Swimming is my first daily priority for years now and in summer I come to the beach at 7.30 a.m up to 10.30 a.m. the minimum. The sea is only 5 minutes on foot from where we live and I get in the water and swim all these hours continuously. Ancient Greeks used to say that "a healthy mind resides in a healthy body".



I am not fond at all when it comes to swimming pools and I never get to one unless I have to . I really feel the need to exercise and since I am here at the Hilton I have two alternatives. It is either the outdoor swimming pool or the indoor pool.



The outdoor swimming pool of the Hilton is the largest hotel pool of Athens and it is popular with business executives, fashion models, journalists and famous artists who find here moments of relaxation. In other words a favorite meeting point of local VIPs. Personally I would not care less about these people, but I do come to the outdoor swimming pool just for some pictures for my guides. I come across a writer who was busy going up and down on the upper side above the area with the umbrellas. He seemed he had an inspiration out here because he was talking on a microphone recording his voice. I was taking photos without searching for faces as I don't care the least even if I come across the Queen of England or the President of the United States. I won’t feel the slightest difference believe me! Suddenly I see somebody approaching - apparently a staff member and informs me that I cannot take photos in the pool area . I stopped immediately not to break the rule.



At the Oasis Pool Bar & Grill I find a number of guests having snacks or coffee and others some fruity cocktails. I get the menu leaflet to see what it includes out of curiosity. Personally I skip lunch as much as possible when I am out and away from home, and confine myself to low fat meals, high in fibre and energy and low in calorie. If I had not been careful all these years with all the trips and times I am away from home, I would have surely been overweight. A very close friend of mine though speaks highly of the food here at the Oasis and she was telling me that she and her friends come here at least twice a month.



With the first glance my eyes fell on the refreshing salad with asparagus and cottage cheese, but there are others like, deep fried haloumi on crusted polenta, grilled prawns with lime vinaigrette or linguini with herbed ricotta, Mediterranean club sandwich, French fries and a lot others . If I were to have something from all these I would just pick the grilled prawns and the asparagus salad. The menu also includes a variety of Smoothies. Two of the most popular the waiter told me are the (Pool Paradise) with melon, cranberry juice and honey, and the other one is the (Healthy Mind) with peach, light yogurt and almond. Out of the two I would choose the first as I love cranberries.



As I write the word 'cranberries’ down, I remember an incident. We had gone to London for some sight-seeing and to see some good friends of ours. Maro used to be a classmate from the Academy. That day she drove us to a farm because I kept telling her about my love for cranberries. As we were picking the fruit we were eating as well, - you see, everybody does it, and suddenly the sky was covered in dark clouds. There was thunder and lightning at first in a distance and in minutes it started to rain heavily. Our men ran back to the farmhouse while we decided to have some fun. Under this heavy rain and with much laughing and teasing each other we continued picking the fruit until we thought it was enough and then hurried back to the farmhouse to meet Yianni and Paschali. It is a memory I cherish, - never to be forgotten. On another trip some months later we drove to the same farm again but when we arrived we found it closed because we went on a wrong day. What a disappointment for me!