So I was pleasantly surprised on Saturday when I was offered a free ticket to see Cats at the Badminton Theatre. I accepted with a smile, and a small pang of guilt…

Badminton Theatre itself is pretty nice. It’s the re-purposed badminton stadium from the 2004 Olympics. It’s not a fancy ‘posh’ theatre – it’s rather industrial, ‘modern’, efficient. A nice example of what can be done with ex-Olympic venues. More than ok. And accessible by metro, a short walk from Katehaki station.

Saturday night was almost a full house, with lots of international, expat types – I could hear English all around. The play itself was in English, and the theatre has Greek subtitles showing on electronic boards above the stage.

It was a London production – costumes great, set great, music great with a live orchestra (which I couldn't actually see, but I suppose one should believe them…). We had 15 eur seats, the ‘cheap seats’, but I could see and hear perfectly.

I had never seen Cats, I never really paid much attention – all I really knew was that it has been wildly popular, and has run continuously since the 1980s.

Here’s the thing: Cats is kind of dumb. It’s two+ hours of cats singing. Literally. It’s one song after another, each one about a different type of cat – the sneaky cat, the funny cat, the lazy cat, etc….  No real story that I could follow, no drama, no resolution. Just cats. Singing.

My apologies to all those who love the story – and I’m no expert on musicals – but Cats just didn’t do it for me…

But hey, for a different night out in Athens, check out Badminton Theatre – there is sure to be a show that satisfies!

Badminton Theatre

www.badmintontheater.gr

Until next week,

Jack

In this weekly space, keep up with ‘Jack’ as he navigates daily life in Athens… Anecdotes, stories, hits & misses, the good, the bad and, well, the rest…

Had I ever had a Turkish bath before? No. So it was with some trepidation that I set off, with the instructions to bring a swimsuit. I thought I was going for a ‘bath.’

The staff were very friendly when I stepped through the door (I had to be buzzed in).  Set in the quiet neighbourhood, very near Thissio metro I was shown around: where to undress, to wrap a cotton sarong around myself, irrespective of the fact I had a costume on.  Note: The Hammam is mixed ie: male and female, except all day Tuesday’s, when it’s Women Only.

Having locked my belongings away and treading carefully down the stairs in the wooden clogs provided, I was shown into the steam room.

You will sit on the marble, you will fill up your bowl to your desired temperature and pour down you, like this, said my ‘host, and then she proceeded to throw water over me.  Well, not throw – but unceremoniously tipped it over my head.

OK?  I see you in half an hour.  Continue to do this.

Still reeling a little from having water chucked over me, I took in my surroundings and the lovely warm atmosphere.  I was alone, sitting on a marble semi-circular seat and so, when in Rome, I shrugged my shoulders and did as I was told.

To read the rest of this post, please visit leavingcairo.com

Until next week,

Jack

In this weekly space, keep up with ‘Jack’ as he navigates daily life in Athens… Anecdotes, stories, hits & misses, the good, the bad and, well, the rest…

I never thought of Athens as a ‘dog owning city’. I stand corrected.

I’ve walked around the historic centre this week more times than I can count. I told my friends I’ve been doing laps around the Acropolis. It’s surreal. And completely ‘normal’ too. I think it’s great that such an important monument forms such an ‘integral’ part of day-to-day life here. Whether you walk around it, drive around it, look at it through a distant window – it’s always there. And for every tourist with map in hand, staring at the rock – there is another local, on her way to meet a friend for a catch-up.

Life in the centre of Athens – for my taste – is fantastic. Everything is just around the corner. The streets are busy with voices and activity. Nightlife is ‘just over there’. And parking is… well, parking is no issue when you don’t even need a car.

So with the Acropolis Museum in front of me, Makriyianni street behind me, I wait for the real estate agent to show up – it’s about time I checked out some apartments down here…

Until next time,

Jack

In this weekly space, keep up with ‘Jack’ as he navigates daily life in Athens… Anecdotes, stories, hits & misses, the good, the bad and, well, the rest…

Totally upset. I have never lived in a place where orange trees grow, and to live on a street lined with beautiful thriving trees – this has been something amazing for me. I never took for granted the ‘exotic’ green privacy offered by these trees. So to see the street covered, literally, in fallen branches was not an easy sight.

I am not a horticulturalist. I am not a ‘green’ person. I cannot keep a cactus alive. I have plastic plants in my house. But I did truly love the orange trees on my street.

