For those last minute shoppers there’s still time to get tickets to some of the events of the Athens Summer Games. According to organizers tickets will be available up to the last minute at any venue with empty seats.
But forget about the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, or the finals of many swimming, track and field or gymnastic events. Instead think about the hockey or shooting competitions.
European residents can reserve tickets on the Athens 2004 Web site and others can purchase tickets from their national Olympic committee or through a travel agency.
As for accommodations, visitors to Athens may have to find space outside of the city centre or away from the Olympic venues since most hotels have been reserved for officials, sponsors and other VIPS.
And there may be spots available through private home rentals, a cabin on one of eight private cruise ships at the port of Piraeus, or at small hotels with fewer amenities.
At the official Filoxenia Homes Rental Program there are thousands of private houses for rent and prices vary depending on the home’s location and amenities. Reservations can be made on line by visiting www.filoxenia2004.com.
The Queen Mary 2 will accommodate some of the 13,000 visitors and Olympic officials staying on cruise ships.
Meanwhile the Athens official Web site has posted a clarification regarding journalists in light of the recent detention of several journalists who managed to infiltrate the Olympic facility undetected for several hours.
According to the announcement, all journalists can visit, videotape, and photograph the Olympic Venues as long as they keep to the procedure about which all media in Greece and abroad have been informed by Athens 2004 and competent Ministries.
Olympic security will be fully applied starting July 1, 2004; until then all Olympic worksites are guarded, but without the full security system which will be applied on July 1.
The Toronto Star reports that on Tuesday one of its reporters entered the main Olympic site in Athens unobstructed when a taxi driver made a wrong turn through a gate that wasn’t manned by security guards.
