Our blender arrived!

whizzz...
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Yes, the posh blender (which, you'll remember, was a replacement for the second juicer we were bought as a wedding gift) has arrived!

This morning we had a banana, milk, honey and yoghurt (Greek of course). It was tremendous.

Note too, the extremely swanky coffee pot in the background my brother Edward got us as a wedding gift. And the lovely bread bin given to us by a friend. Verily we have the best-supplied kitchen in London now!

And, don't worry, the blender wasn't plugged in when Robin so beautifully modelled it!

The joy of juicing!

Robin and various vegetables
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Yes, following the record-breaking (I think) number of comments about root beer (thanks for all the suggestions, I shall be sampling as many as possible next time I'm in the US!) here's another drink-themed post.

Obviously, having just got married, we were very lucky to get a bunch of wedding gifts. One of the most fun has been the juicer which we were given (actually, we were given two - clearly juicers are like buses - but the second one is being swapped for a posh blender instead).

Suddenly, we've become slightly obsessed with the various combinations available. Yesterday we had a very tasty spinach, carrots, apple, radish and beetroot - a combination which helps boost brain power according to the book which the second juicer-giver gave us. And today we've just had a very sweet pear, apple, ginger and celery. All very healthy and VERY tasty! I can seriously recommend one if you haven't got one. Not nearly as hard to clean as I thought it would be either.

So folks, after your root beer advice, does anyone have any favourite juice combinations they'd like to recommend? (Naturally Robin tends to prefer the ones with berries in them...)

STOP PRESS: Yes, smoothies do count!

The big root beer taste test!

Robin and root beer
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Hey up folks

This is Robin and two cans of root beer (if, for some reason you hadn't worked that much out) which we bought from the Chinese supermarket we went to. Although they're American brands (I think), the two cans were made in Singapore and Malaysia respectively!

I'm a big, big fan of root beer, which is quite hard to find over here. They used to sell it in McDonalds in the 80s, but stopped a long time ago. So the only time I get to drink it is when I'm in the US - and it even seems to be disappearing a bit there. I know some people think it tastes like dental mouthwash, but I think it rocks.

So, imagine my excitement on finding not one but two brands in the Chinese supermarket. The Frost brand (which I hadn't heard of) was selling at 49p a can and the A&W (which I had) at 59p. So we decided to buy a couple of both and have a taste test (that's the kind of crazy kids we are!).

And the winner? A&W hands down. Not only is it a better colour (much lighter - Frost looks like treacle), but it has superior levels of carbonation and a crisper flavour! Worth the extra 10p a can any day.

Any of you marvellous US readers got any root beer tips or tales?

A bird on the shelf is worth two in the storeroom

Robin at the Oriental supermarket
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Hey up folks

Yesterday myself, my wife (!) and Robin went up to Oriental City, an amazing far east shopping complex in north London. A friend (my Greek orthodox best man in fact) has been raving about the place for ages and we finally got around to driving up there.

It's an astonishing, huge place. The supermarket and clothes, gift etc shops are amazing - we bought loads of brightly packaged things - but the food court (which features individual places selling Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese etc etc) really has to be experienced to be believed! The Penang Fish Curry was out of this world!

It's well worth a visit if you're ever in London. But please note, the bird on the shelf is not for sale.

Here's Robin at our wedding!

Here's Robin at our wedding!
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Yes, I've just downloaded the shots from my eldest brother's camera and here's Robin at our wedding. I'm the tall one and my wife, um, is the one in the white dress!

It was a lovely service - all done in Greek (it was in a Greek Orthodox church) but I'd read up beforehand about the wedding service, so even if I didn't understand every word, I knew what was going on. Most of the service was sung (there was an amazing choir up on the church balcony) and it was quite a moving spectacle. In fact, is that a tear I see in Robin's eye...?

Robin on honeymoon!

Robin at Elafonisi beach
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Yes, here's a pic of Robin on our honeymoon in Crete (when I say 'our' I mean me and Lex, not me and Robin - me and the bird are just good friends).

