On Saturday, 24th of July, the Olympic flame passed through my hometown, Alexandria, and inspired the citizens who stood for about three hours burning under the hot sun of July.

As it is obvious in the film strip, the citizens of Alexandria flooded the Heros’ square to honor the symbol of the Olympic Spirit and world peace. They came early enough and show incredible patience until the moment of the flames arrival. When the last the last torchbearer, the European Football Champion, Vassilis Tsiartas, reached the road leading to the Heroes’ Area a following crowd was added to the hundreds or maybe thousands of people already waiting and all together broke into loud cheering and thunderous applause.

The moment was kind of strange and definitely original, since the town had never before lived such an experience. The ceremony was short but was representative of the town. Before the Flame’s arrival local folklore dancers, wearing the famous traditional dress of the region, the «katsouli», presented few of the local dances. When the flame arrived and Vassilis lit the altar the municipality choruses sang our national anthem. Then followed the the gift exchange between the Mayor, Mr. Gionoglou, and the committee of Athens 2004, an honor prize to Vassilis and the event concluded to the departure of the flame accompanied with the olympic anthem sang by the choruses.

If you want to read more about the event you may visit the official site of Athens 2004. The information are found in Greek, English and French so you may choose the language of your preference.