I had signed up for a sailing course which takes you around the Saronic Gulf, mooring up at a different location every evening.

Ooooh……….sorry…. just felt my chair slide to the left. Have been off board for 18 hours now and having acquired my sea legs without even noticing… I guess they take some time to fall off?

Lucky for me, I thought, this RYA course is taught in English – fellow crewmates from other countries have to work in their second language, but I am in my comfort zone of mother-tongue. Ha! Not exactly true my hearties! Boats have a WHOLE different language. Only by Day 3 was I finally getting my head round the fact that the ‘mainsheet’ is not in fact the BIG SAIL, as would seem obviously logical to me mateys, but a rope that controls the boom. And don’t say ‘rope’ in front of my instructor if you don’t want to be sent to the bow to flake the anchor in punishment, cos ‘there are no ropes on a boat, only lines’!

Talking of punishment – if you laugh at my knots I may well clip you round the ear with my rolling hitch. Trouble is, by the time I’ve re-consulted my course book on how to tie it you will be off board and drinking beer in Hydra with our Skipper!

This mind-blowing experience was over too quickly. We were particularly fortunate I feel, as we went through all the weathers – from hot and sunny, millpond water (no air for sails at all), to 6-7 Beaufort - waves breaking over the bow and our sails almost dipping into the sea as we leant over at an impossible angle. I felt so intrepid! So, so exciting….

I will never forget that shared adventure with the excellent company of interesting, intelligent  crewmates and of course our brilliant yachtsman/racer instructor.

I miss my triangular double-bed already! I wanna go back! Thank you to the Aegean Sailing School!!

Thank you Anita for sharing!

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…

My nephew is cute, he is very active and he is in many ways a ‘typical’ boy – fascinated with dirt, rocks, animals and throwing things – often in combination.

I was given certain instructions: Bedtime at 9:30, no shoes on the couch, no snacks before bed, etc etc.  No problem.

So we spent the evening playing and running around and making a tent and putting stuff in boxes and then emptying those boxes all over the house and learning to make funny sounds – after all, isn’t that really my job?  And then, as 9:30 approached, I (naively) said to him, “Ok, sleepytime”.

Well, as it turns out, my nephew also has a very strong set of lungs.

I needed a compromise. In a moment of genius, I decided to take him for a walk in his stroller – this would surely work to put him to sleep, as it had many times before.

1 hr later, after walking in circles around the streets of Thiseio, he was still awake. I recalled the many times I told my friends “I love living in the centre – there is always so much action.”  Well, yeah, so much action and so little sleep for a toddler who is fascinated by anything that moves. Including cars, trains, bicycles, and all cats.

Eventually he was asleep. And eventually we were back home.  When his parents returned a while later, we called the evening a success and I offered to do it all again ‘anytime’.  (Did I really say that?!)

It was definitely a lot of work, that much is clear. But it was also tons and tons of fun!

Sunday morning came too soon – but it also brought Sunday shopping and autumn sales. The perfect reward for my ‘Saturday night’ adventure. I must say I was shocked by the number of people out in the city centre – it was beyond busy – and I was so glad about that. 

Saturday night babysitting - a not-to-be-missed adventure ;)

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 above, the decision was made to spend Saturday on the road, with a drive to Euboea and Edipsos as the destination.  Euboea is the island that doesn't feel like an island – it's huge, it's very close to Athens, and you get there by car.  Go figure.  So on Saturday morning I got up early and met some friends for our drive.

First stop was Halkida. If you've never been to Halkida, I suggest you give it a try. A small city, within 90mins of Athens, with a very nice boardwalk along the seaside, lots of nice cafés and restaurants, always busy with people – it's a perfect afternoon out of the city. After our coffee stop, we continued the journey to the north of the island.

The drive to Edipsos took around 3 hrs. We had a bite of lunch and wandered along the seaside walk.  On the way back we took the ferryboat across to the mainland (€24.00 for a car and 2 passengers), and drove back to the city.