The beach was a crazy, windy drive through the hills down to the south-west coast of Crete. Apparently the beach, Elafonisi, is very busy during the summer, but we were there off season on a gorgeous, crisp day and there wasn't another person on the beach apart from us. We didn't quite dare to swim in the chilly winter water, but we had a nice paddle (and I've just about got the feeling back in my feet now).

Good to see so many of you on the Blog yesterday - 46 visitors! - so clearly you've not forgotten about me and my red-breasted pal. Hello to Mary who posted a comment for the first time yesterday - always nice to have a new poster (obviously alongside the cherished regulars!).

How blue does that sky look in the pic? Ah, wish I was back there. Back to work on Thursday for me after a massive six weeks off (a sabbatical) for our wedding. Sigh...

We're back! Big news! And we went to football!

Robin at Shef Wed
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Hello folks!

Yes, we're back in Blighty after a top. top honeymoon. I've got various pics of Robin at our wedding and on honeymoon to show, but I thought I'd kick you off with this shot of him in the crowd at Sheffield Wednesday vs Doncaster Rovers that we went to yesterday. Why do you think that chap behind him is hiding his face? Perhaps he is a master criminal?! Maybe Robin should become a sleuth.

So, the big news I refer to above is that I've decided to launch a multi-million pound/dollar rebranding of this website. Yes, as you might've noticed above, it's not called Athens2004Blog.com any more, it's called RobintheRobin.com. I've bought the address www.robintherobin.com (should be live from tomorrow) but you'll still be able to get here from either www.athens2004blog.com or www.athens2004blog.blogspot.com.

Why has it changed? Well, because it's really not about the Athens Olympics anymore, but it is mainly about Robin. And, in a bid to increase traffic, I might email some of the journalists who wrote about the Blog during the Olympics and ask them to mention the site in their round-ups as www.robintherobin.com. What do you folks reckon to all that?

Right, best get on for now - but pics of Robin at wedding and honeymoon coming up very soon...

Kit
A married man.
Very happily so.

Hello from Crete!

Hello folks

No picture, because I'm just at internet cafe without a USB cable - but Robin says hi. I've got to be quick because our half hour is nearly up, but I just wanted to say hello.

The wedding went really, really well - amazing service and great reception surrounded by people we care about. Our honeymoon was delayed by a day because flights out of AThens were cancelled because of crazy wind, but we made it to Crete on the Wednesday after our wedding. We're having a lovely, peaceful time here, just relaxing after the mania of wedding-ness. It was all quite hard work to plan (and it never let up right until the afternoon of the wedding) but it was all well worth it - we both had an amazing time, and married life is, so far, very good!

Hope you're all well. Pictures of Robin on Crete to follow when we're back...

Today I get married!

Robin and rings
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Yes, here's Robin on the morning of my wedding in Athens, looking after the wedding rings.

The service is at 6pm tonight (they do evening weddings in Greece) in the Orthodox church that my fiance's parents got married in 30 years ago.

Thanks for all your best wishes.

I can't wait.

:)

Robin visits a 2,500-year-old temple...

Robin at Sounion
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Evenin'

Today me and Robin went up to the Sanctuary Of Poseidon, a temple at Cape Sounion about 35 miles outside Athens.

We went up there with my Grampa and fiance (that's them in the background on the left) - as my Grampa's in Athens for my wedding and he's always wanted to go up to Sounion, which he's never been to despite having travelled to Greece so much in the past that he speaks fluent Greek (to our taxi driver's obvious amazement!).

It's a beautiful place, amazingly situated that's definitely worth a visit if you ever make it to Athens. Nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of wedding planning in the city too.

So, we've got some last minute sorting to do tomorrrow and then it's the wedding on Saturday. Thanks so much for all your best wishes in the comments tabs (including you Diegem - can't believe I didn't put you in my list of regulars!). It's ace that you're following our progress from all over the world.

I'll try and post something tomorrow - which is when about 40 of our friends and family arrive to join the 25 or so that have already made it out (plus, of course, the 60 or so guests who live here in Greece).

People keep asking me if I feel nervous. That in itself is making me feel nervous.Truth is, I'm actually more excited than anything else...

:)

We did it! We hit 20,000!

