August 14 Continuation

Sometime Saturday Kathy realized that she was running out of her asthma medication. Too late we realized we might have called Theodosia and had her bring more from Athena. We expected to be returning to Athens ourselves by now, but plans had been changed by her ER visit.

Sunday we spent a quiet day resting. As the supermarket was closed, Christos went to town and bought a cooked chicken and some fried potatoes and we had the usual Greek salad. O, yes, and pagoto. Theodosia who can not remain quiet for long, told us we would go to Marathona early on Monday to see where the Marathon race originated and we would be home by noon before the sun was high.

Theodosia told us that older Greeks say you can find your way anywhere by asking people. We supplemented her asking with a very good map of Attica that we bought from the bookstore. When we found the tomb of the Greeks and Persians who were buried on the field of the Marathon struggle, it was closed! It was Monday! A huge grass-covered mound covers their graves. We took a few pictures, then tried to find the place that housed the Marathon Trophy, but the signs we had been following suddenly stopped and we did not find it. Instead we found the 2004 Olympic rowing center. Occupied solely by the guard at the entrance, it is used as a training center, the water having been diverted from the sea; the rowing lanes are visible, the bleachers stand empty. We took some pictures and then Theodosia said we would go and see the only lake Attica has and it is man-made.

The mountains come down close to the sea in Marathona and we drove up the mountain about half an hour to Lake Marathona formed by a dam, which serves a a supply of water for Athens. It was built in 1924, during one of the short periods Greece was not at war. The placard said that the Ulen engineering firm from the United States helped the Greeks to build it. Theodosia says that the older people, when asked if their water is good say, oh, yes, it is Ulen water.

When we returned to the house, Kathy's medical needs were made known to Christos and he agreed to go to Athens to get the medications. Kathy was going too and they would return the next day. He delayed in getting started and Kathy and I played cards to keep ourselves awake. At 12:30 p.m. he startled us by coming into the room and saying he would get the medications, that it was late now, and Kathy did not need to come. So Kathy drew him a map of the bedroom in Athens and explained where the medications were. She said she needed them by 10:00 a.m. the next day. We retired. Theodosia assured us that Christos would have them in Rafina by 10 the next morning - and he did.