GREECE IS_ATHENS_SUMMER_2022 by GREECE IS

ISSUE #52 | SUMMER 2022 TA K E Y O U R F R E E C O P Y

T R A V E L , C U LT U R E , G A S T R O N O M Y & M O R E

Athens

PA RT H E N O N M A R B L E S : G E T T I N G C LO S E R? N E I G H B O R H O O D WATC H : K Y P S E L I & TO U R KOVO U N I A FO O D I E G U I D E : S E A FO O D, I C E C R E A M , C R A F T B E E R S

H O T E L S T H AT D E F I N E T H E D E S T I N AT I O N ™

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ETERNAL ELEGANCE Visit the landmark Hotel Grande Bretagne and receive the unique chance of a lifetime experience through a collection of utmost accommodation services and indulging moments. The mythical views and the history of Europe’s oldest capital, Athens, promise to compose an unsurpassed cultural journey through its indigenous sights and unique flavors.

WELCOME

BY GIORGOS TSIROS

ATHENS IS ON THE COMEBACK TRAIL.

It's shedding the pent-up energy of more than two years with restrictive COVID measures, as tourists return in droves and locals spend their evenings outdoors with friends. The city is inviting and exciting, thanks to dozens of new cafés, bars, restaurants, boutiques and shops, hotels and cultural attractions - the revamped National Gallery and National Museum of Contemporary Art spring to mind. Even local residents are having a hard time keeping track of all their food, drink and entertainment options. This is one side of the coin. Yes, the Athenian experience as a whole gets a positive score from visitors – 8.1 out of 10, according to the survey by GBR Consulting. Seven in ten tourists found it better than they expected, and a resounding 97% would like to visit it again. That said, the monuments of Greece’s ancient civilization remain the overriding reason why people come to

Athens, and the enduring problems of day-to-day life continue to lower ratings. Most importantly, the average length of stay in the city, while slowly rising, is still stuck somewhere around 2.5 to 3 days, as opposed to the strategic target of 3.5 to 4 days, as Athens Mayor Kostas Bakoyannis said in a recent interview. The aim, then, is to keep them for an additional 24 hours. How will that extra day be spent? Apart from the historic center, the capital has dozens of vibrant neighborhoods, some both multiethnic and rejuvenated, but they lack the kind of presentation that would make them candidates for a share of the city breakers’ valuable time. “For someone to come from Berlin, Paris or New York and to take an interest in exploring some off-beat, multicultural neighborhood, they'd need to know that they’ll find something very special there,” says Sophia Antoniadou, co-founder of Discover Greek Culture, a company organizing tailor-made experiences in the city. Who can argue with that? Athens has an abundance of truly amazing things to offer visitors who take the time to explore it, but it needs to find the stories that will surprise and interest those visitors, and make them want to embark on urban discoveries.•

ANOTHER DAY

CONTENTS G R EEC E I S — I S S UE#52 — S UMMER 2022

8 | GET BUS Y ! Noteworthy arrivals, unique experiences and art exhibitions that will make your summer stay in Athens even more memorable. 34 | L IK E & SH A R E Athenians share tips on their favorite city experiences. 40 | I N PIC T U R E S Bright lights, proud city. 48 | TOU R ISM IS BACK ...But how much is too much? Some fundamental questions about the impact of “touristification”.

48 58 | T H E PA RT H E NON M A R BL E S The writing’s on the wall. Can we dare dream of the Parthenon Marbles’ imminent return to their rightful home? 68 | T R E N DSET T ER S Individuals who have brought something new to the Athenian experience. 84 | K Y PSE L I The queen of reinvention, Kypseli is enjoying a thrilling period of new openings, new events, new people and new energy.

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CONTENTS 112

134 94 | E N JOY T H E SI L E NC E Urban havens that offer respite from the summer heat and relief from the frenetic pace of city life. 102 | TOU R KOVOU N I A The fabled hills of the Athens basin. 112 | FOODI E GU IDE What does summer in Athens taste like? Find out for yourself by following some of our recommendations.

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GREECE IS - ATHENS is a biannual publication, distributed free of charge. It is illegal to reproduce any part of this publication without the written permission of the publisher.

ON THE COVER Collage by Dimitris Tsoumplekas

SUMMER 2022

D-MARIN LEFKAS D-MARIN GOUVIA D-MARIN ZEA

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Get Busy!

A mix of noteworthy arrivals, unique experiences and art exhibitions that will make your summer stay in Athens even more memorable. BY THE GREECE-IS TEAM

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A CITY LIKE THIS ONE wouldn't normally need an event like the Athens Open Air Film Festival (AOAFF). After all, it already has an extensive network of open-air cinemas showing both new productions and classic masterpieces that film buffs never get enough of, at movie theaters under the stars, on rooftop terraces – sometimes even with a view of the Acropolis – or tucked away in the courtyards between apartment blocks. This, however, is precisely the spirit of the 12-year-old festival that has become such an intrinsic part of the Athens summer experience. Always brimming with great ideas, the organizers of the AOAFF come back every summer, transforming the most unlikely of spaces into bright islands of cinematic delight. It might be the cool garden of an embassy or a museum, a popular pedestrianized street near the Acropolis, or a park that's also an archaeological site, such as the Akadimia Platonos. This year, the festival – co-organized by the Premiere Nights Athens International Film Festival and the City of Athens’ Organization for Culture, Sports and Youth (OPANDA) – has taken to the islands as well, with screenings on Mykonos and Serifos. dimitris rigopoulos

→ Check out the full program at aoaff.gr AT H E N S

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The capital of open-air cinemas

What's on

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ATOP THE PINE-COVERED

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→ Open on Wed, Fri, and Sat. Tours in English start at 22:00 (or 21:00 after August 7). visitorcenter@noa.gr, Tel: (+30) 210.349.0160, 210.349.0036.

Stargazing above the city

Nymph’s Hill, a little west of the Acropolis, stands the National Observatory of Athens, an astronomical research institute and observatory. In fact, it's hard to miss it, mainly due to its striking dome. Designed by the architect Theophil Hansen in 1842, this remarkable building surrounded by lush gardens is an easily accessible and quiet place from which to view the city, particularly after the sun has set. Visitors can wander the grounds of the historical library and there are guided tours of the Observatory as well, affording close-up views of 200-year-old scientific instruments and a modern replica of the ancient Antikythera Mechanism. The tour concludes, weather permitting, with a stargazing session using the 170-year-old Doridis telescope. If the sky is cloudy, you can return another night using the same ticket and try again. simos kavalieratos

What's on

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ALTHOUGH THE TERM GENERALLY USED to describe

tourist activity is “sightseeing,” there’s no need to be fixated on the visual element of the word. Fortunately, Athens has the ability to stimulate all five senses; some attractions have started offering unique experiences for visitors who are sensory impaired, striving to make the Greek capital a more inclusive travel destination. Through their In Touch program, the Museum of Cycladic Art – which ought to be on your must-see list – is offering visitors the opportunity to explore its permanent collection through replicas made of marble or resin, and tactile maps of Greece and the Cyclades.

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The star of all tourist itineraries for Athens, the Acropolis, needn't be apprehended solely through sight. The tour company Alternative Athens, which always aims to provide visitors with new and unexpected tourist experiences, seeks to convey the experience of visiting the rock through other sensory means. “After all, whether sighted or blind, when we visit archaeological sites, we need to use our imagination, to ‘see’ things that aren't there anymore. We're all expected to mentally reconstruct what’s missing,” says tour guide Danae Kousouri. simos kavalieratos → alternativeathens.com

Open to everyone

SUMMER 2022

“EVERY DAY, you have to abandon

your past or accept it and then, if you cannot accept it, you become a sculptor,” said Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010) in 1992. Even though her oeuvre comprises many different mediums – including drawing, painting, performance and engraving – she's regarded as one of the great sculptors of the 20th century. That she would spend her life shaping different figures with her hands is something that was evident from childhood, when she’d respond to her father’s angry outbursts at the family dinner table by making tiny figurines out of bread which she'd then tear apart and devour. All of the artist’s works contain references to her childhood and personal life, which is what makes them so compelling. Spiders are also a recurring motif, one which first appeared on paper in the 1940s, though the first

sculpture, made of steel, from her nowfamous Spider series was unveiled in 1994 at the Brooklyn Museum. “The Spider is an ode to my mother. She was my best friend. Like a spider, my mother was a weaver. Spiders are helpful and protective, just like my mother,” the artist said. However, the sight of the imposing, more than 10-meter-tall sculpture that now stands guard over the Esplanade at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center cannot help but make you think of the conflicting emotions the French-American artist must have had about motherhood. xenia georgiadou

→ Louis Bourgeois’ iconic “Maman,” is on view in Athens thanks to the efforts of the SNFCC and the NEON cultural organization. * To 06/11, www.snfcc.org, www.neon.org.gr

The mother spider

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NIKOS KARANIKOLAS © THE EASTON FOUNDATION/REPRODUCTION LICENSE FROM OSDETE, ATHENS, & VAGA AT ARS, NEW YORK, USA

What's on

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Untenable dreams

THE BUILDING THAT ONCE

housed the Public Tobacco Factory in the suburb of Kolonos has been given a new lease on life as a cultural space, but its own story touches much more on history than art. It was bombed by the Allies in World War II, housed refugees, and was used as both a factory and a warehouse for tobacco. “It has always been a space defined by tension, protest, conflict, dreams and fantasy,” notes Elina Kountouri, the director of the NEON cultural organization. It is, in fact, the perfect setting for a contemporary art exhibition, and “Dream On” represents the second time that NEON has used the venue for one of its shows. Eighteen large-scale installations by Greek and foreign artists, along with an audio piece by Kostas Ioannidis, have taken over this iconic building’s courtyard, customs office and first and second floor. In explosions of color and ingenious combinations of different techniques and ready-made objects, the pieces speak of mortality, climate change, the trauma of war, nature’s dominance over the human presence, the effects of globalization, and our addiction to consumerism.

1. S 3. M 4. M 5. R 6. M 8. C

xenia georgiadou

→ To 27/11, Former Public Tobacco Factory: 218 Lenorman, Kolonos, neon.org.gr 1 6 — GREECE IS

SUMMER 2022

CEN HIS LIB

Co-

TO MOVE FORWARD, YOU MUST FIRST LOOK BACK. PIRAEUS BANK GROUP CULTURAL FOUNDATION Reviving our en�re produc�ve history. With our nine thema�c museums throughout Greece, our specialized publica�ons, our research and educa�onal programmes, our Library, but also our invaluable Historical Archives in Athens, the Piraeus Bank Group Cultural Founda�on presents and highlights how us, Greeks, have always known how to make the most out of our natural resources, to create, to innovate, and to move forward. This is our heritage. This is our iden�ty.

1. SILK MUSEUM (SOUFLI) 2. OPEN-AIR WATER-POWER MUSEUM (DIMITSANA) 3. MUSEUM OF THE OLIVE AND GREEK OLIVE OIL (SPARTA) 4. MUSEUM OF INDUSTRIAL OLIVE-OIL PRODUCTION IN LESVOS (AG. PARASKEVI) 5. ROOFTILE AND BRICKWORKS MUSEUM N. & S. TSALAPATAS (VOLOS) 6. MUSEUM OF MARBLE CRAFTS (PYRGOS IN TINOS) 7. ENVIRONMENT MUSEUM OF STYMPHALIA 8. CHIOS MASTIC MUSEUM 9. SILVERSMITHING MUSEUM (IOANNINA)

CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION: 6 Ang. Geronta St., 105 58 Athens Tel.: +30 210 3256 922 HISTORICAL ARCHIVES: 2 Doridos St. & 14 Eirinis Av., 177 78 Tavros, Athens Τel.: +30 210 3418 051 LIBRARY: 72-74 Salaminos St., 176 75 Kallithea, Athens Tel.: +30 210 3739 651-2 Co-ﬁnanced by Greece and the European Union

www.piop.gr

What's on

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THE NATIONAL MUSEUM of Contemporary Art (EMST) is located in a city landmark of particular architectural and sociological significance. When the FIX Brewery decided to move its operations in the late 19th century to the junction between Syngrou and Kallirois avenues, the area was undeveloped. The brewery first stood alone, but was soon followed by other businesses that brought life to this part of Athens. The building was abandoned in the late 1970s, but the relocation of the EMST after the building's restoration and renovation in 2015 seems to have turned the neighborhood of Neos Kosmos and the broader vicinity into one of the capital’s most vibrant districts. In this impressive space, visitors can view works by Greek and foreign artists that make up its permanent collection and tour one of the five temporary exhibitions signaling a new era for the museum, under the leadership of artistic director and art historian Katerina Gregou, who's also the curator of the main temporary show, “Statecraft (and beyond).” This exhibition invites us to ponder our relationship with the state. What is the state to each of us, a boogeyman or a guardian? A restrictive framework of action or a free platform for exchanging ideas and customs? And what constitutes a nation? People with common roots? With common characteristics, religion or language? With the participation of 39 artists, “Statecraft” veers away from conventional narratives about concepts of nation and state to talk about inequality and authoritarianism, the rise of nationalism and poverty, and the mass migration waves triggered by armed conflict. xenia georgiadou

KATYA EV, AUGENMUSIK, 2016 COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND M HKA (BE) PHOTO: MATHILDE GELDHOF

Concepts under development

→ To 30/10, National Museum of Contemporary Art: Kallirois & Frantzi, Neos Kosmos, www.emst.gr 1 8 — GREECE IS

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What's on

KONSTANTINOS PARTHENIS, BATHERS, BEFORE 1919 DONATED BY SOFIA PARTHENI NATIONAL GALLERY-ALEXANDROS SOUTSOS MUSEUM INV. NO. 6504

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Parthenis’ Greece

THE GREEK NATIONAL GALLERY, founded in 1900, spent its first years focused on

acquiring foreign works. In February 1919, its new artistic director, Zacharias Papantoniou, recommended the purchase of “The Slope,” a painting by Konstantinos Parthenis’ (18781967). It was a watershed moment for the institution, redefining how it would enrich its collection, putting modern Greek art front and center and becoming one of its most ardent guardians. Now, in a new chapter for the museum following a recent radical revamp, Konstantinos Parthenis is the subject of an homage. “Parthenis’ oeuvre is defined by constant protean transformations. Only Picasso can be compared with him in this regard,” commented the late Marina Lambraki-Plaka, the National Gallery’s long-serving director. The exhibition “Konstantinos Parthenis: Painting an Ideal Greece,” shows us the world of this Alexandria-born painter, exposing his intellectual musings, creative interests and obsessions. It also reveals an artist with a sense of his own importance and a professor – at the Athens School of Fine Arts – with a radical teaching style. With more than 150 paintings and 70 drawings, the show spans his entire career from the late 19th century to the late 1960s, shedding light on influences ranging from ancient and Byzantine art to the modernist movements of his own time. xenia georgiadou → To 28/11, National Gallery: 50 Vassileos Constantinou, www.nationalgallery.gr 2 0 — GREECE IS

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What's on

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The hedonistic John Crax ton

Simplicity in art

“BRICE MARDEN and Greek Antiquity,” curated by artist Dimitrios Antonitsis, is part of the “Divine Dialogue” series, organized by the Museum of Cycladic Art, that takes place at regular intervals and seeks to trace connections between contemporary forms of expression and ancient Greek art. The idea for this particular exhibition belongs to Antonitsis, who knew how much Marden admired the Greek landscape and light. The show includes 44 exhibits – paintings, painted marble, drawings and notebooks – sourced mainly from Marden’s own collection. These are things he looks at when having his coffee, art he created at his second home on the Saronic island of Hydra, and pieces that belong to his wife or his daughters, all of which adds a wonderful note of intimacy to this fascinating encounter. xenia georgiadou

→ To 29/08, Museum of Cycladic Art, Stathatos Mansion: Vassilissis Sofias & 1 Irodotou, www.cycladic.gr

of John Craxton (1922-2009) riding his motorcycle welcomes us at the entrance of the Benaki Museum’s temporary exhibition hall. Taken in 1984 in Crete’s White Mountains, it's a glimpse into how the acclaimed British landscape painter and portraitist spent his life in Greece voraciously collecting images and stimuli. There is perhaps no museum more suitable to host this retrospective, titled “John Craxton: A Greek Soul.” An ark of Greek history, the Benaki has in its permanent collection artworks and other objects from the 6th century BC to the decades just after the establishment of the modern Greek state. Such a grand scale suits the appetite of the late “heroic hedonist,” as Craxton is described by his biographer, Ian Collins, who also curated the show. The artist first visited Greece in May 1946 at the age of 23 and instantly fell in love. Back home in the UK, he and his friend and fellow artist Lucian Freud had been described as archetypal proponents of a melancholic neo-Romanticism; Craxton, uneasy with that label and unfulfilled as an artist, was looking for something new; it turned out to be Greece, and its light, its people and its way of life became a compass that pointed him to a new way of life and a new style of art. xenia georgiadou

→ To 11/09, Benaki Museum of Greek Culture: 1 Koumbari & Vassilissis Sofias, benaki.org 2 2 — GREECE IS

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A LARGE PHOTOGRAPH

What's on

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Stay connected with Greece “THE IDEA WAS TO CREATE

motifs that would represent the modern image of Greece while still focusing on core elements representing our country, such as the sun, the blue of the sea and our history,” says Ioanna Dretta, CEO of Marketing Greece, explaining the philosophy behind Greek Lines, a collection of memorabilia featuring products of minimalist aesthetic design that reflect the country's culture, history, and natural beauty. T-shirts, beach towels, cosmetic pouches, pochettes, art prints, canvas shopping bags, key chains and more have been created in collaboration with Greek brands such as Callista Crafts, Marmarometry, AddStyle, Bleecker and Love, PrintSin, Pennie, Zoulovits, Brand Plus, Graffiti and Mia Papa. Part of the sales proceeds of these products will go to supporting Greek tourism. → greeklines.gr

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What's on

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ATHENS IS HOME to a staggering array of contemporary magazines and journals, produced by creative nostalgic types who insist on expressing themselves on paper despite living in this digital age. The Englishlanguage Kennedy magazine, which boasts contributors from all over the world, the pocket-sized travel guide magazine Desired Landscapes, Dapper Dan for men’s style and fashion, Nomas for art and travel, are but a few periodicals created and published in the Greek capital. Most of these can be found at the Hyper Hypo bookstore, which specializes in publications on pop culture and the visual arts. Here, you'll also find a great selection of amazing magazines from all over the world.