Robin in a market, celebrating!
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Yes, as you'll tell from the extra wide smile on Robin's face, today we hit our 20,000th visitor! Thanks loads for the extra effort over the last couple of days - it's much appreciated by both myself and my red-breasted pal.

So, today was another cold day in Athens. Would you believe it has snowed - at least a sprinkle - every day since we arrived last weekend. The snow isn't settling, but it's absolute FREEZING cold (espcially for folks who packed thinking it would be warmer than mild London - which it very much isn't!). But the sun's shining. so that's the main thing.

Today we did our wedding seating plan and then went out and met my mum, brother, grampa and stepdad for a wander around the massive old central market hall in Athens. That's where Robin's standing, with folks packing up meat stalls (i think) in the background.

Right, I'm off to watch the all-important Greece v Denmark World Cup qualifier on TV (tried to get tickets, sadly didn't manage).

Thanks again for helping us hit 20,000 (especially the Robin loyalists like Vix, KJ, Dawn, Shay, Andrea, Cathy and all the others!).

Three days until the wedding... :)

It's working! Just 27 to go!

Yes, our campaign appears to be doing the job - we've had our busiest day on the Blog for ages. So thanks. As I write we're on 19.973 visitors. We could even hit 20,000 by tomorrow morning. Wowser.

Someone kindly posted on the comment tab below saying that they (and others) read through the RSS feed. Excuse my ignorance, but can someone explain what that is? And where would you go to read it? I'm a bit confused by all this RSS malarkey to be honest. People sometimes email about my RSS feed, but I have no idea what they're talking about! Help! Please!

In other news, today I wrote my groom's speech for the wedding on Saturday. And my mum and big brother have just touched down in Athens. We've got about 65 people from outside Greece, and they're all arriving in the next couple of days. Exciting stuff. I'm off into Athens again tomorrow, so I'll get another pic of wee Robin out there (stayed in the flat all day today working on this speech!)

Robin needs you!

Robin's campaign...
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Yes, as the picture shows, me and Robin are back in Athens and had a nice trip down to the old Olympic Stadium today (the one used for the 1896 Olympics and the archery/marathon at the 2004) ones.

And, as you'll see from the picture, he's got a campaign to launch! If you click on the Site Meter below, you'll see that we're just short of our 20,000th visitor to www.athens2004blog.com - in fact, about 80 short as I write this. We normally get between 15-25 visitors a day (of course, it was thousands during the Olympics!) but we're keen to hit the magic 20,000 mark as soon as we can. This is mainly because I get married in Athens in 5 days' time - and I was really hoping to pass it before that.

So, what do me and Robin want you to do? Ask your relatives, friends, colleagues and even enemies to come to the blog (www.athens2004blog.com) in the next couple of days. They don't have to even read any pages when they get here (but it would be lovely if they did), I just want to see if we can push it over the magic 20,000 mark with a burst of visitors.

So go on. Ask a couple of pals to pop to the Blog and let's get past 20,000 by Friday. Then I'll be able to get married with that particular mission accomplished.

Thanks very much. Update tomorrow...

Robin and Robot

Machine and bird in perfect harmony
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

This is Robin and a chap who lives in our flat called Robot. Although it looks like Robot is karate chopping Robin's head, he is actually just giving him a friendly pat - they're good friends and Robot is very happy to have Robin back.

Oh, and Robin's left leg hasn't fallen off, he's just tucked it behind him.

Nine days till I get married...

Robin's made a new friend!

Robin and his new pal
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Yes, having returned from a month in my brother's sports bag at the weekend, Robin wasted no time in finding a new friend on his return to London.

He bumped into this chap in a bakers near where we live. Quite why the bakers is selling 2004 Olympic ginger bread men in February 2005 wasn't clear, but he seems fresh, so we're pretty sure he hasn't been sitting there since August,

In wedding news, my big brother Eddie took me shopping today and, with his marvellous advice, I managed to get myself a shirt, some shoes and some cufflinks. 11 days to go...

Here he is!

Robin is back!
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Yes, as explained in the post below, Robin is back. Found. Discoverd. Back back back!

So here he is with the flag we made for him on New Year's Eve, which was exactly when we discovered he was missing.