At the risk of sounding spoiled, I would give Edipsos a ‘miss’. Maybe it was the off-season feeling, maybe it was the day, but for me there are plenty of other more interesting places to spend a day.  To tell the truth, we didn’t hit any beaches (of which I'm told there are several nice ones!), but the town itself wasn’t among my favourites. It’s nice to have been there, but…

Sunday morning brought the usual need for coffee, so I headed out towards Ermou Street and came across a brand new café that had opened days before. ‘Collage’ is located on the little lane beside the byzantine Kapnikarea church half way down Ermou – walking towards Mitropoloeos St.  The space is cool – huge, industrial, well-designed. They have a nice menu (and food!), and there is lots of attention to detail in the whole place. Add to that a great jazz-inspired soundtrack and friendly service – I felt a real New York vibe. Collage is a definite recommend!

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 I read an article by Nikola Georgiakodi about outlet/warehouse stores around Athens. I figured at least a few of you might be interested in this very important topic, so I’m including parts of the piece in English below…  Original Greek article is here.

Here we go:

Local warehouse/outlet shops promise that we can go shopping for the new season without emptying our wallets in the blink of an eye. The majority of the discounts offered by these outlets reach 70%, but you may well run into some of the ten-day bazaars organized by products (eg. jeans, shoes, jackets) and get lucky with even greater discounts . Here are some of our favorite warehouse addresses in the wider Athens area for cheap autumn shopping.

Factory Outlet: www.factory.gr   At their 2 big locations, on Pireos Street and at the Airport, they stock some of the most popular casual and sportswear brands at prices up to 80% off retail.

McArthur Glen: www.mcarthurglen.com/gr/mcarthurglen-athens/gr   With lots of brands, including many more expensive names (Diesel, Guess, Lacoste, Moschino, Levi’s, Bodytalk, American Vintage, Notos Galleries, etc), McArthur Glen in Spata is part of an international chain of outlet ‘villages’ – an easy place to spend a day, with cafes and restaurants too.

Empoli Outlet: www.empoli.gr  At their 2 locations (the larger one in Nea Ionia and another in Peristeri), you will find brands like American Vintage, Attrativo, Boss, Miss Sixty, Nautica, Nike and many more, again up to 80% off retail.

Notos Outlet (Meneksedon 6, tel: 211 188 7341)  Notos Outlet in Kifisia stocks a large selection of clothing from brands like Trussardi Jeans, Ralph Lauren, Ecco Shoes, The Bostonians, Kookai, etc., at prices from 30%-70% off retail.  At the Notos Perfume Bar at the same location, you will find a large selection of fragrances, make-up and skincare products from Clarins, Guerlain, Lancaster, Davidoff, Max Factor, Givenchy, Bulgari, Calvin Klein, Hermes, etc. at 30%-50% off. You can also find a number of home décor products discounted up to 50%.

And here are a few more warehouse/outlet locations!

Benetton – Sisley: Alatsaton 34, Nea Ionia, tel 210 271 7774

Berto Lucci Stock: Lenorman 254, Athens, tel 210 515 2576

Oxford Company Stock: El. Venizelou 231, Palio Faliro, tel 210 988 9043

Raxevsky Stock: Kolonou 1, Peristeri, tel 210 575 1188

Vardas Stock: Sof. Venizelou 59, Likovrisi, tel 210 283 7796

Puma Outlet: El. Venizelou 224, Palaio Faliro, tel 210 985 4582)

Nike Outlet Store: El, Venizelou 224, Palaio Faliro, tel 983 6021

Top Shoes: Leoforos Dim. Metaksa Aggelou 24-26, Oscar Shopping Centre, Glyfada, 210 894 5935

Orange Stores Outlet (men’s & women’s underwear): Ag. Paraskevis 10, Peristeri, tel: 210 578 5400

Kalogirou Shoes: Arkadias 36, Peristeri, tel 210 335 6406

Roccoco Stock: Ag. Paraskevis 32, Halandri, 210 682 4059

The North Face: Her. Polutexneiou 19, Halandri, tel 210 675 5785

Happy Shopping! 