If you’re looking for an extensive selection of international titles, the Athens Zine Bibliotheque, created by architect Panagiota Theofilatou and graphic designer Tasos Papaioannou, has more than 1500 of them. Every year, the couple enrich their collection with 100 new titles, designed in America, Russia, Hong Kong, Greece and elsewhere in Europe. There are themed and specialist zines, as well as some that are rather valuable, including handmade copies – check out the one designed by a refugee woman at one of the migrant camps in Greece; it's incredibly moving and inspiring. This is a reading library space; nothing is for sale or lending, but should you be interested in purchasing a copy, you can make note of the creator’s details and get in touch with them. You can stay up to date on the various activities of Athens Zine Bibliotheque through their Facebook page, as they prepare for a full program of events in Athens, Sikinos and Kavala this summer. If you are a creator, you can add your own publication to the library, leaving your mark in a city that proudly supports independent publishers. nena dimitriou

→ Hyper Hypo, 10 Voreou, Monastiraki, Tel. (+30) 211.7359.628. → Athens Zine Bibliotheque, 19 Korinthias, Ampelokipi, Tel. (+30) 210.6452.631. 2 6 — GREECE IS

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All that looks good on paper

ÉLÉGANT

WineArtEstate.com

What's on

CITY BRIEF

YOU PROBABLY didn’t come to Athens to swim as, for some reason, not many visitors associate the capital with the country’s main tourist products: the sun and the sea. Put the blame on the all-powerful appeal of the Parthenon, or on the media features that stress the city’s entertainment and leisure options, its excellent food and drink venues, and its proximity to the islands, and then correct the mistake by hitting the shore. If you're in Athens between May and October, you can swim at lovely beaches that are no more than a 30 to 60-minute drive from the city center.

There's something for all tastes: friendly, family-oriented, full-facility beaches, such as the popular Akti Vouliagmenis (entry fees begin at €10); beaches redolent of the islands, such as Althea in Aghia Marina and KAPE near Legrena; beaches of unique natural beauty, such as the one at Schinias, nestled in a pine forest; and beaches next to archaeological sites, such as Heraion, 18 kilometers west of the popular seaside town of Loutraki. Akti Vouliagmenis and Althea can be reached by bus (122 and 117). To get to Legrena and Schinias, take the KTEL regional bus to Sounion and Marathon, respectively. Of course, the easiest option may be to rent a car, which is probably necessary should you opt for Heraion. For all beaches, avoid the weekends if you want a quiet swim and a relatively easy drive.

dimitris rigopoulos

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Mona: More than a hotel IN ATHENS, THE ACCOMMODATION

options are countless and include everything from five-star resorts to very affordable Airbnb options only a few steps from Syntagma Square. If you're looking for a special hotel experience, the brand new Mona, a boutique hotel in the colorful neighborhood of Psyrri, beckons. The hotel occupies a 1950s industrial eight-floor building, renovated with respect to its 70year history. In addition to the 20 rooms – each with a unique character – the building also houses an art gallery, a concept café-bar and a speakeasy basement venue, and a rooftop with a wonderful view of the Acropolis. Art is everywhere at Mona's, but the works themselves and their placement make it seem like they were acquired over time by a private collector to decorate his or her own house in line with their personal taste, rather than chosen to hang in a commercial enterprise. The furniture has been designed by the studio House of Shila, and the homeware items (both utilitarian and decorative) have been selected to match Mona's aesthetics by creative art director Eftihia Stefanidi. The care taken by the owners is reflected in special details such as the selected coffee, the special products in the mini bar, and the music available to play in the rooms. Each of these choices is a statement on their philosophy of hospitality; as they put it, Mona is “designed to make you feel at home and yet in a dream.” nena dimitriou → 4 Kakourgodikiou, Psyrri, mona-athens.com/ GREECE IS — 2 9

What's on

MUCH-ANTICIPATED performances,

exhibitions and lectures by important individuals attract crowds of Athenians to this contemporary cultural hub in the heart of Athens. As foot traffic to the area has increased in recent years, bars and all-day cafes have sprung up along the road behind the Stegi, creating a new destination for the intellectually curious to meet up over food and drink. Naif (10 Leontiou, Neos Kosmos, Tel. (+30) 210.933.4946) serves great coffee and brunch, and you can follow your afternoon aperitivo with pizza. A bit further along, Lalos (19 Evridamantos, Neos Kosmos, Tel. (+30) 210.937.3987) is a relaxing all-day hangout that offers a wide selection of single-origin coffees, homemade cinnamon rolls, and a delicious breakfast menu that includes eggs prepared in a variety of different

Neos Kosmos: The new, up-and-coming hangout for food and drink 3 0 — GREECE IS

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ways. The drinks list features beers from Greek microbreweries, colorful cocktails, and a selection of snack dishes, such as the crispy chicken sando. The brand new Grasshoppers (6 Evridamantos, Neos Kosmos, Tel. (+30) 210.934.0708) offers expertly made cocktails in an unpretentious yet elegant space. Τry either a Fervid, a smoked version of the classic Margarita with mezcal, raspberry, lime, and bitters, or a bittersweet Coarse. Pair your drink of choice with quality bar food - from vitello tonnato to an Italianstyle club sandwich. georgia papastamou

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What's on

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Saitama: kebabs and noodles Japanese anime “One Punch-Man,” who neutralizes his opponents with a single punch, gave his name to this original street-food joint in Kerameikos. With a comic book aesthetic and a menu featuring kebabs, playful fusion noodles and cocktails on tap, Saitama is a delicious world of its own. On the sidewalk in front of the shop – and soon on picnic tables that will be set up in the vacant lot, an urban empty space among the apartment buildings and parked cars – you can indulge in chicken kebabs with satay sauce and peanuts, or beef curry noodles with roasted carrots, ramen eggs and furikake, or other great choices, together with a refreshing beer, a Negroni infused with cherry or strawberry flavor, or a Mai Tai with grilled pineapple cordial. angela stamatiadou → 10 Kerameikou, Kerameikos

Psyche: wine for the soul IN GREEK MYTHOLOGY,

Eros and Psyche were the parents of Hedone, goddess of pleasure. Inspired by the myth, the owners of this new wine restaurant named their venture Psyche. Located in one of the city's most charming arcades, the space previously housed a goldsmith’s workshop. Today, the restaurant serves beautifully prepared Mediterranean cuisine with an emphasis on seafood, and boasts an exceptional wine list featuring more than 60 Old and New World wines. Try the rosé xinomavro with grilled fish and tarama, or a grilled beef filet from Limnos. In fact, no matter what you choose, you're unlikely to be disappointed! nena dimitriou → 4 Kornarou, Syntagma, Tel. (+30) 210.322.1271 3 2 — GREECE IS

SUMMER 2022

THE PROTAGONIST of the

Lazy breakfast at The Brunchers

→ 5 Aghias Theklas, Psyrri, Tel. (+30) 697-25.36.303

THIS BRUNCH HOTSPOT in Psyrri recently opened its doors to the public. Located on one of the most popular corners in the neighborhood, and with no vehicular traffic to diminish the charm of its sidewalk tables, The Brunchers offers several classic breakfast-brunch options, such as different types of eggs, pancakes, fruit bowls, yogurts and granola. The place also serves a small selection of well-made cocktails. It opens at 08:00 and closes at 16:00 each afternoon, just in time for the perfect lazy lunch to come to its natural end. georgia papastamou

VANILIA BISTRO first is to wake up, and the other is to awaken your senses. In the first case, your day begins once you get the necessary dose of caffeine, accompanied by a wonderful, sweet snack; in the second case, all your senses are aroused, one after the other, as you experience the special blend of tradition and expertise that's reflected in the menu, with flavors that take you on an exciting journey. The day begins with brunch; the menu for this meal features a variety of delicious egg-based dishes. Later in the day, options include the tender pork fillet served with chickpea purée and skioufichta (fresh Cretan pasta) with spinach, feta and lemon, a veritable palate-satisfying flavor burst. Enjoy your meal, but be sure to leave room for one of the exceptional Vanilia Bistro desserts.Try the homemade banoffee pie or, for a lighter option, the lemon pie. In the evening, the rhythm of the Koukaki area will sweep you up as you enjoy a beer or two from the great selection on offer, or even a classic cocktail! n

40 Veikou & 2 Erechthiou Tel. (+30) 215.525.9301

ADVERTORIAL

THERE ARE TWO REASONS to visit Vanilia Bistro. The

Like & SHARE CREATIVE ATHENIANS OFFER THEIR OWN TIPS T E X T: V L A S S I S KO S TO U R O S

FOIVOS OIKONOMIDIS Writer @foikon 1. Heteroclito (2 Fokionos). My favorite wine bar, in the heart of Athens, is my go-to place in the summer, for the wines, the cheese, the staff, the philosophy quotes they write on a blackboard... everything, really! 2. Pefkodasos, Schinias. On a good day at the far end of the beach, under the tall trees, the water is cool and clear, and there aren't that many people around. What's more, it's less than an hour from downtown. 3. Paper Tiger (7-9 Sofokleous). A friend took me here not that long ago and it became an instant favorite of mine. The decor, the people, the urban vibe in its outdoor area surrounded by tall buildings, the drinks, the music: it feels like the start of a memorable evening. C C M

ARISTOTELIS BARAKOS Designer @studio_aristotelis_barakos 1. Cocktails on the beautiful terrace of The Foundry Suites Athens (40 Sarri), looking up at the Acropolis. 2. At beautiful and tranquil Zen Beach and restaurant (Vouliagmeni) you can take a dip, have a coffee, a juice or something to eat from their tasty menu, all with a view of the endless blue.

1. Summer date 2. For a swim nearby 3. Night out 4. Guilty (edible)

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4. Guerilla Chef Burgers (33 Solomou). Opposite the School of Architecture in Exarchia, my favorite cheeseburger awaits me. You know, that really special burger, not the one you find everywhere. Guerilla grills it to perfection. I guess that’s why they only serve that one burger, and nothing else. You don’t need anything else. CM MY MY CY

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pleasure 5. Shopping tips

3. There are so many choices in this city. I love a new spot in Kypseli, Bar Eprepe (1 Agias Zonis). This has become one of my favorite hangouts, and the perfect starting point for a fun night out. 4. A juicy burger and a Paloma at Sousourada in Exarchia (44 Mavromichali), either before or after a haircut and some pampering at the Cassidy & Co. hair salon nearby. Yes, guilty as charged! I love to spoil myself! 5. The Hyper Hypo bookstore in Psyrri (10 Voreou). It’s the ideal place for art, design & fashion addicts, and owners Andreas and Stathis can guide you through their excellent selection of international books and magazines.

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5. Kopria Store (30 Eressou). I, too, discovered indoor plants during lockdown – and they definitely helped me stay sane. Simply passing by Kopria is enough to bring you joy.

Like & SHARE LYDIA VOUSVOUNI Creative Director and Co-Founder Kiohne @lydia.vousvou 1. Prasini Tenta (66 Ploutarchou) on Lycabettus Hill has become one of my favorite spots for a summer date. You can enjoy a cold drink and take in the beauty of the city - endless views of the urban environment, the Acropolis, and the sea. Perfect. 2. Driving to the end of Daskalio Beach near Keratea, for absolute tranquility, sunbathing on the rocks and a good swim in the crystal clear sea. 3. Linou Soumpasis kai Sia (2 Melanthiou) is a gem in the neighborhood of Psyrri with an exceptional take on traditional Greek cuisine. They use top-quality ingredients to create rich and seductive flavors. The wine list features some rare and interesting labels, each with their own story to tell. 4. From Kora’s bakery (44 Panagiotou Anagnostopoulou), the croissant filled with apaki from Mani, kasseri cheese and mustard béchamel is the highlight of my day. It is viennoiserie artistry made in a fabulous space in Kolonaki. 5. Scandinavian aesthetics at its finest at the amazing Myran Store (3 Fokilidou), just below Dexameni Square in Kolonaki. Here you'll find amazing furniture and other design objects, all from top international names, to make your home even more beautiful.

PANOS PROFITIS Visual Artist @panosprofitis 1. Summer date 2. For a swim nearby 3. Night out 4. Guilty (edible) pleasure 5. Shopping tips

1. Drupes Spritzeria (20 Zitrou) for a prosecco and some cold dishes. It’s the perfect place to sit outside, chill and talk. 2. At Legrena Beach, on the way to the Temple of Poseidon; even the ride there is great. The water is clear, so it’s the perfect place to bring your goggles or mask and dive into the underwater world. 3. A nice place to escape the city center in search of a gentle sea breeze is the Athens Riviera. There, you’ll come across Island (27th km, Athens-Sounion Avenue), a timeless destination where you can dance the night away next to a rocky beach. 4. Saturday mornings at Krinos (87 Aiolou) for loukoumades, a place that’s been in operation since 1923. I like that they haven’t changed the interior in all those years, and they still serve on those traditional metal plates. I usually have my loukoumades with a topping of chocolate-flavored praline with a scoop of their amazing vanilla ice cream on the side! 5. Zacharias Records (20 Stoa Ifestou). If you’re searching for good quality sound, then vinyl’s the answer. At Zacharias, you'll find a huge range of vinyl records spanning just about every musical genre, from punk to avant-garde jazz! I can get lost in there for hours.

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Like & SHARE IOANNA PETRA TSANTAKI Designer - Owner @blameyourdaze 1. Baba au Rum (6 Klitiou), one of the city’s best bars, hidden in a small downtown alley. Here, you can enjoy after-work drinks and cocktails, and, as the evening wears on, let’s just say that things can get interesting! 2. Sounion is a coastal area close to Athens. If you have time to explore the coves, you'll find some hidden gems, and you'll feel as though you’re on an island. 3. Praxitelous Bar (33 Praxitelous) is a great choice for a fun night out. This small watering hole is located in a historic building with a glass ceiling. Groovy music combined with a friendly atmosphere.

1. Summer date

ARTEMIS BALTOYANNI Art Advisor - Founder The Intermission @makmanian

2. For a swim nearby

1. At an open air movie theater. I usually go to Cine Flisvos in Flisvos Park, the closest one to my home.

4. Guilty (edible)

2. A small dock at the edge of Kavouri Beach. Crystal clear water, a beautiful coastline, sand and trees just a few kilometers from the city center.

3. Night out

pleasure 5. Shopping tips

3. Hollywood Bar (8 Navarchou Nikodimou), for its cool atmosphere and awesome music. 4. Epic Gelato (2 Dorileou) for creative flavors with a nostalgic touch (Halva flavor), and Bon Bon Fait Maison (30 Petraki, Athens) – their ice cream brioche sandwiches changed my life! 5. Amazing arts and crafts gifts at ARCH workshop store (5 Gkoura). Here, you’ll find a fantastic collection of accessories, artworks, ceramics, homewares, jewelry and printed materials.

