Askeplion

Candid pic, that one! Its one of those Greek pillars in the background, from Askeplion, the first ever hospital in the world, built by Hippocrates. Forget the facts - enjoy the pic!

Smack n Slurp!

Don't get too many ideas - I just had half a glass of beer! The food, of course, is more interesting - you can see it on my face!

The Kos Harbour

The Kos harbour was not as beautiful as the Sydney harbour, but you've gotto give it to them, since its a very small place. It looks more romantic by the night.

The Welcome Reception

We were given a wonderful welcome reception by the conference guys, at this village called Zia at the hills of Kos. The show started with a Greek dance troupe, with traditional music, and was followed by dinner at one of the restaurants nearby. Not in picture is some red wine, which I prefer to name 'Cough syrup'. (From l to r, Ankita, me, Nikhil and Marek, a Polish researcher).

Paani paani re..

Kos has almost a continuous beach-line all round the island. This one was right in front of our hotels. The sunset, goes without saying, was spectacular! (although I missed it on this particular day)

The MIT Gang

Here's me having lunch with the MIT fellas - 'Superthok' Soumyajit Mandal at the left (I don't think I need to introduce him - Google search for comprehensive results!) and Mike to the right. Both of them are so smart and yet so down-to-earth at the same time.

Greek Dinner

Our first shot at Greek food. I'm glad that they had quite a few vegetarian dishes - stuffed tomato and rice, olives (which I didn't like eventually) and the ever-safe Pizza. They also have this drink called the Oozo, which tastes like Indian 'saunf', and had me raving all over!

Impromptu jig

The banquet, which started slowly, ended up as one of the most memorable days of my life! The Greek music band invited for the show gave more than we could've asked for. Seen here, letting my hair down, in Greek dance fashion. Greeks have lotsa intricate foot movements, and it was quite a while before I could feel like a fish in the water. Special mention for the violin - t'was outstanding!

Outside the window

Thats the view from our hotel room. Nikhil, as usual, is the subject of the pic.

The Kos Skyline

Now thats the difference between Ankita's 60 Euro per night room as compared to our 25 Euro place shared by two- the view from the balcony!

Top of the Island

Not a very remarkable pic as such, but we had a tough time adjusting the timer in the cam. Its the Kos island in the background. How we got there after 4 kms of uphill cycling is another story in itself, and by the end of it, Ankita was all ready to pounce upon us for our ideas! To think of it, she was the one who had ditched her transfer to the airport and join us in the first place!

Million-dollar smile

Nikhil Gupta - aquaintance at Athens airport, room-mate at Kos, companion at the conference, and one of my quickest best friends! The two of us went along famously, and with the chidings and repartees all over the place, we had a blast at Greece with each other's company. Nikhil's doing his PhD at Concordia University, Canada.

I'm an Ace Photographer's Son!

Nikhil's too good with his poses, and after long last, I am trying to live up to my Dad's name with a few good close shots. It might not be very classy, but I'm pretty satisfied with the effort anyways!

Business Class

My first stint in a blazer, with Ankita (Singla, from IITM) and Nikhil, at the banquet. I look pretty unfamiliar in that attire, since casuals take up most of my wardrobe at all times. Nevertheless, not too bad, isn't it?

Wet and raring to go!

This place is Papas Water Sports, where we had an adrenaline-filled ride of water skiing, lying on a tube. Racing across the wavefronts of Kos at 40kmph was replete with unnerving lateral G-forces and water splashed all over!

Farewell at the Hippocrates Tree

At the conference farewell, with (l to r) Kiran from GaTech, Ayaskant from Texas Instruments India, Nikhil Gupta from Concordia University, Canada and my first ever White Wine from Greece! :-)

The world-famous Parthenon of Greek civilization

Thats the most famous Greek monument in the Acropolis area of Athens. Famous - hmm.. Honestly, I hadn't heard of it before! It seems that they're on a massive renovation spree, which is why you can see all those bars.

The Temple of Zeus, or Jupitor

You know why I'm not in the picture? Its obvious - I'm running away after I did that to the millenium old temple!
Jokes apart, that one was toppled by a storm in the 1800s and they have preserved it in the same state ever since. Ruins cost 12 Euros to see, man! India should learn from these innovations at tourism! :P

A 2500-year old Theatre at Athens

The Greeks call it 'Odeon'. Its amazing to see how they've preserved things this old!