Greece Is The Word
Despite his love for the country, Frank Dicopoulos has not frequently visited Greece. “I had been one time before, when I was around 11 or 12 years old, with my mom, dad, brother and sister…. My wife [Teja] and two children [Jaden and Olivia] have not been at all,” says the actor. “I’m 100 percent Greek, both sides of my family.”You could say Greek culture was the theme for Dicopoulos this year. “It all started with me being asked to grand marshal the Greek Independence Day Parade. It was terrific, the thrill of a lifetime,” he recounts. “I got to walk down Fifth Avenue, right upfront with Mayor Bloomberg. That kicked off the whole Greek thing.” But that wasn’t the last event that pushed Dicopoulos to plan his trip. “The next thing I was asked to do was present a scholarship to a boy for an event The Hellenic Times threw at the Marriott Marquis…. Once again, we were totally inundated with Greeks and the customs and traditions.” This sealed the deal for the Dicopoulos family. “I’m so proud of my heritage and I really wanted to share it with my family. We planned it perfectly. My kids are 12 and 9, so they’re old enough to remember it.”
Vacation Destination: “The first leg of the trip was four days in Athens. After Athens, we met my cousin and her family on the island of Kefalonia, which is the largest [of the Ionian Islands] in Greece, off the west coast. It’s spectacular there. A James Bond movie was shot on one of the beaches. It’s not very developed, and there are villages all over the island, but they’re very small and quaint. Kefalonia has the most beautiful beaches that I’ve ever seen in my life, all carved out of mountains with secret coves.”Traveling Companions: “My cousin’s name is Countouris. She married Peter Countouris. The village of Kountourata, where we stayed, is on the southern tip of the island, and is named after their family. The village has been there for 500 years, and we stayed in their villa for eight days. There were about 15 of us: my family, my cousin Pam’s family, her husband Peter’s parents, Malamo and Spiro, and Pam’s best friend’s family, the Matthews. But it was beautiful: two floors — we were never on top of each other. There was plenty of space, and everyone got along with each other. Plus, it was during the World Cup, so no matter where you went, people had monitors and TVs out. We always went to a restaurant called the Cantina, which [showed] the playoffs every night. People from all over the town would come there and watch the games. It was an incredible energy.” 
Daily Routine: “Every morning we picked fruit from fig trees, orange trees, as well as walnuts and almonds. We went to cute restaurants and cooked out. Every day, I would go to this little town called Argostoli with Peter and Steve Matthews to pick up food for that day for the families. We’d have a little coffee in town, but what they call coffee is actually espresso. Then we’d go to the bakery to get fresh-baked croissants. And then we’d get tomatoes and greens, and fish or lamb, all fresh. Everything was either out of the ocean or right off the land and just tasted so delicious. Even the bread was fresh-baked every single day. So that was our routine. We’d get up, go to the town and then, when it got really, really hot in the afternoons, the kids would go to the beach. The thing is, you have a small breakfast, a big lunch, then take a siesta. In the late afternoon, the shops open and stay open until 10 or 11 o’clock at night. Everyone eats dinner around 10 o’clock at night. Then you have the best sleep ever because you’re completely exhausted!”Home Again: “The trip was just amazing. I can’t believe we’re back because it went so quickly! We had the best time.”For more pictures and stories from Dicopoulos’s trip, see the 9/5 issue of Soap Opera Digest.
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