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4. Cantine Mavili (3 Dim. Soutsou) is the best place to grab a bite after a night out. Their hot dog is pure bliss, and you'll hear some very interesting stories while standing in line to order! 5. Avissinias Square is located between Ifestou and Ermou streets. This small square hosts one of the best flea markets in Athens; you can find an endless variety of items, from antiques, old books and clothes to old love letters.

Bright Lights, Proud City B Y D I M I T R I S R I G O P O U LO S

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WHITE ACROPOLIS

“IT IS NOT OUR ARTIFICIAL LIGHT that illuminates the Acropolis; it is the inner

light of the monument itself, flooding with radiance those who want or are ready to see their own truth. And this light can only be white.” On Wednesday, September 30, 2020, Emmy Award-winning lighting designer Eleftheria Deko spoke these words as the Ministry of Culture and Sports unveiled to the world the new lighting design for the Acropolis, a project commissioned, funded and implemented by the Onassis Foundation. Deco, who led the project with her team, was watching this historic moment and seeing, like the rest of us, the Acropolis as if for the first time.

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THE G ARDEN OF STATUES

FEW ATHENIANS HAD ASSOCIATED THE ZAPPEION, a garden at the heart of

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the capital, with some of the most brilliant examples of Greek sculpture until the “magic wand” of internationally renowned lighting designer Eleftheria Deko and her associates, who all worked pro bono, gave life and light to the faces of poets, benefactors, philhellenes and Revolutionary War heroes. As if emerging from the oblivion of the past, 17 sculptures on the grounds of the Zappeio have been reintroduced to us, with the help of the resident gardeners who have carefully trimmed some of the bushes and trees to give a clearer view of the sculptures. Thanks to these efforts, Athens now has a sculpture garden in a prominent downtown location. GREECE IS — 4 3

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CROWNING A CHAMPION

THE PANATHENAIC STADIUM, where the first modern Olympic Games were held

in 1896, lies on an imaginary straight line that runs through the Zappeion to reach the Sacred Rock of the Acropolis. This edifice, one of the most visited monuments in modern Athens, has been visually transformed, at least at night, thanks to the work of lighting designer George Tellos and his associates. The most impressive change is an innovative gradual adjustment of the lighting from cold to warmer tones as darkness falls. Another innovation is the decision to illuminate the trees of Ardettus Hill that circle the top of the stadium. The new floodlights, which distribute the light in various directions, highlight the presence of the stadium's Pentelic marble; this is the only stadium in the world made entirely of marble. The new floodlights have reduced light pollution by 70%-80% while still managing an energy savings of 50% over the old system.

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TOURISM How much is too much?

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After a two-year hiatus due to COVID, Athens is once again filled with tourists from around the world, and their return has brought not only a tide of new hotels, short-term rentals, tavernas, and other businesses related to the city’s urban growth model but some fundamental questions about the overall impact of “touristification” as well.

B Y D I M I T R I S R I G O P O U LO S

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Tourism

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has suddenly exploded in popularity. The pandemic may have slowed things temporarily, but down in the belly of the ship the engine never stopped churning. New tourist accommodations are proliferating, as entire apartment buildings are being snatched up by foreign investors and transformed within months into rooms, condos, and serviced apartments for both short- and long-term stays. Major hotel chains have started opening locations, and a string of ambitious urban-rejuvenation projects, including the development of the old airport into the Hellinikon Metropolitan Park, a public green space with luxury villas by the sea, are bolstering the momentum.

LET’S SAY, FOR ARGUMENT’S

sake, that no one saw it coming. After all, it hadn’t been that long since Athens had been striving – quite desperately – to claim a bigger slice of the ever-growing pie of the city-breaks market. The 2010 economic crisis had done nothing to improve the image of a city in turmoil, with frequent street protests often turning violent, or to make it seem as appealing as other, more popular, European cities. As the country fought to get back on its feet, no one was playing particularly close attention to the Greek capital’s touristic transformation, as it started getting more and more attention from international travel websites, influential magazines and, most importantly, big foreign investors. Even as the crisis stirred a wave of curiosity, the city’s hosting in 2017 of the German quinquennial art exhibition documenta produced the image of a hip urban milieu, with much to offer beyond the obligatory pilgrimage to the Parthenon. The fact that prices – from short-term rentals and hotels to the real estate market – had nosedived during the economic slump also helped. By 2019, the average length of stay in Athens rose from two to nearly six days and, the following year, the mainland region of Attica climbed from fifth to first place, overtaking popular destinations such as Crete and the Cycladic islands in terms of overnight stays. As late as the 2004 Olympic Games, Athens was still regarded merely as a requisite stopover on the way to the islands. It's only emerged as a destination in its own right in the past few years, and 5 0 — GREECE IS

Love it or leave it

AS L ATE AS THE 2004 OLYMPIC G AMES, ATHENS WAS STILL REG ARDED MERELY AS A REQUISITE STOPOVER ON THE WAY TO THE ISL ANDS. IT'S ONLY EMERGED AS A DESTINATION IN ITS OWN RIGHT IN THE PAST FE W YE ARS, AND HAS SUDDENLY E XPLODED IN POPUL ARIT Y. SUMMER 2022

This is one side of the coin. Athenian Giorgos Zafeiriou, who lives in the historic district of Plaka, describes the dark side: “The situation has become desperate. We can’t leave our homes, we can’t sleep, we can’t live our lives.” Like the other residents of this quaint neoclassical neighborhood at the foot of the Acropolis, he’s experiencing the unprecedented surge in visitors firsthand, after two relatively quiet pandemic years. Authorities have been reluctant to control the chaos because it's hoped that this year’s crowds will make up for losses from the past two tourism seasons. Zafeiriou is not the only one complaining. In 2007, Oxford University professor Stathis Kalyvas bought an apartment on a tranquil pedestrianized stretch of Aiolou Street. Located in what Athenians call the “commercial triangle,” characterized by small businesses, mom-and-pop stores, and manufacturing workshops, the area has since become practically unrecognizable. The pedestrianization of many of the streets has attracted slews of new cafés, restaurants, and hotels, to the extent that if Kalyvas had the choice today, he would not buy a house there. “Touristification has become way too excessive, and the downtown area is being transformed into a theme park

Top: The neighborhood of Plaka is full of neoclassical gems. Above: Empty museums are already a distant memory. Tourism is back. AT H E N S

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Tourism

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only for tourists. The worst part about all the new hotels opening in the area is that they’re turning their rooftop terraces into bars. This is a disaster for the residents here, as most of us tend to live on the higher floors, so we’re simply left with no escape,” he says. Noise pollution is just one side effect of the rise in tourism: the burgeoning of short-term rentals is driving a significant increase in residential rental rates in downtown neighborhoods such as Koukaki, Pangrati, Thiseio, and Exarchia. In this respect, however, Athens is by no means alone. Many European cities are facing similar challenges, and the voices demanding regulation are growing louder.

Below: The neighborhood of Plaka receives a vast number of visitors every year. Bottom: Hotel rooftop bars, often crowded with drinkers at night, can be havens of quiet during the day.

Truth be told, the buzz that had slowly seeped out of dozens of streets and alleys in the stretch between Syntagma and Monastiraki has come bursting forth again in the past few years. Interventions have gone beyond the spirit of a simple pedestrianization plan, with initiatives like smart LED lighting and trash collection, the systematic cleaning of graffiti off 8,300 square meters of building facades, the introduction of anti-tagging materials, and the involvement of residents and businesses in the area. Thanks to all the investment funds pouring in, the downtown area is more attractive than ever. Beautiful interwar buildings that were being used for storage have been splendidly restored, while less attractive edifices from the period of mass construction after WWII are being given innovative makeovers and new leases on life. Yet the unique – and very Greek – mix of property uses, social groups, and business activities is at risk of being crushed by a short-sighted development drive. And everyone seems to agree that permanent residents are no longer considered part of the scheme. It’s a significant oversight because they represent the link in the chain 5 2 — GREECE IS

BE AUTIFUL INTERWAR BUILDINGS HAVE BEEN SPLENDIDLY RESTORED, WHILE LESS AT TRACTIVE EDIFICES FROM THE PERIOD OF MASS CONSTRUCTION AF TER W WII ARE BEING GIVEN NE W LE ASES ON LIFE . SUMMER 2022

The Good and the Bad

Tourism

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that keeps a neighborhood loved and looked after. With so many cafés and restaurants, hotels and Airbnbs creating noise and congestion, and the nearest schools too far away for families with young children, no one wants to live in the center anymore. The city’s mayor, Kostas Bakoyannis, believes that what we’re seeing today is Athens making up for lost ground: “Did you know that Prague welcomes more than eight million visitors a year and Athens only five and a half?”

Favorable Winds

How many hotels can Athens take? “You’re asking the wrong question,” says Yiannis Retsos, president of the Confederation of Greek Tourism Businesses (SETE). He explains that it's impossible to define a specific number of hotels or beds as being too many or too few for a city of Athens’ caliber in a free

market. “There are simply too many variables to even assume we can control them.” So what is the right question? “Will the course of tourism be such that the investments being made now will be offset and made sustainable in the medium term? And, also, will we all – the state and institutional and private stakeholders – do what needs to be done to protect and upgrade our product? That's the real question. I can't speak for others, but the winds are favorable,” Retsos says. He outlines two reasons why he’s optimistic about the city’s prospects. The first is belief in the signs showing that this decade will be one of rapid tourism growth worldwide. “An ageing population in the developed world has created an abundance of leisure, money, and a yen to travel,” Retsos says. “This trend will only be accelerated by the end of the pandemic. Speaking of Athens

specifically, its tourism product is constantly being enriched and will be enriched even further in the immediate future. The work being done at Hellinikon [the former airport] will not just have an impact on the real estate market, it will also leave a strong imprint on tourism, as it will add a new scale of high-income clientele generating a whole new dynamic. International hotel brands are also positioning themselves for the ‘day after’ in the nascent market because they support the momentum of a very multilayered destination such as Athens. So we shouldn't be surprised by the investment fever in this respect. There are the opportunists too, of course, but visitors today are much better informed than they once were and demand a customized and value-for-money experience. Investors who are simply jumping on the bandwagon will not get very far.” •

The Changing of the Guard at the Monument to the Unknown Soldier in front of the Greek Parliament.

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Panos Ioannidis one of the Greek Master Chef judges along with Panos Politis of the Italian restaurant Cupola created this unique place and brought fresh Italian air in the very heart of the new hot culinary destination in Athens, Syntagma. ‘Ovio’ which means clear, obvious, represents exactly the “cucina contemporanea”: Creative ideas, clear casual flavors, twisted versions of classic recipes and products coming straight from Italy, in an elegant and stylish place with warm atmosphere and hangout spirit.

Of course, as in every authentic Italian menu, pizza has its

The authentic Italian risotti cooked on demand in Ovio’s

own distinctive place. Although Ovio’s pizza with its very flyffy

cuisine, as well as the fresh pasta are the big stars of the

“cornicione” is baked in a traditional ‘closed’ Neapolitan oven

menu. Other special dishes on the menu are the Greek

and is served in a totally different way! The wine list is very

versions of risotto kouskousotto (fregola), recipes that chef

well studied with more than 80 labels focused especially on

Ioannidis has proved that he loves equally with the Italian

the Italian and then on the Greek vineyard.

prototype as well as smoked beef carpaccio, the very unique

Don’t miss the cocktails, as Ovio offers a focused menu of

Tonno Tonnato, fresh scallops and oysters.

classic and twisted Spritz, Negroni and Martini

4 Apollonos Str., Syntagma, Tel. (+30) 211 4115755 www.facebook.com/ovioathens/ www.instagram.com/ovioathens/

www.ovio.gr/

Tourism

FOCUS

On the bright side... In Athens, you can walk from ancient monuments to modern art museums in a matter of minutes, traveling through time in an exciting comtemporary city that's home to some of history's greatest landmarks. ● The center of the city is designed for walkers –some of the most beautiful pedestrianized stretches in Europe, such as Dionysiou Areopagitou Street, skirt the city's grandest sites. ● Athens boasts more outdoor cinemas than any other European city, screening everything from blockbuster premieres to art house classics. ● There are 75 rooftop bars and / or restaurants with spectacular views of the Acropolis and the city. ● It's not all old art here – in the last four years, two

new museums, the National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST) and the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation opened to the public, while the National Gallery reopened after extensive renovations and expansion. ● The city of Athens is becoming more multicultural every day, and the new restaurants that non-native communities have opened are joining an amazing culinary scene that ranges from Michelin-starred kitchens to very inexpensive (by US and European standards) but outstanding neighborhood eateries, serving authentic local cuisine in traditional surroundings. ● A five-day public transport pass costs just €9, among the cheapest in Europe, and the network is far-reaching, but if you need a taxi, cab fares are also remarkably

inexpensive, with a starting minimum rate of just €4. ● Athens stays up very late, which gives you more time to enjoy the nightlife in one of Europe's safest cities. The capital is home to two of the most acclaimed bars in the world,The Clumsies and Baba Au Rum. ● Athens is a seaside city surrounded by mountains. Just 20 minutes away by car are both amazing beaches and lush green forests where summer temperatures are 5-7 degrees cooler than in the city center. ● Beautiful islands are just a short boat-ride away: Hydra, Aegina, Spetses, Tzia (Kea) or Syros. ● Some of the most important sites of the ancient world are within a few hours' drive: Delphi, Mycenae and Epidaurus.

One of the city's rooftop bars, Bios, with its alluring view of the Acropolis.

●

Theme

EXPLORE

TheWriting’s After four decades of relentless campaigning, and with the overwhelming support of the British public, can we dare dream of the Parthenon Marbles’ imminent return to their rightful home? B Y D U N C A N H O W I T T- M A R S H A L L

on theWall…

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A view of the surviving sculptural elements of the east pediment and metopes, including panels depicting the Gigantomachy - the battle between the Olympian gods and the giants for control of the universe.

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O OVER THE PAST YEAR , the media

frenzy surrounding the campaign for the return of the Parthenon Marbles has reached fever pitch. While Greek government officials, heritage professionals and members of the international academic community continue to exert unprecedented pressure on the British Museum in London, where Pheidias’ sculptures have been on permanent display since 1817, media outlets and members of the general public, in the United Kingdom and around the world, have been adding their voices to the deafening chorus of calls to reunite the 5th-century BC sculptures in Athens. For the first time since the launch of the reunification campaign by the indomitable Melina Mercouri in 1982,

UNESCO has urged the UK to review its position on the issue and enter into discussions with the Greek state at an intergovernmental level. There has been a seismic shift in public attitude, too. According to the latest public opinion polls, respondents are resolutely in favor of returning the sculptures to Greece. And in an astonishing about-face, the London Times, which was staunchly in favor of the British Museum retaining the sculptures in London, changed its stance, arguing that “times and circumstances change.” Whatever the circumstances regarding Lord Elgin’s removal of the sculptures at the beginning of the 19th century, the writing’s on the wall for their long-awaited return to their place of conception, some 2,500 years ago. As we review the events of the past 12 months, all eyes are now on the UK government and trustees of the British Museum to right this historic wrong.

Fresh impetus

The year 2021 was an auspicious one for Greece, marking the bicentenary of the start of the Greek Revolution, which set Greeks on the path to

Agents of Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, removing sculptures from the Parthenon. 6 0 — GREECE IS

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independence. Six months after the bicentennial celebrations, held on March 25, Greece had another cause for celebration regarding the decades-long campaign to reunite the Parthenon Sculptures in Athens. In September 2021, Greek government officials made a significant breakthrough at the 22nd session of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property (ICPRCP) in Paris. In a potentially game-changing development, the committee acknowledged for the first time in the near 40year campaign that the dispute is an intergovernmental one between the Greek state and the UK, and not with the trustees of the British Museum. In their decision, reached by unanimous vote, the ICPRCP made clear its full support for Greece’s legal and moral claims for the sculptures to be returned, and urged “the United Kingdom to reconsider its position and enter into a bona fide dialogue with Greece.” With fresh impetus, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis raised the issue in his first official visit to the UK on November 16, 2021. Having pressed his British counterpart, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in their discussion, Mitsotakis made it clear to the Greek press immediately after the meeting that the return of the sculptures was important for bilateral relations between the two countries: “We will methodically insist on building the necessary foundations and impress upon British public opinion the need to reunite the sculptures of the Acropolis Museum.” The Greek PM continued to apply pressure four days later in a sagacious article for the Mail on Sunday, citing Boris Johnson’s much-vaunted classical education at Oxford: “More than most, Boris Johnson understands the unique bond that ties modernity to ancient history.” Evoking the great British poet and philhellene Lord Byron, he reminded readers of the centuries-old relationship between Britain and Greece, the crucial role Britain played in the Greek struggle for

Marbles

CAMPAIGN

Fighting for the cause: from Melina Mercouri, Greek Minister of Culture in the early 1980s, to clever public protests, Desmond Child's awareness concert and meetings between the Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis and UK PM Boris Johnson, no stone has been left unturned in the effort to bring the Marbles home.

