My Week in Athens… May 23

The beautiful spring (summer?!) weather makes us all want to be outside. And that’s exactly where I was for most of the weekend. I decided to jump on my bicycle on Saturday and ‘just go’ – starting from Thiseio and braving the tough road to Piraeus, via Pireos Street, and back again. This took me a couple hours, and if I’m being honest, the roads were far less ‘tough’ than expected. I have the strong impression that Athens drivers have become very familiar and accommodating to cyclists. I can imagine what they’re saying behind their windows – but at least they notice the bikes and swerve around us. I even read that the City of Athens is planning to introduce bike rental stations in a few spots around the city. This may turn into a bike city yet!

Later in the evening I ventured out with some friends to the Museum of Cycladic Art for their (free!) street party. This was an event to promote the museum on the International Museum Day – they had various special events during the day, and closed down the street in the evening – with a DJ, free beer and a great vibe…

On Sunday a couple of us decided to meet for a late lunch. The requirements were ‘cheap & cheerful’ and ‘not a taverna’. We headed to the neighbourhood around Syntagma, towards Plaka, and wandered around with the usual ‘What about here? What about there?’ We settled on a vegetarian restaurant called Avocado. Now, I'm no vegetarian, so I wasn’t convinced at first. But I was certainly convinced afterwards. The food is delicious, the prices are right, the menu is incredibly varied – it never occurred to me that pizza could be classified as vegetarian – and the service was also really good. Refreshing. And lucky for those of us who live in the centre – they deliver.

These easy weekends seem to be few and far between lately – but what a great treat when one comes your way…

Until next week,

Jack

Museum of Cycladic Art
Neofytou Douka 4
www.cycladic.gr

Avocado
Nikis 30
www.avocadoathens.com

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...