GREECE

About a month ago I awoke to the most exciting email to date. It was from my pal Eric Green asking if going to Greece for a Snowboard Canada feature would be something i would be interested in. Without a thought of expense I said yes and my day was started with a beat in my step. Telling people you're going snowboarding in Greece to snowboard can be confusing as I found out rolling though the airports on the way, the officials would question me and either laugh or look at me as if I were lying. We made it through airport after airport and a day later we met up with the other two members of the crew: Geoff Andruik and Dominique Vallee. By 9pm we were rolling on our way to our hotel in the downtown area of Athens when we past a sweet riot going on, police surrounded them awaiting an act of violence so they could beat the protestors mercelessly. the manager of our hotel told us yes the protest happens very often, the people are passionate and they protest whenever they get the chance. Apparently the Police over there shot some kid a while back and people since then get up in arms whenever things don't meet their needs.  The Next day we blasted on up to our first resort Vasilitza. 

The resort resides 5 hours north of Athens and took us 10 its a good thing we made it inwhen we did because a massive storm came in as soon as we parked. 1850 is covered in snow and the building attached to it has seen better days, but is the main visible part. it resembles something out of a horror story, kind of like the shining a desolate building up in the mountains with chipped paint and red shutters. The Founder of the place was murdered in the town below back in the day for messing with some pimps girls. the first night i ended up having a nightmare about him and awaking terrified in a sweat.  Nothing about the place should have scared someone, the people Theo and Maria are the sweetest couple that ran the place and all the Greeks that came to stay and have drinks were very kind and hospitable. 

The first day of snowboarding was looking pretty harsh. Hurricane force winds blowing snow and thick fog made it hard to find features suitable for a magazine.  It had snowed for the previous week and we lucked out with some really great snow when it cleared up. 

One of the traits of greece that really sets it apart are the trees, they are unlike any other tree i have ever seen and snowboarding through them really provides a unique feel to snowboarding on a mountain.  after the five days hiking and building features we were ready for a change so we had our last meal at vasilitza and took off for Parnasos just outside of Athens.  

We arrived in Parnasos and got set up at the Vans house which was so great, they had the sickest mini ramp out front and it has a great view of the surrounding mountains.

 The snow at Parnasos was pretty brutes magutes so we decided to go be tourists for the rest of our time there. Our friend Mike was touring us around for the majority of the trip and let us crash with him in athens at his girlfriends mansion.  

Two days in Athens then off to Mykonos and the blue waters of the

mediterranean.  One topic I should touch on is the food. It's the best vacation food ever,  souvlaki and pitas ran my diet for our duration of time spent in Athens and 

Mykonos, the pitas are about 2 euros and theyre filled with either lamb, chicken, beef oh man and if

 you get the right place theyll have a mystery meat thats probably made up of all the meats combined! with fries inside the pita! I ate way too much on my second last night there and i don't think ill be able to eat them for another long while. 

Mike had a friend Mowse who is a tattoo artist and Eric recommended that we get tattoos on our last day there. So we did! Eric got his girlfriends name on his chest for a laugh and i got a tree on my side... worst 3 hours of my life but now that its all healed up I'm glad I did it!