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independence, and called on Johnson, whom he called a “true philhellene,” to seize the moment to “overturn an injustice that weighs heavy in all Greek hearts” and “amend the relevant legislation to allow the sculptures’ return.”

The Fagan fragment was reunited with Block VI of the east frieze in a formal ceremony at the Acropolis Museum on June 4, 2022.

A spectacular U-turn

In the wake of the Greek PM’s visit to London, the issue of the Parthenon Sculptures was thrust back into the limelight, not only in Britain but around the world. A petition was soon launched on the UK Government and Parliament website, calling for the government to amend the British Museum Act 1963, and be more responsive for global calls for cultural artifacts acquired during Britain’s colonial era to be returned to their places of origin. The strong momentum in favor of the Greek position was also reflected in the opinion polls. In a survey by the London-based polling firm YouGov, conducted on November 23, 2021, fifty-nine percent of UK citizens answered that they believe the sculptures “belong to Greece.” Only eighteen percent said the opposite, while twenty-two percent of respondents said they had no opinion. Writing in the Guardian, historian and columnist Simon Jenkins argued

that the debate has been further altered by recent advances in 3D printing and etching technology, pioneered in Italy and at Oxford University’s Institute for Digital Archaeology. This technology is now being used to recreate, with “microscopic accuracy,” ancient statues and monuments, such as Palmyra’s Temple of Baal in Syria, destroyed by ISIS in 2015. As such, Jenkins argued that the British Museum is fast running out of excuses for keeping the sculptures in London: “The Parthenon marbles could now be reproduced as

HIGH-TECH STRATEGY THIS MARCH, USING “GUERRILLA TACTICS,” members of the Oxfordbased Institute of Digital Archaeology scanned two Parthenon sculptures on display in the British Museum, using infrared Lidar sensors in their iPhones and iPads, in full view of the security staff. These digital images are now being used to render full-scale copies carved by robots from Pentelic marble, to be shown at an as yet undisclosed London location. Of the endeavor, Roger Michel, executive director of the institute, said: “When two people both want the same cake, baking a second, identical cake is one obvious solution.” While the project shows the advances made in 3D printing technology, and its ability to recreate copies with microscopic accuracy, it raises awkward questions about the use of copies or replicas. As British classicist Daisy Dunn explains: “It's hard to imagine anyone who wants the marbles to remain at the British Museum being satisfied with something produced in part by robots, when the originals represent to them the high point of human artistry.”

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indistinguishable from the originals, even if snooty art critics can dismiss them as fakes and ‘not the same thing.’” Most significantly, a leading article in the London Times on January 11, titled “The Times view on the Elgin Marbles: Uniting Greece’s heritage,” the newspaper made a spectacular U-turn on the issue: “For more than 50 years, artists and politicians have argued that artefacts so fundamental to a nation’s cultural identity should return to Greece. The museum and the British government, supported by The Times, have resisted the pressure. But times and circumstances change. The sculptures belong in Athens. They should now return.”

Italy shows the way

The start of 2022 saw another leap forward in the campaign. In a symbolic gesture at the beginning of January, the Antonino Salinas Archaeological Museum in Palermo, Sicily, announced a long-term loan of the so-called “Fagan fragment,” a piece depicting the right foot of a draped figure of Artemis, goddess of the hunt. The marble fragment, originally located on the eastern side of the 160mlong frieze that ran around the temple, was once part of the private collection of Robert Fagan (1761-1816), onetime British consul for Sicily and Malta.

Marbles

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An Academy for the Senses Inspired by ancient Athenian wisdom and intellect, Academias Hotel is a luxurious city hotel, portraying a contemporary interpretation of Plato’s Academy blending the old and the new, which awakens all the senses, while combining bespoke facilities, with impeccable services and unique experiences. Echoing the spirit of the academy, the hotel embodies the 3 principles of the historic Academy – Science, Art & Philosophy – and brings them to life throughout various spaces within the hotel, in a postmodern way. With a total of 60 rooms and suites and sur-

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In exchange for the fragment, the Acropolis Museum loaned a 5th-century BC marble statue of Athena and a terracotta amphora in the linear, geometric style from the mid-8th century BC. The initial agreement was for an eight-year loan but, in a joint statement by the Greek Ministry of Culture and the Regional Government of Sicily five months later, the loan became permanent. “The final repatriation to Athens of the Fagan fragment shows the clear and moral way for the return of the Parthenon Sculptures to Athens,” said Culture Minister Lina Mendoni. The fragment was reunited with Block VI of the east frieze in a formal ceremony held at the Acropolis Museum on June 4. In a statement, the museum described the dialogue between Greece and Italy as the result of “love and friendship” and the return of the fragment as a gesture of “their faith in the contribution of the classical Hellenic civilization to the history of humanity.” In a separate move, the ministry approved the return of ten sculptural fragments that had previously been kept in the storerooms of Greece’s National Archaeological Museum in Athens for display at the Acropolis Museum. The fragments, depicting parts of human figures from the Parthenon’s eastern and southern frieze and its northern metopes, and parts of a head from the northern frieze, were located, identified and documented by the late archaeologist and researcher of ancient Greek sculpture Giorgos Despinis. In a formal ceremony on January 3, they were reunited with the sculptures on display in the specially-designed Parthenon Gallery, in direct view of the Acropolis.

According to a subsequent UNESCO announcement, the two sides had agreed a meeting at a ministerial level that would be arranged “in due course.” News of a potential break in the deadlock clearly put the trustees of the British Museum on the defensive. Two weeks later, at the 23rd session of UNESCO’s ICPRCP in mid-May, the deputy director of the British Museum, Dr Jonathan Williams, made the astonishing claim that much of the statuary removed by Lord Elgin had in fact been retrieved from the rubble around the Parthenon, and not all hacked from the monument. Campaigners were quick to issue their rebuttals, including renowned Cambridge University archaeologist Anthony Snodgrass, who cited eyewitness accounts of the sculptures being “violently detached” from the monument. Williams’ claim was also dismissed by Mendoni: “Over the years, Greek authorities and the international scientific community have demonstrated with unshakeable arguments the true events surrounding the removal of the Parthenon Sculptures. Lord Elgin used illicit and inequitable means to seize

The Fagan fragment, depicting the right foot of the goddess Artemis, had been at the Antonio Salinas Archaeological Museum in Palermo since 1836.

On the defensive

On April 29, amid mounting pressure from the rising tide of calls to intervene on the issue, Britain’s under-secretary of state for arts, Stephen Parkinson, sent a formal request for a meeting with his Greek counterpart, Lina Mendoni, to discuss the future of the sculptures. 6 4 — GREECE IS

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and export the Parthenon Sculptures, without real legal permission to do so, in a blatant act of serial theft.” In an article in the Guardian on May 23, Williams admitted that the monuments of the Acropolis are wonderfully preserved and exhibited in Athens’ Acropolis Museum, which opened in 2008, but added: “There will never be a magic moment of reunification because half of the sculptures from the Parthenon are lost forever, half of the sculptures were destroyed by the late 17th century long before Elgin was active in Athens.” For many in this campaign, the British Museum’s stubborn refusal to admit Elgin’s blatant moral and ethical wrongdoing in the early 19th century, and the part it continues to play in effectively compounding the crime, is doing irreparable damage to the already bruised reputation of the venerable museum. Speaking at the annual Hay Festival in Wales on May 29, actor-author Stephen Fry, a long-time proponent of the reunification of the sculptures, made the argument that the British Museum no longer has any substantial arguments for retaining them in London. “Taking the Parthenon Sculptures from Ottoman-occupied Greece is like the Americans taking the Eiffel Tower from Paris when the ‘City of Light’ was under German occupation.” He summarized the museum's argument as “‘We [the British] took them legally from the Turks ... which was an occupying force.’” He went on to say that “it would be like Stonehenge and Big Ben were missing from our country for hundreds of years and eventually returned to where they belong.” In an extensive televised report by Britain’s ITV on May 31, Edith Hall, professor of classical studies and ancient history at Durham University, commented: “Most people around the world simply do not understand the British Museum’s arguments. They sound outdated, as if they belong to the 19th and not to the 21st century.” In a latest twist, the British Museum’s chairman, George Osborne, hinted at a compromise. Speaking

Marbles

CAMPAIGN

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Marbles

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Elements of surviving statuary from the west pediment and metopes, on display in the Parthenon Gallery at the Acropolis Museum.

to London-based radio station LBC on June 15, he said he would support an arrangement where the pieces were shared between London and Athens: “That kind of arrangement: sensible people should come up with something where you can see them in their splendor in Athens and see them among the splendors of other civilizations in London.”

British Backing

While government officials and heritage professionals continue to exert unprecedented pressure from the Greek side, no foreign organization involved in the campaign has been more vociferous in its support than the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles (BCRPM). Set up in 1983 under the chairmanship of Robert Browning, emeritus professor of Greek at the University of London, the committee boasts a formidable roll call of distinguished scholars, writers, actors and artists, including Professor Paul Cartledge, Dame Janet Suzman and award-winning author Victoria Hislop. The BCRPM exists to raise 6 6 — GREECE IS

awareness of the issue in Britain and abroad, and to apply pressure on the UK government and the trustees of the British Museum. To that end, its most recent action included a staged demonstration inside the British Museum on June 18, marking 13 years since the inauguration of the Acropolis Museum in Athens. In the museum’s Great Court, the largest covered public square in Europe, protesters unfurled banners and Greek flags, calling on the trustees to return the sculptures to Athens. Back in Athens, on June 27, American singer-songwriter and philhellene Desmond Child staged a spectacular, star-studded rock concert at the ancient Odeon of Atticus Herodes. In front of a packed audience at the Roman-era Odeon, located on the southwest slope of the Acropolis, A-listers from Greece and abroad, including Alice Cooper, Bonnie Tyler, Rita Wilson and Sakis Rouvas, performed some of Child’s most emblematic songs at the pro bono event, “Desmond Child Rocks the Parthenon.” The concert was a stunning success, reflecting the current state of

public sentiment and international support in favor of the reunification of the sculptures. Since September 2021, the decades-long campaign has been reinvigorated like never before. In the wake of this new momentum, many will be forgiven for thinking that, if the pressure continues, the sculptures will return to Athens in the not-too-distant future. As Simon Jenkins asked in the Guardian last November: “One day, a British government will return the Parthenon marbles to Athens. The only question is: who will obtain Greece’s undying credit and thanks?” Whatever the legalities of Lord Elgin’s removal of the sculptures in the early 19th century, there can be no denying their cultural importance to the Greek nation. Their return would be a fitting gesture of the UK’s affection and respect for Greece and its people.•

For further background, please scan and read.

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CREATIVITY

THE CAPITAL OF GREECE IS A HUB OF CREATIVITY, A NEVER-CEASING SOURCE OF FRESH IDEAS. BELOW ARE SOME OF THE BRIGHTEST STARS IN THEIR FIELDS, INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE BROUGHT SOMETHING NEW TO THE ATHENIAN EXPERIENCE.

Trendsetters TERPSICHORI SAVVALA IS A MODERN CERAMIST who incorporates concepts from ancient Greek art into her work. Recently, she focused on the semi-cylindrical shape of the epinetron, a clay thigh protector used by women in ancient Greece when they combed wool. “I read everything there was about this particular object and came up with an idea of how I could use its shape,” she explains. “Was it part of a means of independence for the women who used it, or part of a way to keep them confined at home?” With that in mind, she created different epinetrons, some bearing protective symbols, others as vessels for votive offerings. She was born and raised in the grimy downtown neighborhood of Exarchia, which is why, she says, she learned to find beauty in the places where most might not: “I grew up a few steps from Kallidromiou Street, famous for its farmers' market; we went there every Saturday with my mom, and I remember looking forward to the bustle, and the colors. In the afternoons, after school, I used to play on the sidewalks of Methonis and Themistokleous streets. Many years have passed since then, and I've lived abroad for a decade in very different, very well organized cities, but I never thought of Athens as an ugly city. Now that I live here again, I find it amazing that I still come across places that I feel like I'm discovering for the first time, even if I pass by them every day. I can't think of anything that can stimulate creativity more.” kelly stavropoulou �� → instagram.com/terps

shapes of beauty

Terpsichori SAVVALA ceramist 6 8 — GREECE IS

SUMMER 2022

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Athenians

CREATIVITY

Panagiotis PANTAZIS illustrator and musician

PANAGIOTIS PANTAZIS is a comic artist,

illustrator and musician. He's been publishing comics for 19 years; his first music album was released in 2010. He put music aside for a while, but he’s now back, both with his solo project, Pan Pan, and with the electro-pop band he formed with his friends, Echo Tides. His performance at this year's “Polygono Live” event was highly praised. It was a familyfriendly music and art event that turned into a massive block party, on a basketball court in the neighborhood of Polygono - everyone talked about it for weeks. 7 0 — GREECE IS

“I speak as simply as possible about things that really matter to me. I draw my inspiration from things that have been around since the beginning of time. None of this is new,” says Pantazis. “I like observing, as if scanning and using my stimuli as ‘samples.’ Then all this, maybe even years later, translates into images and sounds.” Inevitably, Athens is at the core of his work. “I enjoyed all the years I lived in the center of the city, but I've been away from it for a year now and I feel like I've left behind an anxiety that I didn't realize I had in the first place.” elina dimitriadi

SUMMER 2022

→ panpanathens.bandcamp.com/

mixing media to make magic

KORA IS A SOURDOUGH and viennoiserie bakery in Athens, founded by Maria Alafouzou and Ianthi Michalaki. Maria is a writer and editor who later ventured into the bakery industry; Ianthi is an acclaimed pastry chef and baker who's worked in some of the world’s finest restaurants. Beyond bringing sourdough and viennoiserie to a wider market, the most interesting thing they’ve done is shed some light on the process of baking. “We use long fermentation methods,” says Alafouzou, “which make our products more nutritious and digestible than conventionally produced breads. Baking is a challenge that you need to rise to every day – Ianthi does this beautifully with her team – it’s part science, part art, and the rest is physical labor and technique. Apart from that, we are a values-driven business that gives back to the community by supporting

nena dimitriou

→ korabakery.com

Maria ALAFOUZOU & Ianthi MICHALAKI KORA bakery

sourdough innovators

non-profits, running a low-carbon production facility, and practicing low-waste initiatives. Running a business in Greece comes with other difficulties – a small market, outdated accounting systems, a tiny pool of third parties to collaborate with – all of these and more make it harder to thrive. “On the other hand, in Athens you can still enjoy small-town living – a way of life that’s obsolete in most cities. Things are more flexible and fluid, and there's emphasis on personal relationships with the people who make your life go round. This makes your daily interactions a lot richer; you’re exposed to more layers of life. It’s an ancient city, it can be dysfunctional and messy and grimy, but it’s also honest, and the people are so, so kind.”

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Athenians

CREATIVITY

DIMITRIS BAIRABAS IS THE FOUNDER and art director of Greek

clothing brand milkwhite. He initially set his sights on a career in photography, but he never completed his studies or worked professionally as a photographer and eventually turned to fashion. From the outset, Bairabas didn't see milkwhite as mainstream commercial brand, but more as an avant-garde fashion concept with a very specific identity, which would evolve over time. Each of his art-inspired creations seems to have a story to tell and because of

this, milkwhite has developed an identity so unique that it's rare to wear one of its items and not be noticed. Even the showy, theatrical display windows of his boutique near Syntagma turn heads “Athens doesn't make its beauty apparent at first reading,” says Bairabas. “It's only when you wander its streets and feel its spirit that you understand its uniqueness, because then you discover the diversity of its people and its architecture.” kelly stavropoulou

��

→ milkwhite.gr

Dimitris BAIRABAS founder of

dressed to express 7 2 — GREECE IS

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fashion brand

going green WHEN IFIGENIA FILOPOULOU , biologist

and photographer, and Vassilis Tzeremes opened Kopria together, they couldn't have imagined that their establishment, the first meta plant shop in Athens would have such an impact on the urban environment. The team turned a rather gray corner of Exarchia bright green, creating a lush, living space. Many downtown residents, younger people in particular, have taken up caring for plants as they would for a pet and have become what – on social networks – is called #plantparents. Since 2018, when Kopria first started operating, more than twenty other plant shops have opened all over the city. “These plants that we reintroduced to the Athenians used to

be in our homes many decades ago. They were in our living rooms, sitting rooms and verandas, without us paying much attention to them. Now we're noticing them again,” says Filopoulou. Together with Chara Lianou, the newest member of the Kopria team, they supply monsteras, alocasias, ficuses, ferns, succulents, cacti, air plants, and floral bouquets not only to homes, but to offices and restaurants as well, spreading a plant-friendly culture with psychological benefits to well-being and fueling social relations. “Through Kopria, I've met many people that I like to associate with. After all, the driving force of Athens is its creative community,” says Ifigenia. nena dimitriou → Kopria, 30 Eressou, Tel. (+30) 211.113.2535.

