Canoes and kayaks - in a speedy stylee!

Paddle boys, paddle!
Originally uploaded by athens2004blog.

So we just got back from the canoeing and kayaking over at the place where they did the rowing - this being where the canoes (as in single bladed paddle) and the kayaks (double bladed paddle) race super-quick on flat water, rather than between slalom gates on a gushing river.

Gotta say again, the transport was very impressive. It's way out towards Marathon, but there were plenty of air-conditioned coaches taking spectators the 45 minutes journey from a metro station and back again (we didn't have to wait more than a minute at either end).

The actual racing was good, we saw lots of 500m semi-finals - one of which was won by a Brit (in a one man kayak). He won by miles, so it could be a good medal shot. And the US commentator was so enthusiastic that he managed to make even the most one-sided race seem really exciting.

Having said that, even though it all started at 8.30am, it was absolutely boiling hot, so I was actually quite glad the session was only a couple of hours long.

Other news:

GOOD CABBIE
A Greek taxi driver is getting loads of great press out here because he found a Dutch rower's silver medal in his cab and handed it in. Even the government have weighed in with praise.

VOLLEYBALL UPSET
Didn't realise, but that Serbia v Russia game was a rematch of the Sydney final. Big shock that the Serbians were knocked out, apparently. And judging from the scores of the other games later that day, they're not always as close.

CLOSING CEREMONY
Apparently it's going to be 'the biggest concert of Greek pop stars and performers ever held' - so that'd be Nana Miskouri and, um, who?

TIRED ITALIAN
Apparently, according the radio, an Italian athlete had to check into hospital the other day because he was so worn out having struck up, let's say, a friendship with two/three (depending on reports) Russian women in the village. Naughty man.

MYTHICAL YOGHURT
It's on all the menus (and we've even seen a couple of empty pots) but we haven't found a single food concession that still has Total Yoghurt with Honey in stock. Surely the top selling treat of the Games! And we've got just five more events to try and track some down...!