All of Athens was gearing up for the launch of MTV Greece. They were expecting more than 70,000 people to pack Panathinaiko Stadium to celebrate and watch performances from R.E.M., the Kaiser Chiefs and C:Real.

Our very own Tim Kash was hosting the Sunday night event, and on Saturday we rehearsed with VJs from MTV France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and, of course, Greece.

My job has allowed me to see some pretty amazing venues over the years. I got to run on Soldier Field the day before the Rolling Stones kicked off a tour. I've seen Bon Jovi at Giants Stadium. I saw the the Fugees play in the center of Port-au-Prince. But I don't know if I'll ever see anything like Panathinaiko Stadium again. Also known as the Kallimarmaron ("beautifully marbled"), it's a massive stadium built completely from white marble. According to our hosts, it was originally built in 329 BC to host the Panathenaic games in honor of the goddess Athena. It was cleaned up for the first modern Olympic games in 1896.

We finished our prep for the show with gyros and kebab. I always assumed asking for a gyro in Greece would be like asking for General Tsao's chicken in China — a complete American invention. But no, we found ourselves in a crowded square near our hotel surrounded by hundreds of Greek families out for a stroll and enjoying some of the best (and, if possible, even less healthy than the kind you get in New York) street food we've ever had.