And let’s be honest, those guys with the chainsaws... didn’t look like the type of guys who might know a thing or two about gardening. I would not likely give them open access to municipal greenery, much less to a chainsaw.

Now the street looks bare – barren, un-shaded, less character, exposed. The green leaves also covered up most of the graffiti on the street – not so any more. The neighbourhood was completely transformed. I had thoughts of panic – should I complain? Should I move? Could I find another street with trees??

So I did what any expat city-boy would do in a time like this: I called my Greek aunt in the village for answers. After some laughter at my plight, she calmly explained to me that this pruning has to be done, from time to time, to allow the tree to keep growing, to keep healthy and to keep strong. I should take a pill for my headache and check back in a few months’ time when she assured me the branches will have begun growing again.

So, it seems I must endure this tragedy, this decidedly ‘first world’ problem. I must allow the trees time to regrow, I must cover up my windows for fear of prying neighbours, I must glance away from the graffiti on the street and wonder who exactly I might call to talk about getting it removed.

One thing is for sure: I will never (ever) get tired of seeing orange trees on the streets of Athens.

Until next week,

Jack
 

In this weekly space, keep up with ‘Jack’ as he navigates daily life in Athens… Anecdotes, stories, hits & misses, the good, the bad and, well, the rest…

Given the sorry state of my muscles after that, and the urgent need for coffee, I ventured out to meet two friends at a ‘newish’ café-bar we had noticed in Plaka. It’s called ‘Off White’, and I really like it. It’s at the end of Plaka leading up from Monastiraki, on the far side of the ‘Hadrian’s Library’ site.

It’s a small creative space, housed in an old building, with whimsical décor (bar tables made of bicycles), painted ceiling and columns, and a cool musical soundtrack (reggae to big band and everything in between) – for a decidedly chill ambiance. Good coffee, good service. Something different…

The first time I went there was on a Saturday evening for a glass of wine – and they had live music in the form of a saxophonist. I believe they have live music most Saturdays – very cool. The lower level is an ‘art gallery’ of sorts – but it’s more of an afterthought, worth a glance on your way to the loo… The whole place is quite cool. Oh – and strong wifi. ;)

Check it out for a change!

Off White
Aiolou 10
211 408 7310
Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/ouyqfcx

Until next week,

Jack

In this weekly space, keep up with ‘Jack’ as he navigates daily life in Athens… Anecdotes, stories, hits & misses, the good, the bad and, well, the rest…

This week we share an interview with Goncha. Thanks to our friend Rebecca from leavingcairo.com!

Goncha Papasotiriou is Turkish, married to a Greek and living in Athens.  She runs Smart Life Coaching and I have to say, she’s good.  Far from the ‘touchy feely’ approach that  many people are quick to jump to the conclusion that coaching is all about, Goncha poses some interesting questions that can help you reach your own conclusions about whichever aspect of your life you feel you most need help with.  She certainly helped me with “Leaving Cairo” and gaining the confidence to develop my site.

I decided I wanted to know more about Goncha and why she took this route.

Goncha, tell us about how you ended up in Greece.

That’s a great question Rebecca, because it’s  a great way to show your international readers that we can do whatever we like with our lives, and if we aren’t able to find contentment in one place…., why not look for it somewhere else?

I studied as an economist and started my professional life as a ship sale & purchase broker in Istanbul.

As I was working in the highly competitive and glamorous shipping industry, my boss came up one day and said he had decided to retire. The company was going to shut down. I was going to get a severance package and continue working in the company that bought ours.

The next morning after this announcement was made – I can still remember it very clearly – I woke up, sat in my bed and looked out the window.

I said to myself, I am going to go to Greece!

I had no friends there, no relatives, no prior connection… just a few business contacts that I’d done some work with. But the decision coming from my heart was so clear and I was so sure that without a second thought, I took my compensation package, booked myself a flight, rented an apartment online and enrolled in a language school for 3 months. Everything was ready, I was so excited and I had no idea what I was excited about!

When I landed in Athens, it was a beautiful day in May.

A fellow broker picked me up at the airport and drove me to my apartment which I had never seen before. The apartment looked lovely with its antique furniture and high ceilings. My landlady handed in my keys and there started my life in Athens.

I started happily going about my days, learning the language and meeting new people.  Among those new people was a man named Antonis, who would later become my husband. We met,  fell in love almost instantaneously and spent a wonderful summer together.  But, at the end of the summer it was time for me to leave Athens and go back to Istanbul…time to end the adventure.  I had run out of money, visa and time. I had to go back home and look for a job. We parted in tears, promising to one another that this was not a break up. I went back home and felt sad, but at the same time I knew in my heart that this was not the end. Antonis would come and visit me every other weekend and several weeks passed like that…until one day

I received an e-mail from a London-based head-hunter company, informing me that a shipping giant was interested in offering me a great job, and would I prefer to work in Copenhagen or Athens??