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 was very lucky this Saturday 5th October!   I had the pleasure of being hosted by Coco-Mat in Kifissia, a rather swanky Northern suburb in Athens.  Coco-Mat was established in 1989 here in Greece…if you’ve not heard of them, they’re Award-Winning makers of quality mattresses, pillows sleep products, towels & furniture.

They have stores around Greece and various places in Europe, the Middle East, the U.S.A. and Asia including France, Spain, The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Saudi Arabia, New York, China & South Korea.

The Coco-Mat concept of wellbeing for all by creating a truly restful night’s sleep has migrated into the company opening a series of Hotels and Resorts around Europe.   And I spent the night in their Nafsika Hotel, Kifissia, Athens.  Only opened for a year and a half, what awaited me?  How was the experience?  What’s all this fuss about pillows and beds?

Coco-Mat have a simple philosophy: to make your stay feel as if you’re at home. And I have to say, they’ve created an ambiance that certainly reflects this.  From the moment you step through the front door, the open plan ‘reception’ / relaxation area / restaurant plays its role.   Cleverly there is a lot of light, open space and an open kitchen.  The ability to see through the glass into the kitchen area goes one step further into ensuring a homely atmosphere.    They go further by providing you with their top quality mattresses and pillows. And believe me, I slept like a baby.

Sleep is vital to wellbeing

I usually sleep very well, but didn’t realise how much better I could sleep until I slept on a Coco-Mat bed and pillows.  After a delicious dinner of spinach risotto, I had a lovely long, hot shower in the monsoon style bathroom, then crawled into bed for some cable TV (another little luxury for me).  An hour later I was fast asleep, head nestled into the goose down pillow, body firmly moulded into the gorgeous mattress.  

I awoke rejuvenated (not quite jumping out of bed)—and ready for breakfast.

Muesli, fresh orange juice and a buffet selection of cheeses, home-made bread, halva and cheese pies awaited me. I could have had fresh coffee and a range of teas too.

Other hotels

I would jump at the chance to stay in another Coco-Mat Hotel.  In Greece they offer locations in Athens, Serifos, Halkidiki, Karpenisi, Korinthia, Karitsa Larisas, Alonissos, Milos and Karpenisi as well as a the sailing boat ANEMOLIA which provides exceptional cruising holidays in the Sporades and North Aegean Islands (yes please!).  COCO-MAT Hotel Nafsika in Kifissia, Athens (where I stayed) is perfect for business and pleasure alike.   If I’d wanted to explore Kifissia more closely, I could have done so by borrowing one of their bicycles (unfortunately I don’t trust myself not to fall off into the path of an approaching car, otherwise I would have done).

Rates at the Hotel Nafsika in Kifissia, Athens start at 115 Euros per room per night for a Double, rising to 150 Euros per night for the Suite.   Whether you’re coming to Athens (or Greece) for business or pleasure, I’d highly recommend Coco-Mat Hotels for their ambience, healthy food and, of course, a guaranteed peaceful night’s sleep.

By Bex

http://www.leavingcairo.com/2013/10/a-night-at-coco-mat-hotel-nafsika-in.html

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’ve had to spend an unusual week on the road, for work, jumping between Zurich, Berlin and Istanbul. My reactions have truly spanned the 2 extremes above – and have even fluctuated from minute to minute. To be perfectly honest, I had moments over the past days where I questioned my desire to live in Athens, with its challenges, its graffiti, its difficulties, its dramas…

Zurich is like a ‘perfect society’ - Pristine, wealthy, efficient, on time (down to the second!), sophisticated, beautiful. One could say, the way a 21^st century city ought to be…

Istanbul, by contrast, is huge, bustling, cosmopolitan, historic, developing, energized. Berlin is modern, trendy, creative, progressive, young, open, cool. Athens, on the other hand, is none of these things - at first glance - but Athens is actually all of these things, depending where you look.  

