The Vibrant City Of Athens

As a 24-year old, Charly came to Athens for the first time, unaware that the city would be the setting for a significant period of growth and discovery. As Charly puts it, "There are places we live and places we visit, and then there are the other places. Places we return to, where we put down roots, but not strong enough roots to hold us — places that change us, that we haunt and are haunted by."

Now 12 years later, Charly is back in Athens visiting her old hang-outs, seeing old friends whom she met the first time she was here, and admiring Athens for what it has become, "one of the most vibrant and significant cultural capitals."

Charly writes from her first trip to Athens, "After a week or so bouncing around the Cyclades, I arrived in Athens, planning to stay only a few days before moving on. People had told me the city was ugly and congested, basically a stopover, yet I remember the first romance of its winding, cracked stone alleyways overgrown with jasmine creepers and bitter orange trees, the roving packs of stray dogs, cats sunning on ruins, the smell of leather, honeysuckle and dust.

"One night I wandered into Kinky Bar, where the D.J. was playing obscure postpunk records I happened to love. I drank until I was brave enough to approach him. He introduced me to his friends — Athenians, a bit older than I was — and at the end of the night, they did something I couldn’t imagine happening back home: They invited me to move in with them."

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