Almost as interesting as the games themselves are the venues erected to host the event. This Index has an interesting list of links to some of the venues.

The first link on the list is a great resource for past, present and future venues.

That open open air Aquatic Complex looks more beautiful and vulnerable than I ever imagined it would look by now.

As much as I am anticipating these games, and for all the security, I will be extremely happy if the 2004 Olymics can be pulled off without any major negative event to mar these especially historic games.

I totally agree. The whole event just seems like a big target at this point. Since the games are such a symbol for the way the world community interrelates, I really hope no ill events take place.

It's so odd how little media hype there has been. It's almost as if the media is anticipating the something they don't want to be a part of.

True, the lack of media hype seems a way of saying, "Let's not draw too much attention to this event."

Even now I'm starting to dread one particular aspect of NBC's coverage. I just imagine Katie and Bob playing up the plucky little Greeks, the little country that could, completely ignoring the fact that they sat on their butts for 3 years before they got things moving. At least the print press has been a little more honest in covering this lack of preparation, and the way one can't get anything done in Greece without bribery.

Just back from Athens and boy do they still have a ton of work to do. The entire city is one construction zone after another.

I did not get a chance to see a lot of the venues but I did get a look at the construction around Piraeus (Athen's main port) where they are building the arena for volleyball (a dead ringer for Calgary's Saddledome), the sports pavillion for martial arts and the beach volleyball stadium. The area as of this past Saturday is a complete mess.

The basic structures of the venues are done, but they still need to finish adding the seats to the beach volleyball stadium. And none of the infrastructure surrounding these venues is anywhere near completed. There is no signage of any sort done on any of the venues, no landscaping done at all, no ramps or sidewalks in place surrounding these venues. They are all just surrounded by dirt. The tram line being built from central Athens out to this area is not nearly finished. They still have to lay some of the track and install the supports for the overhead wiring, never mind finish building the stations where people will enter and exit the tram. Bridges for both vehicles and pedestrians over the roadways to get from parking lots and the tram to the venues are still not completed. And indeed some of the actual roadways to those bridges are still under construction.

They certainly are trying their best to spruce Athens up though, as historically it has been a pretty ugly dirty city of late. Almost every public building and public square is covered in scaffolding or has new monuments and landscaping being installed. It will be a miracle if it all gets done in time. Many of the hotels we visited were also covered in scaffolding in last minute touch ups prior to the Games.

As one of our Greek tour guides joked, he suspected that for the first two weeks of August he likely would not be employed as a tour guide, but he and millions of other Greeks would likely be recruited into help lay sod or paint signs or buildings or whatever they could do to help have everything done by the time the games start. I wish them luck, because boy - based on what I saw this past weekend - they'll need it!