carry the Opening Ceremonies of the Special Olympics World Games live from Athens on Saturday, June 25, from 1-4pm Eastern time. Please visit espn.com to register for ESPN3 coverage, so you can look for us!!
Thanks for the updates Ken--we're following and rooting along.
ReplyDeleteChristian and Jenn