Well, I’m sure you can imagine the answer – I returned to Athens with the biggest smile, started working in a beautiful office by the sea and a year later, Antonis and I were married.

To read the rest of the interview, please visit Bex's blog at leavingcairo.com

Until next week,

Jack

In this weekly space, keep up with ‘Jack’ as he navigates daily life in Athens… Anecdotes, stories, hits & misses, the good, the bad and, well, the rest…

The other day, as I stepped outside onto the street, I was greeted by a little old lady, who seemed to be waiting for me outside the door. She greeted me with a very deliberate ‘Hello!’ (of course she spoke in Greek, ‘Geia sas!’).

It turns out, Kuria Eleni lives in the place directly across the road. She has ‘noticed’ me many times and wanted to introduce herself. She has lived in the neighborhood all her life and apparently knows everyone.  John lives there, Foteini lives over there, and George used to live just over there before he passed away.  She was very interested in me, and had no hesitation in interviewing me on all the things one’s neighbor needs to know: What kind of work do I do? Where was I born? Where is my father from? How much is my rent (since she knew what the previous tenant was paying)? And wouldn’t I like to have a family some day…?

The interview came along with some important advice: Although we are in the centre of Athens, this is still a ‘community’ (‘geitonia’). We look out for each other. We also support the local neighbors. I go to this butcher, and to that bakery, and to that shop, and Mr. So-an-so has this or that, and Mrs. So-and-so knows lots of other stuff… And so it continued for about 20 minutes.

The good news is I have someone who is paying attention to my every move, who knows more about me than some of my friends, and who seems to genuinely interested in my life, or at least my comings-and-goings.

This, of course, is also the bad news.

Growing up in Canada, where I would barely recognize most of my neighbors, and where ‘personal space’ is holy, this kind of attention could be obtrusive, prying and quite uncomfortable.

Instead, here, surprisingly, it felt good, like Kuria Eleni was genuinely interested in me, and as if she was welcoming me into the community.

Yesterday morning when I stepped outside to take the garbage, she was wandering by, and greeting me by name, asking if I had seen how cold it was in Canada, and whether I was still happy having chosen to live in Greece.

In that moment, the answer was a resounding yes. 

Until next week,

Jack

In this weekly space, keep up with ‘Jack’ as he navigates daily life in Athens… Anecdotes, stories, hits & misses, the good, the bad and, well, the rest…

I may just have an answer!

I recently read a post on Facebook about the cost of living in various cities. Turns out there is a cool website that actually compares cost of living across a range of cities, big and small. And they really do compare everything, in a detailed and realistic way.

How much is an apartment 'in a nice area'? How much is laundry detergent? Movie tickets? A beer in an upscale bar? I suppose it depends where one buys one's laundry detergent, but you get the picture...

In my humble view, Athens is not an 'expensive' city - in comparative terms with other capital cities of similar size and population. In terms of local average earning, especially in recent years, the picture of course may be slightly different...

In any case, there is lots of interesting info on the site that can certainly add some colour to the usual coffee-talk on the woes and wonders of this great city...

What do you think? Check it out: www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living/athens

Until next week,

Jack

In this weekly space, keep up with ‘Jack’ as he navigates daily life in Athens… Anecdotes, stories, hits & misses, the good, the bad and, well, the rest…

7 Things to Love About Greece and Greeks

Someone was talking about a Bucket List at work the other day. "Leaving Cairo..." got to thinking about lists...shopping lists, mail lists, etc etc. I decided to make this list and share it with you here: why I love Greece and the Greeks. Most of it will be a summary or repetition of posts I've shared before, but no harm in reminding everyone and summarising here, especially in these times.

 1) Because half an hour from the centre of Athens (by public transport), I can be here:

Southern Beaches Sunset - Athens

2) Because if I have some time, I can rock up at Piraeus and be here:

Island of Poros - about 1hr from Athens by ferry

3) Because even though I live in the centre of a big city, when I leave my place in the morning, I am offered a "Kali Mera!" ("Good Morning!") from at least 4 people - be it the man in the electrical shop next to the apartment block I live in, the flower seller at the end of the street or a complete stranger walking 2 very old pug dogs.

