My Week in Athens… February 23

One of my favourite things to do is wander through the historic centre and ‘see what I see’… Early on Sunday afternoon I was in Psiri, with no real agenda except to feed my coffee addiction. Psiri is one of those colourful neighbourhoods where you tend to notice something new with each visit. Call me naïve, but I feel it’s one of the ‘real Athens’ areas of the city-centre – classic Sunday afternoons with a bite to eat and live Greek music…

…I was emerging from the alleys, towards Monastiraki Square, and noticed the smooth, graffiti-free exterior of the ‘A For Athens’ boutique hotel. It’s a hotel, it’s hip & totally urban – I figured there must be a bar or a cafe in there somewhere. And there is. Up on the roof. And your reward for braving the cigarette-heavy air is a view that rivals any in the city. Seriously. Acropolis, Monastiraki, Plaka stretch across the super-wide window like a painting, with colours I never really noticed before, frozen in time. It’s breathtaking, and the best part is that I felt like I was sharing a ‘local’s secret’, not just another stop on the tourist route. And staring at the centuries-old scene below, I remembered a few of the reasons why I first fell in love with Athens…

A For Athens
2-4 Miaouli Street
www.aforathens.com

How was your Week in Athens? Do you have a story you want to share? Send me a note at ideas@xpatathens.com.

See you next week,

Jack

A reader’s comment from last week’s post:

Thank you for sharing the information about The Black Duck cafe. It is encouraging to hear that interesting cafes exist in the centre as most of the beautiful and historical cafes in Athens eg. in Syntagma square and Panepistimiou, have been destroyed or replaced by shopping centres and fast food places (which don't really merit the name "restaurants"). I think it is also important for those of us who live in the "sheltered" northern or southern suburbs to go to the centre of Athens and keep in touch with life "down there" and support events which happen -in spite of all the frequent turmoil- as the experience is often rich and rewarding.

Annetta E.