Athens, Greece 2008
Alternative Holidays: www.Alternative-Holidays.eu
Greek gods, Adonis men, naked Olympic oil
wrestling, and well it depends how sexual your mind wants to get, but anyhow Athens has been known for
its men and gay activities for quite some time. Controversially in the 5th
century BC, Pederasty
(an erotic relationship, sexually expressed or not, between
an adolescent young man and an older adult male outside his immediate family) was widely practiced in Greece and some say even
institutionalized, with fines for young men who refused to take a lover.
Athens gay scene is however
quite limited for a city of 5 million, there are bars and a few nightclubs but
they are usually hidden down dark alleyways; and many gay men are closeted.
When Alternative
Holidays announced it was the location for this year’s 2008 summer event we
thought it was a great opportunity to see the city. As usual an all-inclusive Club Med resort is taken
over for an entire week and turned totally gay. Gone are the families and kids,
just gay guys and their Speedos. About 250 people attended this year’s event
(which was an unusually low attendance). However, high profile entertainers and
DJ’s that we love where flown in to keep us all entertained. Artist Charlie Hides (who impersonates Kandi Kane and Laquisha Jonz) was one of the most popular entertainers. I remember
meeting her in the resorts pizza restaurant at about 1am; she was flirting with
the chef in there. “I can see you checking out my ass” she shouted to him,
“what would your wife say if she knew you were undressing me with his eyes”. I
don’t think he’d ever met a drag queen before, especially one with a massive
fake booty. Later when she’d gone he came over and quietly asked us if she was
a real woman or not, “of course” we replied, he looked puzzled.
Nightly parties were hosted by London’s
Fire nightclub and the
Shadow Lounge, Revenge in Brighton, Cory from the Nightingale and Yoav Arnon from Amsterdam’s
White Party. And of
course afterhours parties continued till breakfast in a select few peoples
rooms.
The weather was warm and dry most of the time, but
unfortunately the sun didn’t come out to play as much as we’d hoped. The event
was held quite late in the season (last week of September) so it was kind of
expected the whether would be dodgy. The Club Med resort was located on the
coast; about 40 minutes drive from Athens
itself. The beach was a popular area not to just hang out, but also to play
some beach
volley ball, kayaking & attempt windsurfing. Other popular sports the
resort offered were tennis, basketball, mini football, water-polo,
roller-blading and classes of some sort of yoga (or at least watching the
muscled instructor bend around in his tiny shorts). There were 3 swimming pools
and a 4th kiddies’ pool that was turned into a nudist area.
Athens as a city
itself was amazing, the famous Acropolis
and its amazing Parthenon temple build in B.C. 438, was unbelievable. Today
it’s just a dusty ruin but still very impressive. There are other similar built
buildings around Athens
that are built in the same white marble; they look almost heavenly as they
glisten in the sunshine. Athens’
religious history, accent architecture, Olympic
background, the culture and shopping make it a fantastic city to explore.
All
in all we all had a great week away in one of the oldest historic gay regions
of the world.
Next years event is
planned for Calabria in Italy (early
September) 2009
Find
out more info at www.alternative-holidays.eu
|
Watch the cabaret
shows in full via Windows Media On-Demand multi-bandwidth video, fully
streamed to fast forward and rewind
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Click on the icons
above to watch now – the faster the broadband you have, the better video
quality you’ll receive
|
We also filmed some fun
music videos, singing in the Greek sunshine:
RECOMMENDED GAY FRIENDLY HOTELS IN ATHENS:
Hotel Plaka www.plakahotel.gr
Adrian Hotel www.douros-hotels.com
Grande Bretagne Hotel www.grandebretagne.gr
St. George Lycabettus Hotel www.sglycabettus.gr
GAY BEACH NEAR ATHENS:
Take a cab or bus
to Limanakia Voulagmenis, the rocky part of
Varkiza-Limanakia Be (just down from the foostd), which is exclusively gay and
nude.
Next years
Alternative Holidays summer event is planned for Calabria
in Italy
(early September) 2009
Find out more info at www.alternative-holidays.eu
