Carnival is in full swing. It's the pre-lent season. Kim and I went all the way from our southern suburb apartment to Kifissia, the northernmost suburb that can be reached on the Metro. We were going to try one of the other few Roman Catholic churches that have mass in English. On the way back we had some revelers on our train. Kim wanted to be sure to get a picture, little knowing that we would have other opportunities.





Mass was at 11 a.m. but it took more than an hour to get to the church (it really is a long way). Along the way we passed the 2004 main Olympic Complex. As with most cities that host the games, venues are scattered all around, but the main complex is north of downtown, and it was our first time to see it.






After church we went back to the center of town. We got some take-out food from a Turkish place and ate in the square, while the pigeons waited for us to drop stuff. We were then off for a second visit to the wine festival: our last chance.














Outside the exhibition hall Carnival was all around. There were kiddie rides set up, food vendors of all kinds (typical carnival stuff - popcorn, candied apples, roaster chestnuts - you know)












There isn't a lot new to report from the wine festival - the same wines and distributors as before. We tried different things, though there were a couple of people who recognized us and said hello. We bumped into a tour group of Americans. They were from a winery in eastern Ohio that does annual wine tours. Not only were we excited to talk with some American wine lovers, but we were able to talk with their Slovene bus driver. The group was headed off to Turkey tomorrow.








I did want to add one new item from the wine festival. I saw this "Blink" sparkling wine. I didn't have any, but I thought someone needs to let Malcolm Gladwell know this exists. Maybe he can do a cross-promotional event with the winery. The bottles look pretty funky, too.

I'll leave you with a video of some dancers who were on a stage outside the exhibition hall: part of the Carnival festivities.