My Week in Athens… April 5

This week I am playing host and tour guide to a good friend of mine who is visiting for ten days. She is a Canadian who has spent the past 8 months living in Paris, on a sabbatical to ‘fulfill her dream’ of learning French and living in the City of Lights…

She has been in Greece twice before, and this time is staying in Athens… She asked for a ‘normal’ weekend – nothing touristy, nothing out of the ordinary. Ok, I can handle this. After some laundry and the usual Saturday chores, we wandered out… It was, by all accounts, an ‘average’ weekend afternoon – couple of long coffees with friends, aimless wandering, people-watching, comments about closed-down shops and the general state of things, mixed with comments about the sunshine and the kids playing everywhere and the sheer number of people who were outside enjoying the day… We took the Metro back home, ordered-in from the Noodle Bar, and called it an early night.

Sunday was much the same. Early-morning earthquake (!), lazy morning, late lunch at a taverna with friends, a visit to the Thissio outdoor market looking for a ‘lambada’ (easter candle) – and we even made it to a movie at the Mall in the evening.

What stays with me is not what we did or where we went or what we ate… What stays with is a simple statement.

“I love Athens”, she said. “I feel so comfortable here.” And she meant it.

This city is a lot of things, to be sure. Despite a list of rational reasons to be here (or not), Athens to me is a feeling – one that sneaks in on a warm afternoon in Thissio, and remains long after the weekend is over.

See you 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…