4) Because people join in on the trolley buses and get involved if there's a 'problem.' Of course, this can become a problem in itself sometimes as it'd be nice if people could sometimes mind their own business - but mostly it's the older people that get involved and I feel a little bit safer, knowing there are older people around me who aren't so afraid to speak up (how long will THAT last?).

5) Because mostly, a Greek is honest with you.

This can range from: "There's cappuccino froth on your nose" to "How the hell did you get that job, you incompetent a***. My grandmother could do a better job, and she's dead."

They are at least STRAIGHT with you.

6) On that subject: Because Greeks have lovely sayings.

My favourite is "A dog licks its balls because it can" to "Agappy mou!" (meaning "My love!" but it must be said in a high pitched voice and accompanied by lots of air kissing, even if you're male. It sounds lovely, particularly when said to a young child or pet. Go on, try it).

7) Because once you're accepted into Greek society - that's it...you've made friends for life, and I mean REAL friends. I had dropped in to see 2 friends the other night and they made dinner (another one to like: you can just drop by and you'll be given dinner, raki, ouzo and not leave till about 2am, be warned) and our conversation inevitably lead to "The Crisis." I was told in no uncertain terms that they 'had my back' if I EVER had ANY problems. He can kill chickens and pluck them and also cook, a real 'hunter gatherer' so if it comes to it - we'll be OK for a while.

I should stress the chicken made for dinner the night in question was actually bought from an Athenian supermarket...but it's reassuring to know there are still 'real men' out there.

8) Just thought of another one: Greeks know how to drink alcohol in a civilized fashion.

No, you will NOT see your 'average' teen or person in their 20's rolling around drunk in the street, spoiling for a fight and thinking it's hilariously funny. The number of times I've been asked by Greek friends "Why do some people need alcohol like this in order to have a good time? Life is for LIVING! Why do they spoil it?!"

Hmmmm - I have no reply (not being a huge drinker like that, and never having had been).

9) The FOOD ("fageto")!!

I had never really eaten until I came to Greece. Well, clearly I had, otherwise I'd be dead, but I mean EATEN. And I eat LOADS and the weight seems to come off me - go figure! It's because the quality is so good. My favourite: Spinach salad with pomegranate seeds, chicken masticato (a chicken dish made with a thick, creamy mastic sauce on a nest of stringy pastry) and of course, gyros.

At least the fast food is sort of healthy. Hell, their fast food chain "Goodys" has a massive salad counter. If you're here, go and experience Greek fast food.

Of course, Greece and Greeks are also frustrating, but I want to concentrate on the positives for now (for obvious reasons). One final note: Greeks have been through hell before and survived...don't underestimate them.

Rebecca Hall
www.leavingcairo.blogspot.com

Until next week,

Jack

In this weekly space, keep up with ‘Jack’ as he navigates daily life in Athens… Anecdotes, stories, hits & misses, the good, the bad and, well, the rest…

Nonetheless, fun energy being as contagious as it is, all thoughts of boycott leave my mind the moment we step out.

We headed for Psirri around 9:30pm to find a place for dinner. The streets seemed to be deserted, and I thought, "Crisis has kept people at home."  Not true! It seems we were about 30mins too early.  Each restaurant we checked was either already full, or booked up solid for the evening - even with ?45-55 price tags for dinner. We eventually found a table at a nice-ish place, with live music and a ?45 price tag.

After midnight struck, and we made our wishes for 2014, we paid our bill and left to our next destination.

For those who have not done New Years Eve in Athens, all the action happens well after midnight. Many places don't even open until 12:30. By this time, the city was positively hopping with people!

We had frantically bought last-minute tickets to a live music show at Gazarte in Gazi. The line-up was Penny & The Swingin Cats with The Great Big Band. The place quickly filled up around 1:00am, and the show was great - big band standards, rock'n'roll, and even some of their original stuff. I really enjoyed them - great vocals, great energy, lots of fun.  Look out for their upcoming gigs!

I decided not to make any new year resolutions this year. Since I'm still working on last year's resolutions (not to mention 2012 and some of 2011), I figured I'd give it a rest for 2014. I'm just happy seeing oranges growing on the trees in January! The rest will be a bonus ;)

I hope this year brings smiles and laughter and lots of sunny days to everyone out there! Καλή χρονιά σε όλους!

Until next week,

Jack

In this weekly space, keep up with ‘Jack’ as he navigates daily life in Athens… Anecdotes, stories, hits & misses, the good, the bad and, well, the rest…