Ifigenia FILOPOULOU Chara LIANOU Florists AT H E N S

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Athenians

CREATIVITY

THEY BEGAN THEIR CAREERS

→ lineathens.gr 1 Orestou, Kato Petralona, Tel. (+30) 210.342.1311

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endlessly experimental, completely candid

Vasilis KYRITSIS & Nikos BAKOULIS bartenders SUMMER 2022

as bartenders around 2000 and, after having worked in a number of city bars, joined a group of active young businessmen as co-owners of Clumsies. With this Athens bar, which drew international attention, Vasilis Kyritsis and Nikos Bakoulis introduced themselves to a clientele looking for something more than a simple drink. They started experimenting, setting up a laboratory with state-of-the-art equipment, and they applied culinary techniques to their drinks as well. Always open to questions on their innovations, they have proven, time and again, the value of sharing ideas with their peers. Their willingness to do so, their close ties to the global community of bartenders, and the popularity of Clumsies (it has reached No. 3 in the list of 50 world’s best bars) have made them role models within Greece and beyond its borders. Today, these two innovative bartenders are busy with a new project, Line, for which they have created a series of wines out of fruit other than grapes. 'Why-ins,' as they call them, are produced, using mostly standard winemaking methods, from pomegranates, figs, cotton blossom honey and various other raw materials, and Athenians are already falling in love with them. “We're inspired by the way the people of this city eat and drink, and we adapt our ideas to their habits,” says Bakoulis. “It's a good place to live if you like what you do for a living; it's a multicultural city which is now an international destination, and it allows you to share your work with a wonderful public,” says Kyritsis. nena dimitriou

VISUAL ARTIST AND GRADUATE of

the Athens School of Fine Arts, Alexandros Douras never imagined when he was younger that he'd ever be teaching ceramics. For the last three years he's been running KORKODILOS, a ceramics workshop in Metaxourgeio. In a city where pottery has become incredibly popular, and it seems nearly everyone's bent over a pottery wheel, word quickly spread that his approach was different and fun, and could be applied to all skill levels. Not only have his courses sold out, but he’s managed to fill his students with confidence even as he assigns them difficult tasks, such as working with live nude models, making clay self-portraits, and creating objects inspired by sessions of introspection. “I deal with everyday life and expression, and focus on working with my hands. My workshop is a place to meet and play,” says Douras; it is precisely this sense of creative play with the themes that the workshops explore that makes his approach unique. Douras has presented work in individual

and group exhibitions, including the 7th Biennale of Athens, and is preparing a new project called LASPI, due to be launched this summer. “Living in Athens is a constant process of discovery for me. It isn't an easy city; it doesn't reveal its secrets easily and it keeps its history well-hidden. Life in Athens feels like a neverending treasure hunt. Amidst the confusion, you'll discover tenderness and beauty if you look closely. That's how I think the city feeds me.” elina dimitriadi → instagram.com/korkodilosathens

at play with clay

Alexandros DOURAS artist, ceramist

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Athenians

CREATIVITY

kicking back with a beer

Ladopoulos and Angelos Triantafyllopoulos founded Blame the Sun, the nomad microbrewery that helped change the way the city enjoyed beer by introducing one of Athens' first taprooms. Following his studies in food technology at the International Brewing and Distilling Institute, and with a great love for craft beer, Ladopoulos quickly established himself as a successful brewer and businessman. At Blame the Sun, one of the first taprooms in Athens, craft beers are served among surfboards and tiki-style decor, and all to the sound of punk rock music and conversations about brewing, beer recipes, and unexpected food pairings. “We're making experimental recipes like Beach Bum, and some that are more traditional. We offer beers from the entire craft spectrum, including limited edition ones, all at reasonable prices,” says Ladopoulos.

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Dimitris LADOPOULOS brewer “Craft beer enthusiasts will always find something new to try here, from Greek and foreign breweries, since the tap-list changes every week. They can even try original cocktails with rare beers and spirits. ‘Blame the Sun’ as a name comes from the idea that we need to steal time from the routine of our lives and devote it to what really relaxes us and makes us smile. The city of Athens can get very hot and it's nice to escape once in a while,” says Ladopoulos. “Our beers, our lifestyle and our tiki-inspired bar reflect this need to get away.” marina petridou �� → Blame the Sun Athens Taproom, 60 Veikou, Tel. (+30) 210.921.3523

SUMMER 2022

IT'S BEEN FOUR YEARS since Dimitris

Athenians

CREATIVITY

FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR of the BIOS cultural organization that comprises three unique venues, “Bios,” “Romantso” and “Latraac,” Vassilis Charalampidis has changed the face of entertainment in Athens over the course of the last two decades. During this time, as co-founder and president of "European Creative Hubs Network," and through BIOS, Charalampidis has brought together an active, innovative and creative community in the city and established spaces and platforms to allow new and exciting things to emerge in the wider field of culture.

Hundreds of festivals, theater performances and musical events have been organized within the framework of BIOS programs, and many have left their mark on the cultural life of the city. “I was born and live in the center of Athens. I love the chaos and singularity of life here, and at every opportunity I let people know that I wouldn't trade it for any other city in the world,” Charalampidis says. “Athens is a unique crossroads of cultures, a chaotic and anarchic space, and its long history has kept it from being homogenized by today's globalized society. It is where creativity and the birth of new ideas find their home. This is what I like about Athens.” marina petridou �� → Pireos84.bios.gr

Vassilis CHARALAMPIDIS entrepreneur

reinventing entertainment

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Athenians

CREATIVITY

Giannis SIGANOS wine merchant GIANNIS SIGANOS WAS BORN

in Athens, grew up in Crete and then returned to Athens again and again, in a back-and-forth movement that’s been going on for years. He's constantly traveling in search of vines, wines and producers that will shake up the world of winemaking. Siganos belongs to that select group of courageous people who, during the crisis, didn’t stop believing that young people could do interesting things in the city. In the heart of Kolonaki, he launched Mr. Vertigo, a shop that sells wines from Greek and international producers who focus on non-intervention winemaking. Over the years, he has given shelf space to older, largely unsung producers who paved the way for organic and biodynamic wine production in Greece, laying the foundations for a younger generation to follow in their footsteps. To Siganos we owe the introduction of premium terroir wines, selections which are appearing more and more often on bar and restaurant wine lists. Since 2019, he has been organizing BACCHAE, “a festival dedicated to the things that make us happy to live in Greece today.” As for Athens? “The city,” Siganos says, “gives you the opportunity to do whatever you want ... . I never get tired walking around my favorite neighborhoods, although sometimes the bustle and pressure of the center suffocates me. Athens for me is its architecture, its sky, and its young people in all their diversity; it's the National Garden, the theaters, the concerts, the countless restaurants and street-food stalls, the bars that stay open until the morning and the energy of the neighborhood of Exarchia.” nena dimitriou �� → Mr. Vertigo, 15 Filikis Eterias Square, Kolonaki, Tel. (+30) 210.725.0862

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a rebel in the vineyards

Athenians

CREATIVITY

EVEN THOUGH MARINA FARASOPOULOU studied

→ PLAI, 15 Zan Moreas, Koukaki

morning glory

Marina FARASOPOULOU cook 8 2 — GREECE IS

SUMMER 2022

photography, at some point she realized that she could communicate better through cooking. She came to public notice three years ago when she started working behind the counter of Morning Bar (16 Odyssea Androutsou), creating unusual breakfasts with original food items such as English-style scones made with Greek kasseri cheese. In a threesquare-meter kitchen, she prepared delicacies for which city residents lined up. Particularly famous was her own version of the burnt Basque cheesecake, which was copied by many other cafés, restaurants and pâtisseries. “Morning is an important part of my day, so I basically shared the way I think about breakfast/brunch. I wanted to create a new experience of the meal,” she explains. Today, Farasopoulou creates side dishes that pair with the drinks served at PLAI, Morning Bar's sister shop, just a few meters from her original spot, in the bustling inner city neighborhood of Koukaki. “I grew up in Athens, so I’ve witnessed the evolution of this city, the changes in its suburbs and its center over time. I've seen how it constantly adapts to change without losing its identity. Athens is a city that you can love and hate at the same time, but it's also a city that gives you reasons and ways to be creative and makes you want to be a part of it as it goes through every new phase.” nena dimitriou

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Τhe queen of reinvention

Kypseli

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One of Kypseli’s modern architectural marvels. Right: The canine statue on Fokionos Negri has given joy to generations of children since its installation in 1940.

AT H E N S

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Above: The elegant green embrace of the redeveloped Aghios Georgios Square. Left: Modernist apartment buildings surrounding Fokionos Negri. Below left: The lovingly restored Kipseli Municipal Market, which has become a new hub for social entrepreneurship.

THIS CENTRAL ATHENS NEIGHBORHOOD’S FORTUNES HAVE RISEN AND FALLEN OVER THE DECADES. TODAY, KYPSELI IS ENJOYING A THRILLING PERIOD OF NEW OPENINGS, NEW EVENTS, NEW PEOPLE AND NEW ENERGY, MAKING IT – ONCE AGAIN – THE TRENDIEST AND MOST EXCITING

NEIGHBORHOOD IN ATHENS.

T E X T: A L E X K I N G P H OTO S : D I M I T R I S V L A I KO S AT H E N S

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NEIGHBORHOOD

K KYPSELI MEANS “BEEHIVE” in

Greek and that’s a great metaphor for this area that always throngs with activity. It’s one of the most densely populated urban areas in Europe – and you can feel it. The old apartment blocks stand close together and certain streets can provoke a sense of claustrophobia that sometimes detracts from the spectacular, historic architecture that abounds. The upside is that, while they might be a little cramped for space, the worker bees of Kypseli are constantly working hard on creative projects, chic eateries and cool galleries, which all come together to form a vibrant honeycomb of cultural life. Kypseli is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Athens, but it only started to take on its present form in 1937 when architect Vasilios Tsagris began transforming a stream called Levidi into a long stretch of gardens with trees, water fountains, play areas and statues, including a much-loved dog statue which appeared in 1940. The now-pedestrianized Fokionos Negri Street became Kypseli’s central thoroughfare, as a middle-class to upper-middle-class neighborhood grew around it between the 1930s and the 1970s, leaving a treasure trove of architectural gems, from art deco to Bauhaus and mid-century modernist. It’s still possible to relive the glory days of Kypseli’s golden era, a time when international stars like Frank Sinatra would hang out on Fokionos Negri whenever they visited Athens. Catch a movie at Stella, a retro open-air cinema 8 8 — GREECE IS

Fotini Kypseli

whose bright neon-pink lighting is a throwback to the neighborhood’s glamorous, showbiz past. English-language films are screened without dubbing and the screen is surrounded by a mosaic of concrete balconies. After the film, head for a stiff cocktail at Au Revoir, a classic-with-a-Greek-twist drinking hole, run by the Papatheodorou family since 1958.

Lights, coffee, action!

After the 1970s, well-heeled Greeks began abandoning the city center for more space in the suburbs and left their neoclassical townhouses and upscale mid-century apartments to fall into disrepair. As inner-city living went out of style across much of Europe, Kypseli, too, went through a difficult period of urban decline and fell into a familiar pattern of depopulation, dereliction and crime. But the cheap rents available made the area appealing to immigrant communities from Africa, particularly Nigeria and Ethiopia, Albania and the former Soviet Union, who helped lay the groundwork for the area’s eventual renaissance and the cultural diversity it enjoys to this day. SUMMER 2022

The resurgence of Kypseli began in earnest in the 2010s, with urban interventions such as Fotini Kypseli (“Bright Kypseli”), which literally brought light back to the neighborhood. The group helped revitalize neglected public spaces and restored a sense of security by installing new lighting. It restored vintage illuminated signage and apartment entrance lights, and created new lighting installations, such as the neon pink Kypseli sign which shines out proudly over Fokionos Negri today. In recent years, the energy of Kypseli has been given a serious caffeine boost by a flood of beautifully designed coffee shops. Kick began the trend; a coffee shop meets concept store and creative hub, from the creators of the Indiego clothing brand. It has since been joined by Dope Roasting Co., which offers its own coffee blends alongside yummy baked goods; Williwaw Café & Canteen, an architectural delight serving stellar brews and healthy sandwiches on bread baked on the premises each day; and Morning Sweetie, a great place to start the day with tasty baked goods, vegan sweets and, of course, spot-on coffee.

Kypseli

Radical Acne Scars

La Grace Authentic African Fashion

Structures from different eras, built in different architectural styles, share the streets of Kypseli, making for a vibrant urban collage.

Built in 1935, the Kypseli Municipal Market occupies pride of place at the heart of Fokionos Negri. It was a focal point of neighborhood life for decades, until its fortunes declined along with those of its surroundings, but a process of renovation began in 2015 and, after a series of events and neighborhood consultations, it was handed over to Impact Hub Athens, who transformed it into the city’s first social entrepreneurship market. Following its full reopening in October 2018, the market has once again become a centerpiece of economic, social and cultural life. Almost every weekend, the market buzzes with a free concert or event, from craft beer festivals to zine fairs and queer house balls such as the Wet Gala. The market hosts a weekly organic farmers’ market on Wednesdays, and

its permanent residents include Second Hand Shop, which stocks vintage clothes, jewelry, household items and more; Replay Toys, which bills itself as the coolest toy store in Athens; and La Grace Authentic African Fashion, run by Delfin and Bebe from Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who create eye-catching clothing with kaleidoscopic patterned fabrics sourced from countries across Africa, including Nigeria, Cameroon and Ivory Coast.

Diversity dominates

Kypseli continues to attract people from around the world, and foreign-run shops and businesses abound across the neighborhood. Opened by Frenchman Benoît Durandin, Meteoritis bookstore is a neighborhood favorite which stocks books, magazines and zines in English, AT H E N S

French and Greek. British bike builder Tom Donhou relocated his Donhou Bicycles store and workshop here in 2021. Icelander Halldor Ulfarsson builds halldorophones, his own creation, and other experimental musical instruments in his workshop. Kypseli’s multiculturalism extends to its food options as well. At Lalibela, Elisabeth and Tsehay Taddasse from Addis Ababa have been serving up delicious Ethiopian cuisine for two decades; the restaurant’s traditional decor offers diners a glimpse of Ethiopian aesthetics. You can enjoy authentic Syrian falafel under the trees on Fokionos Negri at Tastes of Damascus, which was founded by Za’atar, a local NGO which helps refugees find employment. The redevelopment of Aghios Georgios Square in 2014 had a postive impact on the community. Reclaiming much of GREECE IS — 8 9

Kypseli

NEIGHBORHOOD

K YPSELI MANAGES TO HOLD ITS OLD AND NE W RESIDENTS TOGE THER IN HAPPY COE XISTENCE: TRADITIONAL K AFENEIOS, TAVERNAS AND BARS SIT COMFORTABLY ALONGSIDE AUTHENTIC FOOD AND SOCIAL SPACES FROM AROUND THE WORLD.