Ah, it's good to have him back.

:)

Robin. Found. Yes!

Yes, 30 long days after we realised he was missing, Robin has turned up. I always thought he would, because it didn't seem possible that he could've just disappeared into thin air.

So, where was he? Well, on Boxing Day, I lent my football boots (which I'd brought with me from London) to my brother Robert to play in our village's annual football (soccer) match. Robin, as it turns out, was in a plastic bag in the plastic bag that contained the boots. So my brother took both Robin and the boots off in his sports bag. And, my brother being my brother, he only got round to completely unpacking that bag today. Whereupon he found Robin, who'd obviously just spent a nice relaxing month away from my camera's lens.

Funnily enough, we found this out as we were driving up to my mum's house for the first time since Christmas, and I'd just been thinking about places where I could look for the wee fella. No need, because as we neared my home village we got the call saying he'd been found.

Now, I know he's only a soft, little toy bird qand there are more important things to worry about in the world, but I think I can speak for my whole family when I say we've all been somewhat sad about his disappearance for the past month. The thing is, with Robin's whereabouts being such a mystery, it was impossible to get 'closure'! I just kept trying to work out how he could possible have disappeared. And now I know.

So, I'll get a picture of him up very soon (I don't have my digital camera with me right now) and the really gerat news is that now, rest assured, Robin will be there in Athens, where his Blog adventures began, to witness myself and Alexia getting married in 13 days' time.

Result. There's some big grins in my family tonight (and Robin looks pretty pleased to see me too).

Happy new year. Sad new year.

First up, happy new year to all you readers out there - hope you have a great 2005.

But, I'm afraid, I do have some sad news too. This news is really not very sad when put against what's happening in Asia right now, but it is still quite sad. Robin has disappeared. I took him up to my mum's house for Christmas, but as I forgot to take a USB chord to connect my digital camera to her computer I didn't bother taking a picture of him. So, having returned to London I went to my (as yet unpacked) bag on Dec 31 to take a new year's picture. But he wasn't there.

The bag he was in (a big holdall with all my clothes etc) has only been in my flat, my car, my office and my mum's house. We've searched all of them very thoroughly (including the bins) but he hasn't turned up. He was in a little white plastic bag within the holdall, and as that plastic bag hasn't turned up, I'm guessing he's still in it. It's absolutely baffling and very frustrating.

But I'm assuming it's a question of when, not if, we find him. He must be somewhere. I could've just taken my mum's robin, Robyn, and used that for my blog pictures instead, but I thought you folks would probably like to know the truth - that the pesky little bird is currently off on an adventure somewhere without me.

Obviously you'll be the first to hear when (let's say when) I find him!

Happy Christmas!

Seasons greetings from Robin!
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

As Robin has written in the snow, Happy Christmas (well, he says Xmas, but there was no room for the whole word, sadly).

Hope you all have a brilliant Christmas wherever you're reading this. Thanks loads for reading this Blog during the Olympics (such amazing memories) and for still reading it now.

More Robin pics from over the festive period very soon. And then onto 2005 and a wedding in February (and, yes, Robin will definitely be making an appearance there and on the stag weekend!).

Kit
x

Robin is back! On top of a mountain!

Robin on top of a mountain
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

Okay, okay, I know. I haven't posted on this Blog since the end of November, which is very poor indeed. I'm sorry. Genuinely.

I've been a very busy man all through December - the lead up to Christmas is the busiest time in my job and I had to work the last three weekends before this one.

But, as you'll see, I finally got a weekend off this weekend. I went up to Penrith in Cumbria (aka The Lake District) to buy my fiance an engagement ring (wanted to buy it in my hometown). We found one, and it's lovely.

So then yesterday (Sunday) we climbed up Helvellyn - a mountain in the Lakes, which was covered in snow on the higher reaches. It was quite a tricky climb (it's never been snowy when we've been up before) but we made it up and were rewarded by the most amazing views. Robin could've flown up in no time, I guess, but he decided to do the whole journey in my backpack.

Hope some of you are still reading and that you're all set up nicely for a great Christmas.

More pics of Robin in the next few days, I promise...