It struck me that Athens is not easily defined, and does not have an easily discernable character, no global footprint as a city (apart from ‘historic’ and whatever news reports you choose to believe…!).

And that’s cool. Because it means that we still have time to make one. And according to my mother, challenges, difficulties and drama (and maybe even graffiti) create character.

And so it goes… When I woke up at home on Sunday morning, and walked out to greet the shining sun, I knew that in fact I do want to live in Athens. The rest is details.

Cheers to 21st century Athens!

Jack

The tickets are cheap for what you get & if over 62 ( not sure of this age)  years old 1/2 price. I have a lot of friends that abhor the bus due to their ignorance & spoiled upbringing.

I love to watch them stuck in traffic for an hour as I cruise along in my air conditioned bus in the right lane all the way from Kifissia to Athens center in 20 minutes or via the subway in 10 minutes. During our Athens day out they have to worry about if they parked their car in a place where their number plates will be removed or get a hefty fined ticket. Or try to forget the 20 euro they were dumb enough to pay for organized parking.They are also faced with having to go back to where they parked their vehicle while I get on the nearest train or bus back home. I usually have had a shower & glass of wine before they return ass stressed out & in a hurry...

So, if you want to enjoy your life on earth & save time & aggravation go PUBLIC. You get a cheap city tour, save a lot of parking & gas money & time due to walking back to your parked car. Keep your car for country trips & get a life! Try the transport system."

 Regards, Steve

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 am the owner of St. Thomas B & B in Peania and can expect the occasional call at odd hours but this was really early!!

The voice on the other end sounded very anxious and after explaining to me who she was, a previous guest of ours, she told me that she had a huge problem and I was the only person she could think of at that time in Athens to help her!

They had arrived from Norway and taken the 04:05 Express bus from the airport to the port of Piraeus and after leaving the bus she discovered she had left her handbag on there with passport, purse, mobile phone and various other personal items.

My husband immediately called the police who gave him a number to call and after only  5 minutes we were speaking with someone from the bus company at the airport who actually told us that the driver had found her bag and handed it in to the central bus station in Athens!

You can imagine how relieved she was - only a matter of retrieving the bag as they were leaving on the ferry.   We sent a very reliable taxi driver to the station later that morning to collect it and bring it to us.   On checking it out  everything was there!

We must give a huge thank you and round of applause to that bus driver and the bus company as we were absolutely certain that in these difficult times a handbag left on a bus would certainly not be found!  Trust in human nature has been restored!"

St. Thomas B&B
+30 210 6029 367
saintthomas21@yahoo.com
www.stay-in-athens.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 met up last Sunday with my Greek-American friend, Evi.  She, like myself is from the US, but has now made Athens her home.  Fresh from her two-month trip to Boston, I was looking forward to hearing some new perspectives from New England.  I haven’t been back to the US in a year, and after my surreal 3-month army experience at Kalamata Military Base and the Defense Ministry in Athens this summer, I am getting a small dose of Greek cabin-fever. 

I barely let her take a sip of her coffee before I started with a barrage of questions: “So, what is the vibe like in the US right now?  Did you want to stay more or are you glad you’re back in Athens?”  I asked her, like my one-year stretch in Greece had given me amnesia to thirty years of living in America.

“Yeah, I’m glad to be back here.  But it’s really good over there too.  You know; everything works. Everything is easy.  Customer service is good.  You do things online.  You run errands in like fifteen minutes.  It’s not like here, where you spend a half-day, running from office to office, paying bills in-person, getting signatures, asking for sealed-stamped certificates, like we’re still living in a 1970’s cult TV comedy series.” 

“I took my mom to General Mass Hospital to get an x-ray on her wrist.  When I asked the nurse when we should come back to get the diagnosis, you know what she said?”  My lower lip quivered and I raised my eyebrows in anticipated fear, not so much for the results of her mother’s x-ray, but preparing myself to be flabbergasted by American efficiency.  “She said by the time you drive home, you can check your mom’s online medical profile and read the doctor’s notes.”

