Page 38 of Never Too Late to Date

The marked-out track in the centre drew the eye and willed the competitors to give it their all.

‘This started as a racecourse, you know, back in 330 BC.’

‘Right.’

‘Then it was rebuilt by a Roman senator from Athens called Herodes Atticus in 144 AD. It’s the only stadium in the world built entirely in marble.’

Giannis stared up at the benches.

‘You don’t say.’

‘And it has a fifty-thousand-seat capacity, way more than your favourite football team, Olympiacos, has up the road.’

Giannis put his hand on the nearest bench.

‘I seriously wouldn’t want to be sitting on cold hard stone like this for the duration of a match. I should think piles were a major problem back in the day.’

‘Gianni! It’s amazing.’

He smiled at last.

‘I agree. It is something very special for us Greeks.’

Her son had always thought of himself as Greek, being born and brought up here. She wasn’t about to start being pedantic about the British part of his heritage now he was showing some enthusiasm for the stadium at last.

Giannis waved his arm in a sweeping arc.

‘If you want facts, I’ve got facts. It hosted the opening and closing ceremonies for the first modern Olympics in 1896. And it’s where the Olympic flame handover ceremony still happens.’

‘Impressive.’

‘We can all use the internet, Mama. Plus, we did study it endlessly at school. I can’t forget it even if I want to.’

Suzie stuck out her tongue and crouched down in a starting position in one of the lanes.

‘OK, race you round the track. One lap, winner takes all.’

After gaining a tiny headstart, she was quickly overtaken by her taller, stronger and much younger son, who streaked ahead to the finish line. Suzie was out of breath and bent double but couldn’t stop smiling.

‘See, I knew that’s what you really wanted to do.’

She pointed at the podium, helpfully provided for tourists to big themselves up.

‘Let’s get up there and take a selfie.’

‘As long as you let me have my rightful place. It’s gold all the way for me. You only get silver.’

‘Fair’s fair.’

Photos taken, Suzie begged for a quick whip round the museum, which turned out to have a fantastic collection of past Olympic posters, prints of which were available to buy.

‘These are actually quite cool.’ Giannis’s voice was a lot more positive than it had been on the bus. ‘I’m going to get a couple for Kat as a present. They’d look good framed on the wall in our living room.’

‘You’re not admitting to enjoying this, are you?’ Suzie smiled as she flicked through the catalogue of posters and pulled out one for the bar.

Her son’s answering smile showed the dimples he had in both cheeks. His brother didn’t have any. She always felt like she’d won something precious if they were on show.

‘Of course not. Calm down.’