Pilos Ceramics Workshop

Stella Cinema

Halldor Ulfarsson

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neighborhood. Alessio de Girolamo is a painter, sculptor and sound artist from Italy whose ceramic wolf heads bare their teeth at passersby from his studio on Mithymnis. Pilos Ceramics Workshop is one of the most inviting of a new wave of ceramics studios that have opened across Athens of late. You can drop in for a single class or anything up to the full three-month ceramics program. In Kypseli, even plant stores look like galleries – and throw great parties. At Papigion Project, Achilleas Hariskos rescues abandoned plants and displays them in hand-made pots crafted from recycled materials that he scatters around his concrete jungle space. Kypseli manages to hold all of its old and new residents together in peaceful coexistence: traditional Greek kafeneios, tavernas and bars sit comfortably alongside authentic food and social spaces from around the world, while creative spirits are constantly adding splashes of cool to the mix. Taken together, Kypseli is more than just a hive of activity; it’s a kaleidoscopic neighborhood of culture, cuisine and creativity. •

SUMMER 2022

this circular plaza from vehicular traffic helped create one of the most charming squares in Athens. People of all ages congregate here. At VILATZ, there’s always a young art crowd enjoying coffee or cocktails. Kyveli serves up taverna classics with a high-end twist, to be enjoyed in an intimate setting on the square, while Solo Gelato's delicious icy treats help everyone cool down in the summer heat. One of the most colorful corners of Kypseli is artist Cristina Koutsolioutsou’s store in the Municipal Market, called Funny Radical Acne Scars. Koutsolioutsou, who prints joyously technicolor patterns onto sarongs and beachwear or paints directly onto shirts and fabrics she finds in vintage stores and then hand-dyes, is just one of a new generation of creatives adding their own bright brushstrokes to the

QUINTESSENTIAL:

“Q U I N T E S S E N T I A L M E A N S E N T H U S I A S M , dedication, team, empathy and passion.” These were the first words of Konstantinos Kopanidis, one of the three co-founders of Quintessential, together with Socrates Charisis and Alexandros Daskalakis. In just four years, their company has increased its staff from three to thirty and secured important partnerships with leading brands in Greece and abroad. “We work with one single purpose,” Kopanidis continues, “to help our partners and people who trust us with the digital transformation of their companies.” From mobile apps to e-commerce, Quintessential undertakes the design of any digital product that can be supported by smartphones, computers or tablets, taking a holistic development approach. But what does this mean? “This means creating solutions that always start based on research, continue with design, and end up being developed with the most modern technological solutions,” Charisis explains. “Our partners are mainly large organizations such as banks or supermarket chains, but we work with the same energy for startups and small and medium enterprises that choose us for software development and design. Our greatest reward

is the joy of creating something of quality from scratch, something that will motivate another 30 people.” But to what does Quintessential owe its rapid growth? “To the relaxed atmosphere and the great sense of responsibility,” answers Kopanidis. “To the quality of our work and our consistency in terms of the goal. To the countless nights we stayed up to find the best possible way to serve our partners.” That is how they already met their financial goals for 2022. They are now planning their strategy for next year. What will it be? “Above all, we aim for everyone to be happy working for this company,” emphasizes Daskalakis. “From now on, our focus is on very specific things: the even greater expansion abroad and our consolidation in Greece as one of the leading digital product agencies. Quintessential is the place to go to holistically develop even the most fragile idea. We’re the team to work with, knowing that the result will be in line with expectations.” n Info: www.quintessential.gr

*We would like to thank "DrinkWorks Cocktail Gifts & Events" for hosting the photo shoot.

ADVERTORIAL

PHOTO:EVANGELOS DIMOPOULOS

THE TEAM BEHIND THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF LEADING BRANDS

Notebook

NEIGHBORHOOD

FROM CL ASSIC COCK TAILS TO COLORFUL AFRICAN FABRICS, K YPSELI HAS SOME THING SPECIAL FOR E VERYONE! • STUDIO ALESSIO DE GIROLAMO

10 Mithymnis, Τel. (+30) 697.083.2041 instagr.am/alessiodegirolamo • TASTES OF DAMASCUS

19 Fokionos Negri, Τel. (+30) 211.117.7714 • WILLIWAW CAFÉ & CANTEEN

69 Kerkyras, Τel. (+30) 210.822.0745 Au Revoir

136 Patission, Τel. (+30) 210.823.0474 • CINE STELLA

34 Tenedou, Τel. (+30) 210.865.7200 fb.com/stellacinema/ • DONHOU BICYCLES

42 Syrou, Τel. (+ 44) 7828.817.081 donhoubicycles.com • DOPE ROASTING CO.

49 Fokionos Negri, Τel. (+30) 210.865.9368 shop.doperoasting.co • FUNNY RADICAL ACNE SCARS

• LA GRACE AUTHENTIC AFRICAN FASHION

42 Fokionos Negri, Τel. (+30) 698.715.9080 • LALIBELA

28 Naxou, Tel. (+30) 210.865.2495 • METEORITIS

68 Negri Fokionos, Τel. (+30) 693.223.4316 ometeoritis.eu/en • MORNING SWEETIE

13 Zakynthou, Tel. (+30) 211.735.4924 instagr.am/ themorningsweetie

42 Fokionos Negri, Τel. (+30) 698.715.9080 funnyradicalacnescars. bigcartel.com

• PAPIGION PROJECT

• HALLDOR ULFARSSON

• PILOS CERAMICS WORKSHOP

126 Spetson, Τel. (+354) 6909.755 halldor.gr • KICK 26 Sporadon, Τel. (+30) 211.119.0369 instagr.am/kick.athens • KYPSELI MUNICIPAL MARKET

42 Fokionos Negri, Τel. (+30) 210.321.0146 agorakypselis.gr 9 2 — GREECE IS

Μeteoritis Bookstore

13 Aghias Zonis, Τel. (+30) 210.867.2040 papigionproject.gr 2Α Kefallinias, Τel. (+30) 694.227.4858 instagr.am/pilosstudio • REPLAY TOYS

42 Fokionos Negri, Τel. (+30) 694.598.7558 replaytoys.gr • SECOND HAND SHOP

42 Fokionos Negri, Τel. (+30) 210.823.5509 SUMMER 2022

Williwaw Café and Canteen

• AU REVOIR

eLearning INDUSTRY: ONE OF THE TOP WORKPLACE ENVIRONMENTS IN GREECE ☛ Christopher Pappas’ award-winning company

prioritizes its human resources above all.

“A HAPPY WORKER MEANS A HAPPY CUSTOMER . We want our team to come to work every

day with joy and passion so that they can do what they like and what will help them to develop. This is the greatest challenge.” Christopher Pappas envisioned eLearning Industry in 2012 in a café in Athens. He would create an online community that would offer an open platform for professionals to share their views, connect with educational institutions and be involved with the staff’s continuous professional development from a variety of different companies.

search engines. In addition to the above, the range of services is truly enormous: from use-cases such as constant skills development for staff to features on new technologies, such as AR/VR and their connection to education. With regard to the company culture, it truly prioritizes its staff, and earns awards for this very reason. Initially certified as a “Great Place to Work” by Great Place to Work Hellas, eLearning Industry was in turn awarded as the Best Workplace Hellas for 2022. “This award belongs to our people,” the founder notes. “Without them, we would not have this identity. Every year, we intend to push further and outdo ourselves.” What else do his dreams hold for every next year?

Currently, more than 1400 professionals publish their articles on eLearning Industry, and more than 150 articles are posted on the platform each month in 68 different categories, as well as the eBooks and webinars that are available, while nearly 82% of the platform’s traffic for 2021 was organic. This means that its main clients, located in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Europe, are able to locate it easily using

“Soon we'll have completed 10 years of operation, and we have many reasons to celebrate,” he replies. “I'd like the company to become a role model and reach the highest echelons of success. There's already a plan to expand our ideology to online marketing, software development, and SaaS innovations (Software as a Service). My dream is to see eLearning Industry impart its company values and wisdom.” n

ADVERTORIAL

PHOTO: EVANGELOS DIMOPOULOS

The company took shape soon enough. Now, the numbers do the talking.

Info: https://elearningindustry.com/

A "hidden" park behind the Palace of the Duchess of Placentia at the Byzantine and Christian Museum.

Enjoy

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"The old pond; A frog jumps in – The sound of the water."

THESE LES SER-KNOWN URBAN HAVENS OFFER NOT ONLY RESPITE FROM THE SUMMER HE AT, BUT AL SO A CHANCE TO ESCAPE THE FRENE TIC PACE OF CIT Y LIFE . B Y D I M I T R I S R I G O P O U LO S AT H E N S

ancient paths at Kerameikos, Plato’s Academy or Aristotle’s Lyceum. But my mind often returned to this beautiful poem attributed to the Japanese poet Matsuo Basho, as I spent some time in places that encourage silence, tranquility, contemplation or simply the emptying of the mind. We have come to view Athens as an unwelcoming or hostile place for people who just want to relax or find a small refuge from the madness of big-city life; and to a large degree, this is the truth. But at the same time, it is a type of self-fulfilling prophecy; because we find it hard to shake our habits, we don't stray far enough off course. This is precisely what we're attempting in suggesting the following spots: to change course and follow the roads that take us to the lesser-known Athenian “havens.” In fact, if we really look, they can be found everywhere around us. The Norwegian explorer and publisher Erling Kagge writes in his book Silence: In the Age of Noise: “Shutting out the world is not about turning your back on your surroundings, but rather the opposite: it is seeing the world a bit more clearly, staying a course and trying to love your life. Silence in itself is rich. It is exclusive and luxurious. A key to unlock new ways of thinking. I don’t regard it as a renunciation or something spiritual, but rather as a practical resource for living a richer life.” GREECE IS — 9 5

I DIDN'T SEE any frogs along the

Hill of Hippio Kolonos THE NEIGHBORHOODS and roads embracing Hippio Kolonos Hill and Skouze Hill are in and of

themselves a journey through time, to a gentler, less urbanized Athens with a much lower skyline. You wonder how so many low houses have survived, preserving a 1950s city setting on large busy streets such as Ioanninon. In contrast, there's a lovely sense of tranquility to be found on the slopes of the two hills; on the highest point of Kolonos Hill, you'll find two monuments to philhellene archaeologists: one to the German Karl Müller (1797-1840), and the other to the Frenchman Charles Lenormant (1802-1859).

Access via Sepolia Metro Station

SUMMER 2022

An archaeological site or a pocket park ideal for contemplative walks? Both!

Aristotle’s Lyceum

OFFICIALLY, this is an archaeological site; on Rigillis Street, south of the Sarogleio Mansion and north

of the Athens Conservatory, are the ruins of a palaestra from Aristotle’s Lyceum, one of the first lyceums in ancient Athens. According to ancient accounts, the Lyceum was an idyllic, verdant suburb on the east of Athens, outside the Diochares Gate. Today, a visit to the Lyceum, which was only recently discovered by archaeologists in 1996, is a soothing treat. It is one of the most well-presented archaeological spaces, as it encourages contemplation, reflection and aesthetic pleasure amidst the matchless combination of archaeological findings and Mediterranean verdure. 11 Rigillis, summer opening hours: daily, 08:00-20:00. Entry €4. AT H E N S

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Gardens of the Byzantine Museum EVERY TIME I STROLL INTO the one-hectare park behind the Palace of the Duchess of Plaisance,

it's difficult for me to express my sense of joy, as I wander around, gazing at the fruit trees, herb plants and countless bushes, where the ancient Ilissos River once flowed. At the same time, it saddens me that the vision of our dearly departed Dimitris Konstantios (former director of the Byzantine and Christian Museum) has not been embraced by more Athenians or visitors. The maintenance of the grounds could be better but, even so, the wild natural setting, in combination with small, permanent outdoor exhibitions, should be a constant magnet for all hunters of well-hidden urban oases.

A cornucopia of Attic flora. In the background, you can see the Byzantine and Christian Museum. 9 8 — GREECE IS

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22 Vasilissis Sofias, opening hours: 08:00-20:00 Admission free.

The Bull of Kerameikos, one of the stars of this archaeological site.

Kerameikos A FRIEND ONCE TOLD ME: “I once dreamed of Kerameikos without its railings.” Of course, he was referring to the cemetery of ancient Athens, not the surrounding neighborhood. The truth is that the charm and the mystical aura of the space help make you forget where you are as you walk through the grounds. This is why one visit is never enough. The historically significant artifacts in front of you aren't even that important; you walk by graves, funerary monuments, and relief sculptures on grave steles, and either you recognize them or you don’t. Kerameikos has its own soul, refreshed by the waters of yet another ancient river, Eridanos – a shimmering soul reflecting the blinding light of death. 148 Ermou, opening hours: 08:00-20:00. Last entry 19:40. Entrance fee €3 . AT H E N S

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JUAN IS FROM SPAIN and his partner Manon is from France. They study and work in London. This is their first trip after the pandemic. “How did you get here?” asks our ever-outgoing photographer, Vangelis Zavos. “Come on! How could we visit Athens and not come to Plato’s Academy?” they answer almost simultaneously, and I must admit their answer surprises me. Really, how many Athenians know where Plato’s Academy actually is? A paradoxical (though not always pleasurable) combination of urban park, neighborhood playground and archaeological site, this extended green space carries a certain symbolic weight, offering many different opportunities for reading, quiet contemplation or just solitude in the cool shade of the Academy's trees.

At times, Plato's Academy even becomes a playground of sorts. 1 0 0 — GREECE IS

26 Eteokleous, Athens SUMMER 2022

Plato’s Academy

A lovely garden in the west of the city rewards those who make the trip.

IF THIS MAGICAL PLACE were a little bit closer to the center of Athens, it would be flooded by people every day. Instead, it's located on the fringes of Haidari, at the end of the Iera Odos, and its popularity, such as it is, is due to the endless word of mouth praise from people fortunate enough to have visited this wonderful haven. In any case, the expansion of the metro westwards (Aghia Marina Station) has made the trek somewhat less adventurous; a car ride is no longer required. Either way, it's worth the trip: 186 hectares of land, 4,000 endemic and foreign plants, a network of 25 lakes and other water elements, more than 100 species of roses, and dozens of flowerbeds in bloom create an impressive nature-lover's haven that will definitely reward those trying to put some distance between themselves and our noisy urban world.

Diomedes Botanical Garden

403 Iera Odos, opening hours: 08:00 to sunset.

Petraki Monaster y THE FACT THAT THIS IS the official seat of the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of Greece might put people off visiting this miniscule treasure – both spiritual and environmental – located on Gennadiou Street, and that would be a shame. The courtyard of the monastery, with its representative sample of Attica’s flora in the form of cypress, pine and palm trees, as well as so many other plants, exudes an intoxicating aroma very early in the spring. Seated on a humble bench with your eyes closed or, if you must, wide open, you'll feel a sense of renewal, calm and perhaps spirituality, just 200 meters from bustling Vasilissis Sofias Avenue.

14 Ioannou Gennadiou. Access isn't possible from 14:00 to 17:00.

Cypresses, pines and palm trees crown the urban monastery. AT H E N S

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The Fab SUMMER 2022

Tourkovounia

abled Hills AT H E N S

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Tourkovounia

EXPLORE

The first time I headed to the hills of Tourkovounia (“Turkish Mountains”) a Greek friend advised: “Be careful, it's dangerous there.” It is wild in places, to be sure, and it's easy to get lost. In his work titled Description of Greece, Pausanias reported that, since the days of Solon, robbers and savages had hidden in caves among these hills, then called Anchesmos. The only peril I encountered that early summer day was some doubt over my perception of reality. T E X T: C AT H R Y N D R A K E P H OTO S : Α Ν G E LO S G I OTO P O U LO S

The sculpture Spiral 1, by artist Mikaela Karagianni, on Filothei Hill. 1 0 4 — GREECE IS

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A rock climber in action on the southwest side of the Attican Grove. AT H E N S

GREECE IS — 1 0 5

EXPLORE

Right: The view from atop the Attican Grove. Below: Dimitris Karambikas at home with his daughter Georgia and his dog in the Georgios Papandreou Settlement.

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SUMMER 2022

Above: Singers Nikos Ganos and Tasos Xiarcho shooting their music video “Déjà Vu” at the Meadow of the Gods on Damaria. Left: Taking in the sunset and the view of Athens from Cuckoo Point.

GREECE IS — 1 0 7

Tourkovounia

EXPLORE

W WE ENTERED THE PARK at the

Veikou Grove and ascended a meandering pathway, passing first a playground and then the Alea Café, still closed after the lockdown. As we ambled higher and higher around the hill, we came to a turn where we met Lykourgos and his dog, Thelma, on the way to pick wild fennel and sage. We followed them along a narrowing dirt path, where we were eventually surrounded by aromatic bushes on the northernmost slope of the hill, overlooking the Olympic Stadium, which resembled the skeleton of a dinosaur far below. Above us, there was a rocky ridge with a lookout point at its summit, from which hikers watched us.