If you said that to an Athenian who recently visited a public hospital, they might give you an empty stare, take a deep breath, laugh delusionally and then weep quietly that their mothers gave birth to them in the cradle of democracy.  A friend of mine stubbed her toe and fractured it during her summer vacation and wanted to get it checked-out.  She walked into a hospital a few days later, but soon left because she didn’t have the energy to wait in lines and go through the ‘whole process’.             

“There’s a trade-off wherever you live.  In the US, my friends seem to have more stable lives, they’re ‘building careers,’ their kids go to good schools, they’re saving money for the future.  But whenever anyone comes to visit me in Athens, they can’t believe we have this outside our doorstep.” She pointed her hand out to this -the lively, bustling neighborhood square filled with outdoor cafes-bakeries-tavernas- which on a Sunday evening, pushing 11PM, it was still full and animated with families out for late night-snacks, young couples cuddled up on outdoor patio couches at the tastefully-designed cafes, teenagers somewhat respectfully loitering around and flirting with other adolescents, old folks sitting back on benches, and the solitary, out on their evening ‘peripato’ – nightly stroll.

Greek culture has something embedded in its social fiber, in its cultural DNA.  It’s not a numerical, quality of life that is going to give Greece a higher ranking in the Monocle and Mercer ratings of best places in the world to live in, by crunching hard-data on public transportation, health care, education and safety.  It’s a humane touch that you observe discreetly and experience subconsciously, in the 24-hr daily lifestyle of peoples’ behavior: the details, little intricacies, what they prioritize, what they consider necessary.

“You know what was kind of a pain-in the ass in Boston?  Trying to meet some of my friends for a coffee or lunch was almost like scheduling an appointment with my dentist.   It’s not like here, when you’re passing by someone’s office after work or you happen to be in their neighborhood and you say, ‘hey you want to meet for a coffee, now, like in thirty minutes and you do.   I played phone-tag with a couple good friends of mine, all summer back home, we-rescheduled a few times and then I just stopped trying and we never ended up meeting.”

The Greek impromptu social gatherings are one of my favorite occurrences when you happen to stumble into one of them: its like a game of social musical-chairs playing out throughout neighborhood piazzas all over Greece.  On the weekends they tend to last longer and can be all-day affairs, at the neighborhood taverna/café; and on the weekdays, they still happen after work or later in the evening at a more rapid-fire pace: friends drop-in, others drop-out, on their way to a gym class or strolling out of the office. Calling a friend out-of-the-blue because ‘I thought maybe you might be around here’ is not a rare occurrence in Greek social life.

I remember last year, a  NY Times article, circulated widely online, about Greeks who live to the age of a hundred on the island of Ikaria.  Besides a healthy diet and some of the obvious traits to staying fit, most of the people in these communities also had stress-free lifestyles: (1) waking up late and taking naps (2) lax attitude to meetings and appointments (3) Greek coffee didn’t seem to hurt either.    

We chatted a bit more about Boston, how some of the old neighborhoods have changed, and some common friends.   But I didn’t feel like I was walking away with a new striking revelation in my comparisons of laid back Mediterranean life and efficient, meritocratic Americana.   As we got ready to leave Evi added, “It’s a love-hate relationship.  It makes sense to go back to the US, to work in a professional environment where you will be rewarded, to take classes, to learn new things.   But at the same time, I can’t picture my life without Greece.”

I felt somewhat similarly.  I am missing the cultural and intellectual stimulation of NYC.   I don’t know if I’ll stay in Greece another year, or longer or perhaps it will become a base to a professional, 21st century nomadic lifestyle.  But there is a real-life charm here, no matter how low the country sinks on the financial data and econ statistics, the lifestyle is very alluring and very humane.

To read more from Spyros, check out his blog  here.

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…