Reality and myths ,,, how Athenians live

Grey skies and scattered rain today. Unfortunately, because of the rain, I didn't take that many pictures as usual. We met with the project manager and one of his volunteers of "This is Athens with a Local"(www.thisisathens.org/ withalocal) in front of the City Hall. This organisation (connected to the Athen's Tourism office) offers walks with locals - similar to the Big Apple Greeters in NYC. Locals go on (free) walks with visitors after registrating. Focus is e.g. graffiti, culinary, architecture or similar, in different neighborhoods. Main purpose is to offer new perspectives of the city (besides Acropolis and museums, history and archaeology), to educate visitors about the "real life" in Athens and to dismantle old clichés. Katerina, our guide, and Spyridon, the project manager, first walked the market area with us and showed us shops/places we wouldn't have noticed and told us "secrets" we didn't know, e.g. that almost all fish (with the exception of salmon) comes from Greece, where to get the best herbs and sausage (pic) and where to eat the best freshly prepared market food or the most delicious loukoumades. Just look, how artfully presented the fish are on the market:



There is a "graffiti alley" (like in Toronto) in Psirri, too, considering the people, taking pics, very "instagramable"!

On to Pangrati, the neighborhood around the old Panathenaic Stadium - the only stadium in the world built entirely of marble. It was built on the site of a simple racecourse by the Athenian statesman Lykourgos (Lycurgus) c. 330 BC, primarily for the Panathenaic Games. Rebuilt in marble by Herodes Atticus, it had a capacity of 50,000 seats. In 1896 it was a venue for the first modern Olympics, and was once again used as an Olympic venue in 2004. Nowadays, it is the finishing point for the annual Athens Authentic Marathon.

We got to know about this residential neighborhood and its infrastructure, interesting little cafés and restaurants, shops, squares and parks. Nothing "spectacular" or extraordinary, but how Atheneans - like Spyridos - live. Ah, almost forgot the Magemenos Avlos ("Zauberflöte"), a legendary restaurant (pic above), found in 1961, where people of Greek culture and politics enjoyed/enjoy European food of all kind: including the former King of Greece, Constantine, Konstantinos Karamanlis, Manos Hadjidakis who used to hang out there, Nikos Gatsos, who wrote in the restaurant some of his most famous lyrics, and many others….


Later in the afternoon we checked out Metaxourgeio, a working class neighborhood, which got its name from a silk factory, which closed down in 1875. The area lacks a bit in charm, but made it up with a great taverna: "Seychelles" (thanks to the guys from Noctua brewery we knew about it). Had an early dinner in this cozy space, operated by young people, interpreting old Greek classics in a new and creative way. Alone, their cheese menu - cheeses from all over Greece - was terrific and fit perfectly fine with the Fava dish and a spinach "pie", all considered "mezedes" (appetizers), but filling and delicious. And, of course, they had different house wines, too, half a liter less expensive than a little glass in Germany (or the U.S.).

Walked a couple more kilometers after dinner - not so much to burn calories, but to check out a few more places on our list. During the week, the streets and restaurants in old town (Plaka/Monastiraki) were really empty, tourists are missing. On weekends it's packed with Greeks, but not on a weekday in December. Discovered a couple more murals - a genre of art in which Athens is really filling a leading position in Europe.