Throne of God

Legend has it that Zeus threw lightning and thunder from the zenith of what is now called Filothei Hill, and there's a plaque marking the stone foundations, near the lookout point, of a Classical-era altar where animals were sacrificed in order to bring rain. Called the Throne of the Umbrian Zeus, it has a vista fit for the gods, extending as far as the island of Aegina on a clear day. Artifacts evidencing human presence back to 3,000 BC have been found there, along with the walls of a sacred building from the late Geometric period (700 BC) containing figurines and vessels used in the worship of Homeric heroes. We descended into Filothei along leafy Karaiskaki Street, passing by “Spiral 1,” a sculptural stone formation created by artist Mikaela Karagianni 1 0 8 — GREECE IS

atop an abandoned water tank, evoking a Neolithic-industrial time portal, near the intersection with Bouboulinas. Further down, as the sounds of the city grew louder, we encountered the Konstantinos Karamanlis Foundation (dedicated to the memory of the 20th-century Greek statesman) and an abandoned Modernist villa. By then, our experience seemed so surreal that I began to think Lykourgos was a figment of my imagination. When I asked if his name meant “wolf” – the Greek word for “wolf” is “lykos” – he smiled and said that it meant “light.” Strangely enough, between the 3rd and 5th centuries AD the range was called Lykovounia – they say either because wolves dwelled there, or because of the way the slopes were illuminated by sunlight. Lushly vegetated with pines and olive trees and inhabited by wild animals, Tourkovounia was a leisure destination for Athenians until the early 20th century. In January 1877, the newspaper Alitheia (“Truth”) reported that a wolf came out of the hills and killed 120 sheep. At the time, Galatsi was a remote agricultural community with a population of around 250. Over coffee one morning, former Greek army general Emilios Tzenakis told me that the military used the hills for shooting practice in the 1890s. A highly anticipated European-style fox hunt, planned by the palace in 1894, was satirized in the satirical newspaper Skrip – and postponed due to bad weather. By the 1930s, when the city was modernizing and the population was exploding with immigrants displaced from Asia Minor, more and more trees were being felled for fuel, and limestone quarries were set up to provide materials for the construction of refugee housing in new settlements such as Nea Ionia and Nea Filadelfeia. Straddling the urban districts of Kypseli, Galatsi and Nea Ionia to the west and Filothei and Psychiko to the east, the three hills of the Tourkovounia – now called Filothei Hill (north), Damaria (central) and Attican Grove (south) – comprise SUMMER 2022

the highest peak in the Attic Basin, at around 340 meters. The most logical explanation behind the colloquial moniker is that it is where Ottoman general Turahanoglu Ömer Bey camped his troops in preparation for the conquest of Athens, in 1456.

Souvlaki Western

Late one Sunday afternoon, we sped uphill by motorcycle, past the abandoned ruins of the Astir Lato quarry and its towering kiln chimney, to the top of Damaria, just south of Filothei Hill. At the top, we emerged onto a barren lunar landscape of dramatic rocky outcrops carved by decades of limestone excavation. The asphalt was covered with shards of broken glass, and a bicyclist with a flat tire said he was facing a very long walk back to Koukaki. Called the Meadow of the Gods, the plateau was nearly empty; it had the windswept look of the Wild West as seen in films – surrounded by the mesmerizing urban mosaic of Athenian apartment building rooftops at its feet. At the western precipice, we encountered Nikos Ganos and Tasos Xiarcho shooting their new music video “Déjà Vu,” accompanied by nine young dancers dressed in faded jeans. More battlefield than playground of the gods, this eerie aerie has an enchanting beauty and an allure derived precisely from its end-of-the-world feeling of desolation: Mad Max comes to mind. After quarry activity ceased in 1976, the municipality drafted plans for the regeneration of the postindustrial site with a cultural center and public park, but since then the land has been tied up in limbo while the Greek state and the development company, Kekrops, spar in a series of lawsuits and appeals. That hasn’t stopped people from enjoying the craggy scenery, by now softened with wispy greenery here and there; as we watched, a young couple on a romantic walk passed by and ascended, just in time for sunset, to the top of a precipitous promontory above us.

Sister Filothei in the courtyard of the monastery Profitis Ilias, built in 1957.

The village that time forgot

The real pioneers of Tourkovounia were the first settlers on the summit of Attican Grove, who started building houses on plots purchased from private landholders in the mid-1940s. Many of them were men who came from Epirus in search of work and eventually relocated their families, too. In the riveting documentary In Turkovounia (1983), by director Lefteris Xanthopoulos, the original inhabitants recount their struggles with the authorities of successive governments and with quarry owners for the right to live on the land. In 1947, Vassilios Hatzaras bought a plot of land for 6,000 drachmas in exchange for a receipt written on a cigarette pack. The uninhabited hill, used mostly for grazing, was a legal gray area: “I built a small house and they demolished it, and I went to jail for 15 days. I got out

LUSHLY VEGE TATED WITH PINES AND OLIVE TREES AND INHABITED BY WILD ANIMALS, TOURKOVOUNIA WAS A LEISURE DESTINATION FOR ATHENIANS UNTIL THE E ARLY 20TH CENTURY. AT H E N S

and built it again and they demolished it again. They’d demolish and I’d build again at night,” he says. In the 1960s the settlement was named after Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou, who had promised to get it approved for legal residential building. His government fell before he succeeded and when the military junta came to power, its leader, Georgios Papadopoulos, ordered the expropriation of the area for the construction of a monumental church in fulfillment of the “Vow of the Nation” – an idea first hatched after Greek independence from the Ottomans in the 1820s. Bailiffs arrived with notices of eviction, but nobody moved. “On April 24, 1967, the police came and burned 80 to 90 houses,” Thomas Douchaniaris says. “My house was burned three times: in 1940 by the Germans, in 1947 in the civil war and in 1967 with the GREECE IS — 1 0 9

Tourkovounia

EXPLORE

dictatorship.” The 450 million drachmas raised for the construction of the church vanished, and it was never built. Today there are 145 houses and a population of around 800 people. The first of a second wave of settlers, Dimitris Karambikas arrived from Arta, Epirus, in 1964 and bought a plot from the Karagiannis family, the original owners of much of the land from the Ottoman period. After the fall of the dictatorship, the area was transferred to the Economics Ministry as state property, and a park was planned. In 1977, the residents successfully obtained titles for the houses – and since then they have been paying both home ownership taxes and penalties for “arbitrary” use of public land. “We've taken the case to the European courts,” Karambikas said as we sat on a veranda in the evening breeze one Sunday. “We're a village waiting for a solution.” “Life goes on,” says Athinoula Nasou, who has lived there for 50 years. A lively white-haired woman who lives in a rambling house with a large vegetable patch, chickens and a ginger cat, she's been on her own since her brother's recent death. “I have to keep going or I'll rot away.” She stays busy cleaning and tending the garden – and insisted that we take some eggs and garlic. Maria Marinakou, president of the Georgios Papandreou Settlement Cultural Association, has applied to have the enclave designated an official traditional village. In 1993, the government constructed roads, a public water supply and a street lighting network, incorporating the settlement into a district of the municipality. A mountain hamlet in the middle of the city, complete with a small church, Agia Kyriaki, built by the community in a shady square, it recalls the musical Brigadoon, which is about a Scottish village that appears for only one day every 100 years. Georgia Liapi, a contemporary art curator, grew up in a house built by her father, who added rooms one at a time as four children were born. Her aunts and uncles lived on the same street, 1 1 0 — GREECE IS

which has stunning views of Lycabettus Hill and all the way to the Saronic Gulf. “When my mother made pitas, there always had to be enough to take around to the neighbors.” There's never been public transport to the top, so children had to be driven or walked to school every day. “My biggest fear as a child was to wake up at night to the sound of bulldozers,” Liapi says. The perks are a sense of community and fresh air that is a few degrees cooler than the noisier city streets below. Liapi led us to a childhood cliffside hangout called Cuckoo Point, named for the bird that was said to perch there every evening. Young people were sitting around and watching the sunset. There was litter everywhere, and a recently built shelter was already covered with graffiti. The only real crime in this idyllic place is the way some people treat it. “The problem is created by people between the ages of 16 and 20,” says Vassilis Sfakianopoulos, whose wildly successful national cleanup campaign “Save Your Hood” started on Tourkovounia, near where he grew up in Kypseli. “The amount of trash has

MORE BAT TLEFIELD THAN PL AYGROUND OF THE GODS, THIS EERIE AERIE HAS AN ENCHANTING BE AUT Y AND AN ALLURE DERIVED PRECISELY FROM ITS END-OF-THEWORLD FEELING OF DESOL ATION. SUMMER 2022

already been reduced by 78 percent, and we've organized educational courses at the schools around the hill.” We took a dirt trail towards Kakarapi Cave and met a group of rock climbers, accompanied by a dog named Socks, who were scaling the sheer preci pice of a crag. Mountain climber Fotis Theocharis has recently marked and anchored three routes in the area. Legend has it that, in the late 19th century, the ruthless robber Loukas Beloulias, aka Kakarapis, hid out in the cave and stashed his treasure somewhere nearby. We never made it that far – just watching the crew scaling the cliffs made me dizzy. An easier excursion is at the other side of the hill, where the spectacular chambers of Sotiros Cave can be accessed via a fenced entrance to the northwest of the Katina Paxinou Attica Grove Theater.

Fair y tale ending

From where we were, we could see the convent of Profitis Ιlias, built in 1957, on the bluff opposite. We went over and rang the bell at the gate just after visiting hours, and the door swung open, as if by magic. An elderly nun sitting in the courtyard waved us in the direction of the church – and its expansive terrace with a breathtaking panorama. Carpets were hanging out to air over the edge of the terrace railing, and one of the three resident nuns gestured towards the sea to express the extent of the view. A fat ginger cat caressed my legs as Sister Filothei told us they had just put on a play about the original Cinderella: Rodopi, a Greek slave from Thrace who, according to the historian Strabo, was taken to Egypt by pirates. As she bathed one day, her sandal was snatched by an eagle and carried to Memphis, where it fell into the lap of Pharaoh Psamtik, who ordered a search for its owner. Of course, he married her and she became a princess. I looked down and saw a curious gate that opens from the terrace out over the cliff, as if one could fly through it and away over the city.•

Above: A view of the city from the hills of Tourkovounia. Below: Watering one of the lush gardens. Georgia Liapi with a feline resident of the neighborhood. Athinoula Nasou at home in the Georgios Papandreou Settlement.

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Athens

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SUMMER 2022

SERVED IN THE SUN

What does summer in Athens taste like? Delicious cocktails by the sea? Fresh seafood, found in great variety at some of the best eateries in the city? Or refreshing beers from Greek microbrewers? It definitely tastes like ice cream: indulgent, rich and cool. Perhaps you should find out for yourself by following some of our recommendations for the best summer treats. AT H E N S

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GOING OUT

VACATION MODE:

WHE THER AT THE SE ASIDE OR IN SHADED

G ARDENS, AND OFFERING E VERY THING FROM E XOTIC COCK TAIL S TO FRESH SE AFOOD, THESE

ARE THE CIT Y HANG OUTS G IVING ATHENIANS

THAT SUMMERTIME FEELING . BY THE GASTRONOMOS MAGAZINE TEAM

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SUMMER 2022

Coyoacan Med-Mex on the sand THIS POPULAR BAR-RESTAURANT operates in the central neighborhood of Thiseio during the winter,

but over the past few summers it has been heading to the beach, where it goes under the name Coyoacan Playa. The chilled-out setting on the Varkiza shore offers something of a Tulum vibe. Spread out across different levels for different functions (beach bar, lounge bar, restaurant), it’s open from 09:00 to 02:00, serving coffee, snacks, and food. The menu is Mediterranean-Mexican fusion, featuring everything from hummus and taramosalata to tacos, seafood paella, and grilled octopus with a green mole sauce. Of the 10 cocktails served at the Coyoacan bar, half are Margaritas – they’re fond of them. There’s the classic, of course, and one with herbal notes, a spicy one with homemade chili syrup, a smoky one with mezcal, and a fruity one with strawberries. a.s. Varkiza Resort, Varkiza Beach, Τel. (+30) 694.866.8855

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GOING OUT

Noah Beats and bites

AN EXOTIC BAR in the middle of

Athens with a signature sculpturefountain spelling out “I love you” in sign language, Noah opened a couple of years ago in the beautiful Eleftherias Park beside the Athens Concert Hall and quickly became popular among city dwellers looking for a fun hangout. It's renowned for its live DJ sets, comprising some of the hottest names of the electronica and house scenes. The day at Νoah Athens begins with breakfast, followed by a light lunch and then dinner with lots of music – and cocktails served throughout. Breakfast may include eggs sunny side up with sour cream and a muhammara sauce (roasted red peppers), or eggs Benedict with a Thessaloniki koulouri (sesame bread ring) and mortadella with pistachio. One of the best sellers on the lunch menu, the Aegean salad is extra refreshing and summery, with small tomatoes, grapes, corn, beans, and olive crumble. The food served at the bar is also very good and pairs well with the cocktails. m.p. Eleftherias Park, Vassilissis Sofias & Kokkali, Τel. (+30) 210.723.3419. Open 09:00-03:00 (with live DJ sets on Thurs, Fri and Sat). 1 1 6 — GREECE IS

SUMMER 2022

EXPLORE

Tiki Athens: Hawaii under the Acropolis the right amount of kitsch at this small, Hawaii-themed bar under the Acropolis. One of the first businesses to give the neighborhood of Koukaki its hip reputation, Tiki Athens remains one of the Greek capital’s most decidedly summery hangouts – and it’s not just the décor that does the trick. Behind the bar, veterans Yiannis Petris and Vassilis Roussos keep us refreshed with cocktails made with seasonal and exotic fruits, aged rums, fresh juices, and homemade syrups. On our last visit we tried the Rapa Nui, mixed with a fragrant mahleb liqueur, cachaca, homemade banana syrup and fresh lime. Swing, calypso, and rock 'n' roll play on the speakers. g.p. 15 Falirou, Koukaki, Τel. (+30) 210.923.6908. AT H E N S

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COLORFUL SHIRTS , floral wallpaper, lots of bamboo and deliciously fruity, chilled cocktails: you’ll find just

GOING OUT

Krabo Beach Barefoot luxur y TUCKED AWAY IN A SMALL, isolated cove in the seaside area of Kavouri, and perfectly suited to the

surrounding setting, this relaxed beach bar makes it easy to forget that you’re not an island; in fact, you're just a few kilometers from the city center. You can come in the morning for a swim, relax on the sun loungers and then have lunch or dinner barefoot on the veranda right above the water. You can also come later in the day to watch the well-dressed crowd gather as the sun goes down, drawn by the carefree atmosphere and the cosmopolitan Mediterranean dishes of chefs Panagiotis Giakalis and Petros Foteinis. The pair have put together a menu that includes their krabo burger with soft-shelled crab, tomato chutney and coleslaw; delicious fried calamari with a sweet chili marmalade; seafood pasta; and several meat dishes. The bar is very well stocked and there's a very interesting cocktail list. Prices range between €60-80 euros per person. a.s. KRABO, Zoska Bay, Kavouri, Tel. (+30) 210.896.3309.

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SUMMER 2022

Νazaré Breaking the waves T H I S B A R I S N A M E D after the Portuguese seaside town renowned for its massive ocean waves. The decor is inevitably surfer-related, with lots of bamboo and blue tiles, and surfing photos and boards, while the white stone benches outside transport you to the Greek islands. Sit on one of these benches just by the water at Zea Marina as you leaf through the menu to find a cocktail that suits your mood. The Cactus, a best-seller, is among the top recommendations for this summer; it's made with gin, kiwi, vanilla and cucumber. The Noah, which is surferspeak for “shark,” is made with rum, peach syrup, and a purée of pineapple and watermelon. Apart from cocktails, you’ll also find a large selection of rums, tequilas, mezcals, and gins, not to mention the light snacks, pizzas and burgers if you’re feeling peckish. a.s. Zea Marina, Τel. (+30) 210.418.4440 AT H E N S

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Fish &Tell!

THAT IT'S ALSO AN OUTSTANDING SEAFOOD DESTINATION. WE 'VE CHOSEN SEVEN OF THE BEST PLACES TO ENJOY THE BOUNTY OF THE SEA. 1 2 0 — GREECE IS

SUMMER 2022

Fresh from the sea, at Skotadis Aegina. Left: the spinialo dish at Pelagos

Seafood

GOING OUT

ATHENS HAS MORE THAN 60 KILOMETERS OF COASTLINE and the country’s

biggest port, Piraeus, at its feet, keeping it well supplied with fresh fish. These aren’t the only two reasons that you’ll get some of the best seafood here; local chefs simply love working with the stuff, and the capital boasts two fish restaurants with Michelin stars. In addition, there are dozens of restaurants that respect seasonality and prepare the sea's bounty without too many culinary frills, not to mention dozens more tavernas with seaside views and simple Greek summer classics, such as fried calamari or grilled octopus – all washed down with a glass of ouzo. The choice is yours.

T E X T: N E N A D I M I T R I O U

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SUMMER 2022

W WONDERING WHERE Athenians eat? For fish and other seafood, they often head to the Athens Riviera. At Blue Fish in Vouliagmeni, the tables in the deck area are practically floating on the water. The day crowd tends to be a boisterous bunch, with groups of friends getting together for some seafood meze and a glass of ouzo or tsipouro, but as evening falls, the mood becomes more romantic. Take the time to explore the “head-to-tail” menu, designed around a zero-waste philosophy and utilizing every part of the fish: the heads go into rich broths used to make langoustine and lobster orzo “risotto,” enriched with butter and grooved sea squirt for that extra punch of iodine, or a risotto inspired by classic stuffed tomatoes. The collar – a delicious and tender part of the fish that used to be discarded – is grilled on a robata or sautéed “a la meuniere,” in a rich, buttery sauce. The fillets are fricasséed with wild greens and an egg-lemon sauce, while the delicious tails are grilled kushiyaki-style, or baked in a tomato and basil sauce. The wine list includes several excellent selections from Santorini, a few choice Greek and international wines that pair well with fish, and several champagnes.

