Facts & Figures

In this first week of Athens I have gone out of my way to collect some important facts and figures regarding this great place.

50% of the girls are named either Elena or Eleni. In case you chat up a Greek girl and due to the alcohol consumption you forgot her name, just call her Eleni. Less that 50% chance of a slap in your face.

Most common boys name is Georgos/Yiorgos. Ladies, if you forget the name of the Greek boy you're chatting up, just call him anything. He won't care as long as you don't slap him in the face... ;-)

After the opening ceremony, less than 50% of the Greeks still believe DJ Tiesto is Italian.

More than 50% of the locals smoke. This presents quite a problem as the entire Olympic complex is supposed to be smoke free. As you would guess, this objective set by the organising committee could be the theme of the next Mission Impossible movie. The number of self defined Official Olympic Volunteer Smoking Areas grows with each day.

The parking centre is very efficient if you're a male athlete. It takes you no time to catch the right bus which almost always leaves exactly on time. However, a female athlete should plan a 23 minute buffer to wade through the sea of extremely helpful smiling male volunteers (this includes Rene). For some reason this does not apply to weightliftsters...

Most popular athlete with the boys of the parking lot (yes, that also includes Rene from P3) is Dutch swimmer Inge de Bruijn. Whenever she needs a bus to the aquatic centre all valet boys drop whatever they're doing to run and make sure she gets on the right bus.

More F&F's later these games...

Roberto