A noisy homecoming

The transition from conservative Zurich to easy-going Athens was great, the difference between Swiss chocolate and ouzo. The week leading up to the start of the Olympic Games, when nothing is happening on the sports front, is an ideal opportunity for journalists to dig up dirt, cruise the party circuit and scout the lie of the land in preparation for two weeks of the highest level of competition in the world.

For a journalist the envelope-size accreditation that has a photo that would scare most teenagers out of their wits is a ticket to the best seat in the house.

Landing at Athens’s brand-new airport at 1am is not an ideal way to make an entrance. I suppose it had to happen: bus lot X702 remained vacant, embarrassed locals kept assuring us the bus would be there and ready to leave at 1.30am.

At 2.30am the backbone of Greek life, the super-tough woman, took over; two quiet Japanese and a troupe of South Africans were herded into a VIP bus and delivered to our hotel in the not-so-posh side of Athens.

At duty on the night desk was the Greek version of Basil Fawlty. After he had concluded a shouting match with some poor woman on the other side of the world, explaining that it was four in the morning (it sounded more impressive than the actual 3am) and that she was to stop bothering him, we were directed to our room.

The Greeks seem to have a laissez faire attitude to life that is reflected in the apparent legal double standards. Our escort was philosophical when asked why some motorbikers wear helmets and others don’t: ‘They must but they don’t want to.” Subject closed, that’s how life is in Athens.

While the South African team celebrated the 23rd birthday of Gerhardus Pienaar at the Olympic village, we wandered over to the Athens National Archaeological Museum. All the stars of yesteryear were there: Pan, the horny little goat; Emperor Augustus; Zeus; Appollo; Athena; Poseidon; Aphrodite … it was a bit like listening to an old LM Radio hit parade.

On Wednesday royalty arrived in the shape of the enormous Queen Mary II. A waterproof blanket of security was thrown around the liner; there’s not going to be any bomb blast, not on this mayor’s shift.

Next on the journey of discovery was the rail link to the coast and the coastal tram line. There is no doubt that Athens is on high security alert. We were warned not to take photos in the railway station or of the island ferries — a tad over the top as neither is exactly a top-secret missile base.

First port of call was Neo Faliro, to see the first of many impressive new sports venues. Past the Karaiskaki stadium, the home of soccer, and across the rails is the Peace and Friendship stadium that plays host to indoor volleyball.

Next in this coastal belt of venues is the Faliro Olympic Complex, home of handball and taekwondo and where the bronzed sun gods will strut their stuff in beach volleyball.

Then there is the Elliniko Complex, which looks small from the outside but hosts baseball, canoe and kayak. This is where Alan van Coller hopes to break into the medals and where our hockey men will try to put to bed the stigma of being left out of the Sydney Olympics.

Fencing and softball are the other two sports that will be hosted in this stadium with its spectacular view of the Aegean sea.

A long paddle down the coast to the south is the Voulagmeni Centre, where the cycling time-trialist will strut their stuff and where Conrad Stoltz and Megan Hall will take to the water on the third last day of the Olympics, in the triathlon.

After sampling the purely South African lunch, organised by the National Olympic Committee of South Africa (Nocsa), we had a chance meeting with a disappointed Durban mayor, Obed Mlaba, who had just returned from hearing that his city had lost out to Guatemala on the hosting of the 119th IOC Congress.

Things get more upmarket as you travel south, using the brand new coastal tram system along Posidonos Avenue. The tram is so new even the driver seems to be struggling to work the controls (mental note: find the location of that damn buzzer that goes on every time the doors open and rip it out).

Two things bothered me. Firstly, on the trip back into the city it was standing-room-only on line two to Omonia, what will the situation be like when the games started? Secondly, there was the sealing of the inner city for a practice cycle race, the ensuing traffic jams had Atheneans out of their cars and shaking their fists at the traffic police, who seem to have oodles of patience. Again, what will happen during the real thing?

Our next port of call was the home of South African ambassador Jannie Momberg for an evening meal. The official residence has been described as one of the most impressive complexes in the world — the building was bought by Jan Smuts in 1946.

Momberg, who was a former head of sport under the Nationalists and will probably be best remembered as the first person to cross the floor to the African National Congress, recalled the time when he, as head of the team that was looking after Zola Budd’s career, took current Nocsa boss Sam Ramsamy to court after Budd had been banned from competing in the Commonwealth Games.

Ramsamy was represented in the case by Kader Asmal and they went on to win the case, keeping Budd out of competition. On leaving the court Asmal had said loudly to Ramsamy so that Momberg could hear, ‘Today the Coolies beat the Boers.”

Things have moved on a long way since then.