I recently traded Sweden’s icy grip for a few days of sunshine in Athens. The timing of this trip was perfect because I’d hit that point in the year where my body had really started craving sun. I’m a Winter lover but even I have limits — in terms of darkness more than snow and cold. February may not feel like an ideal time to visit Greece for most, but it felt hot compared to home (Athens hit 20°c+ most days).
Despite this being a business trip, I managed to see quite a bit of the city in the time I was there. I also caught the sun, ate amazing food and made friends with lots of stray cats!
Me and Magda spent a few hours walking around the city. We ate custardy bougatsa in a park, bought old souvenirs from Monastiraki flea market, tried fig salami (thumbs down from both of us even though we like figs), plodded along Apostolou Pavlou and up to Philopappos Hill to admire the view.
I was struck by how much locals help stray cats. Makeshift beds and shelters like the one above, biscuit bowls along pavements and cat food spread on old tiles. Quite a few cats had the same stocky ginger features; one cat in particular has clearly been living life to the fullest all over town.
This proud cat sat in a shop entrance was one of my favourites.
I love patterned tiles and they are something I always try to seek out in other countries. Athens was good but nowhere has beaten the tiles of Lisbon yet.
Oranges hung in the trees like little pieces of sunshine. They were as much of a prominent city feature as the stray cats and graffiti. As we learned the hard way, they were not the sweet kind. They were in fact Nerantzi, a bitter orange that originated from Southeast Asia.
The streets were plastered with graffiti and impressive street art — a well known feature of the Monastiraki area we were based in. At one point, I stood looking at a whole street of decaying buildings and came to the conclusion that spray paint was probably the only thing holding most of them together.
A waiter bought my coffee to the table and said a saucer spill means good luck and money. I was served two spilled coffees during the trip. I didn’t get any richer but luck transpired in the form of good flea market finds (a postcard and some old photos).
The hotel was just a few minutes walk away from Monastiraki flea market. Magda confessed she wasn’t really a fan of flea markets but a couple of shiny jewellery finds were enough to convert her. Success!
I’ve clearly got too used to cash free life in Sweden because I forgot to take any physical money to the market; luckily she shared some of her Euros with me. I bought an Athens postcard and we split a group of old photos between us.
Many side streets were cluttered with tables and chairs. Seeing so many people eating outdoors reminded me that Stockholm will be the same in a few weeks, and I suddenly started looking forward to Summer at home even more than I had been!
It only took a day to ease into the hum and warmth of Athens — I originally thought my body would need longer to emerge from the state of hibernation I entered back in mid November. But I wasted no time soaking up the sun and stuffing myself with feta cheese in various forms, bougatsa and dolmades. Read part 2.
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