Fried calamari at Sardelaki Me Thea

Right: Tempting carpaccio at Blue Fish. Below: The seaside deck at Blue Fish is pure magic in the evening.

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Seafood

GOING OUT

Another popular seafood spot on the Athens Riviera, Sardelaki Me Thea ("Little Sardine with a View") is renowned for its privileged location and its well-priced food – no wonder it draws the crowds from all over Athens. This taverna overlooks the site of the new Vouliagmeni Marina, which, when it's completed, will be one of the most modern in the Mediterranean. The menu is extensive and the food is no-frills. We recommend the small fried fish, the calamari, the grilled sardine fillets and the classic appetizers: fava split-pea paste, Greek salad, fried zucchini and octopus salad, all best accompanied by ouzo or tsipouro. If you'd like a bit more privacy, a staircase of some 20 steps will take you closer to the water and to a smaller and fancier seafood restaurant run by the same management. 1 2 4 — GREECE IS

VAROULKO SE ASIDE'S L A Z AROU IS NOT ONLY RENOWNED FOR HIS INVENTIVENESS BUT ALSO FOR TURNING HUMBLE, OF T-OVERLOOKED FISH, SUCH AS MONKFISH, INTO STARS OF THE TABLE . SUMMER 2022

Above: Α table for two at Varoulko Seaside. Below: a seafood masterpiece from chef Lefteris Lazarou.

Star by the sea The first time anyone made a reservation at Varoulko was 35 years ago, even though the original version of the restaurant was so small it only had a handful of tables, and you needed a map to find it in the tiny streets of Piraeus. Since that start to a long culinary journey for celebrity chef Lefteris Lazarou – one of the first Greeks to earn a Michelin star – his restaurant, now named Varoulko Seaside, has moved to a multi-story building at the picturesque Mikrolimano harbor. Whether you book a table on the ground floor to be near the water, or on the rooftop, where you’ll have a view of the entire city beyond the sea, you're guaranteed a wonderful ambience and extra pampering from the staff. Lazarou is not only renowned for his inventiveness – like his

celebrated langoustine moussaka – but also for turning humble, oft-overlooked fish, such as monkfish, into stars of the table. Dishes such as the squid with pesto, or the cuttlefish ink soup he created along the way, will always be signature dishes on the Varoulko Seaside menu. At present, the restaurant is serving two degustation menus, both also available with wine pairings for a more complete experience. The sommeliers know their stuff, so we would heartily recommend this option.

Island escape The ferry from Piraeus to the island of Aegina takes about an hour. The main town is small and it's easy to get around on foot. It’s also worth taking a swim at one of the more popular beaches: Aeginitissa, Perdika or

Aghia Marina. Whatever you do, end your day here with some food at the Skotadis ouzeri, which first opened as a traditional coffee shop in 1945 at the harbor. Family-run for three generations, it became an ouzeri in the 1980s. It serves exceptional quality seafood, always in season so as to support sustainable fishing practices. Steamed mussels, pickled octopus, various pan-fried fish, as well as more creative dishes with pasta and seafood, are all worth trying here. Another must are the anchovies, cured and marinated with minimal amounts of salt and lemon; they taste of the sea. There's a good wine list and an excellent selection of rare distillates, some aged, accompanied by welcoming and friendly service in what many consider to be the island’s best restaurant.

Lunch at Skotadis on the island of Aegina is a treat that's easily managed.

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Seafood

GOING OUT

K KARIKI IS A HANDMADE CHEESE

produced on Tinos in the Cyclades. It’s not like any other Greek cheese; its taste is reminiscent of Roquefort or Gorgonzola. A non-edible type of gourd, the dried shell of which is often used as a container for liquids, is employed in its preparation. Cheese made from cow's milk is stored in the gourd to mature. The gourd is cut in half and the cheese is placed in its lower part; the rim of the upper part is smeared with flour paste, and the top is replaced. The cheese stays in there until it changes color, becoming anything from light orange to red, with green and blue spots here and there. Tinian kariki is a special product made in limited quantities. The island's artichokes aren't available in abundance either; you can only find them for a few days a year. It was such rare ingredients that inspired the Pelagos team at the Four Seasons Astir Palace Hotel Athens in the creation of its new degustation menu. In total, nine rare foodstuffs, grown or prepared in specific microclimates with limited availability, can be found on the Pelagos on Tour menu. Chef Luca Piscazzi and the restaurant team traveled to three relatively untouristed Greek islands whose particular products make them important to chefs. From Tinos, they chose kariki, artichoke and goat meat; from Lesvos came traditional ouzo, sardines and olive oil. Kalymnos gave them octopus ink and wild swordfish, as well as spinialo – a technique for preserving seafood, mainly sea squirts, in salt water. 1 2 6 — GREECE IS

Left: Beautiful tableware from Mud Lab. Below: A table with a view at Pelagos, the Michelin -starred restaurant of the Four Seasons Astir Palace Hotel Athens

SUMMER 2022

Phita serves delicious no-frills seafood

"For me, the most impressive part of the experience was the discovery of raw materials, so we focused on keeping the ingredients almost intact on the plate," says the chef. Furthermore, new custom-made dinner plates have been created to match the new recipes, nine designs inspired by ingredients and made by Mud Lab in Athens. The restaurant Pelagos won its first Michelin star within 6 months of opening. Its new menu is a trip through haute traditional cuisine, a voyage you experience without ever having to leave your table.

Local favorites Phita opened in 2019 in a working-class neighborhood that’s nowhere near the sea but, thanks to word-ofmouth and good food – and despite an absence of marketing – it soon became hugely popular. While it's technically not classified as a seafood taverna, the menu weighs heavily in that direction. The chefs/owners remain true to the philosophy of sustainability and seasonality by showcasing fish that are usually

regarded as second or even third-rate. In the summer, during the reproductive season for big fish, they serve only the smaller coastal species. All of their fish is fresh. Try the taramosalata (roe paste), the bonito with wild greens and Dijon mustard, the crayfish ragu ravioli or the famous handmade pasta with bottarga, which may be one of the best dishes you'll eat in Athens. Before the impressive Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center was built, the surrounding area, Tzitzifies, was home to a horse-racing track, several nightclubs and, because of its seaside location, several fish tavernas. A few survive to this day, tucked away among the housing built for refugees and seemingly at odds with the architectural splendor of Renzo Piano’s SNFCC. Pezoulas is one such well-hidden secret, located just a few meters from the entrance to the cultural center, on Peisistratou Street, in a modest setting evoking the classic Cycladic island tavernas. Panagiotis Pezoulas opened this establishment in 1951 as a working-class eatery that served fish stew and other staples to the entertainers AT H E N S

info

• Blue Fish, 4 Poseidonos, Vouliagmeni, Tel. (+30) 210.967.1778

• Pelagos Four Seasons Astir Palace Hotel Athens, 40 Apollonos, Vouliagmeni, Tel. (+30) 210.890.1000 • Pezoulas, 11 Peisistratou, Tzitzifies, Tel. (+30) 210.942.2684 • Phita, 1 Durm, Neos Kosmos, Tel. (+30) 698.695.0175. • Sardelaki Me Thea, 18 Poseidonos, Vouliagmeni, Tel. (+30) 210.967.0913 • Skotadis 46 Dimokratias, Aegina, Τel. (+30) 22970.240.14 • Varoulko Seaside, 54 Akti Koumoundourou, Mikrolimano, Tel. (+30) 210.522.8400

from the local clubs and pundits from the racecourse. The business passed from father to son in 1975 and then to the grandson in 2021. Panagiotis Pezoulas the younger has kept some of the staples like the fried red mullet, but he's also added several raw dishes like fish carpaccio, ceviche and sashimi to the menu.• GREECE IS — 1 2 7

ALL OVER GREECE, ENERGETIC MICRO AND NOMAD

BREWERS ARE PULLING OUT THE STOPS WITH HOP-HEAVY

BREWS, IMPRESSIVE FOAMY HEADS AND ORIGINAL

RECIPES FOR THE HOTTEST DAYS OF THE YEAR.

What's up BREW? MOST GREEK MICROBREWERS BEGAN BY PURSUING a personally satisfying hobby, so, when they went commercial, they did it with enthusiasm and the desire to share the pleasure of a delicious brew with like-minded consumers. They continue to keep a close eye on developments in the craft scene in Europe and the United States, which means that Greek craft beer has a very good shot at making the global market, even as local brewers find creative ways to deal with the cumbersome local legal framework as they develop and sell their products. If there's one trend that's defining this summer, it’s the comeback of the much-maligned can – so often dismissed as a receptacle for cheap beer. Aluminum has a smaller carbon footprint than glass; it also protects the beer from getting lightstruck, i.e., damaged by exposure to light. Sour ales, usually fruity and refreshing, are another trend, and gains are also being made in the IPA category, a craft beer trademark but, no matter what beer you like, there's plenty to choose from. n.d.

T E X T: N E N A D I M I T R I O U & G E O R G I A PA PA S TA M O U P H OTO S : A L I N A L E FA AT H E N S

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Micro-brewers

CHEERS!

PARAGON BREWERY Basking in Falifornia

FALIRO OR CALIFORNIA? Both the

seaside suburb of Athens and the Golden State inspired the brewers at Paragon, who are helping us brace for the hot days of summer with Falifornia, a 5% ABV American pale ale with plenty of American hops, lending it a depth of flavor and orange and coconut aromas. You can pair it with light dishes like a fresh salad, mussels, steamed fish or even with dessert. Crisp from the fridge, Paragon’s Riviera, a 3.9% ABV Hellesstyle lager, is a clean, refreshing beer that falls right in the middle between being light and full of body. g.p. → 3 Lemesou, Ilioupoli, Tel. (+30) 698.194.7030, fb.com/ paragonbrewery

MIKÒNU There’s a prickly pear in my beer! MOST OF THE BEERS PRODUCED

by the Mykonos Brewing Company – with a few exceptions, like the aged ones – are designed for the summer. Just as most craft beers are tailored to suit the clientele in the immediate vicinity, Mikὀnu beers are aimed at the vacation crowds. Mykonos, though, is not just a jet-setter party island. “It's also about a lazy meal at a taverna, hanging out at a bar or lounging on a beach,” says brewer Angelos Ferous. It's for these relaxed aspects of the island that Mikὀnu has just launched a refreshing pale ale flavored with fresh, local prickly pears. Last August, the team scoured almost every garden and field looking for fruit-bearing cactuses so they could squeeze out the juice, freeze it and bring us Fragos’ko this year. We also recommend their Bohemian, a fruity variation on a Pilsner with generous notes of fresh American hops. g.p. → mikonu.gr 1 3 0 — GREECE IS

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STRANGE BREW The nomads of Koukaki THE GROUP OF THREE NOMADIC

brewers who created Athens’ first taproom in the neighborhood of Koukaki are making light, fruity beers for the summer. Their Bliss, which comes out every May, uses the best hops that can be found on the international market. A double IPA, it has an alcohol content of 8.5%, which means that it has more body and great complexity, thanks to the double quantity of hops. It isn't bitter at all; instead, it's full of white-fleshed fruit like melon and peach, and is delightful on its own or with layered dishes like pizza or spicy meats. As for Uncle Jam’s Sour IPA, it represents the marriage of the brewers’ two favorite styles: sour ale and IPA. Fruity and refreshing, it has an ABV content of 7.5% and only comes out in limited quantities, as it belongs to the experimental beers category. We'd serve it with oily foods or Asian cuisine. n.d.

ANASTASIOU Summer vibes in northern Athens

→ 86 Falirou, Koukaki, Tel. (+30) 210.923.2146, strangebrew.gr

LOCATED IN THE LEAFY NORTHERN Athenian suburb of

Halandri, Anastasiou Brewery is celebrating the summer with a whole bunch of new recipes. “Beer has seasons. You want dark, stronger ones in the winter and light, pleasant ones in the summer,” says Fotis Anastasiou, as he fills our glasses with, among other labels, Theristis, an aromatic IPA with a low alcohol content that means it can be enjoyed almost like a soft drink, and Wallonia, his own take on the classic Belgian saison, with the addition of pink and black pepper as well as fresh lemon juice. The brewery will also be presenting a sour ale with peach, on top of the brand-new Pilsner launched in early July. “New styles that rely on traditional recipes are constantly emerging. The very summery New Zealand Pilsner has been making a splash recently. It has a Pilsner base, but uses hops from New Zealand, which has a few very aromatic varieties. The result is a beer with a particular sense of freshness,” says Anastasiou. g.p. → 25 Haimanta, Halandri, Tel. (+30) 694.086.4443, fb.com/zythosanastasiou AT H E N S

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Micro-brewers

CHEERS!

SOLO Cretan craftsmanship

THIS CRETAN BREWERY, KNOWN for its fresh, unpasteurized and unfiltered

beers recently launched Grapy, which comes in a 750ml champagne bottle. Produced in limited quantities, it's made with unripe grapes and is a notable addition to the category of sour beers. For the long Greek summer, Solo is pushing its Amerikana, a pale ale made with extra fresh hops. It has spicy notes of pine and fruit, and a flavor profile that balances between the desired bitterness and a refreshing aftertaste, with a 6% ABV. It’s a great match for barbecued meat and rich pasta sauces. Solo’s classic Horiatiki is a 6.5% ABV Belgian-style saison, blending the aroma of sourdough with tropical fruits and the sweetness of lemon blossoms. It goes well with roasted meats, chicken dishes with lemon, and with things like savory cheese pies. n.d. → solobeer.gr

ALE A BREWING Co. Here’s to partnerships

THIS ALTERNATIVE BREWERY, based in the northern Athens suburb of Metamorfosi, is an active member of the microbrewery community, and a partner with different producers, as well as a fervent supporter of aluminum cans, both for environmental and practical reasons. In 2019, Alea became the first brewery in Greece to launch highquality beer in cans. Their now classic Chloe, produced together with Strange Brew, is a simply wonderful summer lager. It's made in the traditional manner of lagers, but allowed to rest for six weeks until its flavors become mellower and more rounded. With a delightful aroma and a full body, it pairs well with a range of foods, from fried potatoes and fish to light tomato-based casseroles. Alea has also teamed up with Sourmena Brew and Mustaki Nomad Brewing to bring us an American Pale Ale, with a fruity, tropical profile and a 5.6% ABV – a dream on a hot day – and also launched New England IPA, full of floral notes and body, as part of its annual anniversary series. n.d. → www.aleabrewingco.gr

BL AME THE SUN Athenian exoticism

SURFBOARDS, FLORAL SHIRTS and

a tiki vibe – it’s always summer at Blame the Sun, one of Athens’ first taprooms, where its owner, Lefteris Ladopopoulos, has developed a beer brand of the same name with eye-catching labels for its different products. (The taproom serves a wide selection of Greek craft beers from other producers as well.) The eminently summery Beach Bum – my personal favorite – is redolent with summer fruits. It’s a pale ale with ginger and lime, giving it Moscow Mule overtones. “We employ cocktail techniques in our beers,” says Ladopoulos, suggesting that we try a Beach Bum with a ceviche, with sushi, or with Thai or other Asian foods with spicy qualities. The tropics are also evident in Puppenhaus, a German Helles-style lager that smells of bread and lemongrass, and the label has also just launched La Felicita, a brand new Italian Pilsner with botanic notes. g.p. → 60 Veikou, Koukaki, Tel. (+30) 210.921.3523, fb.com/ blamethesunbrewing

K YK AO Patra takes Greece by storm

THE BREWERS OF KYKAO have built up an impressive portfolio of more than

80 labels in just four years. Their amazing packaging is eye-catching, but it's their unexpected flavor profiles that craft beer aficionados rave about. Their latest output includes many different styles, which are being packaged in aluminum cans for the first time. These include the West Coast IPA, East Coast IPA and New England IPA. This season has also seen the launch of a delicious beer with a fruity character and incredibly summery flavors: the rich, opaque and extra delightful raspberry and pomegranate Sour Berliner Weisse. In bottled form, we found a delicious – albeit not so summery – barrelaged Mexican Imperial Milk Stout, with intense cocoa and chocolate notes. n.d. → kykao.gr 1 3 2 — GREECE IS

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Ice Cream

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THE CIT Y’S ICE CRE AM MAKERS SQUEE ZE THE MOS T DELICIOUS FL AVORS FROM E VERY CORNER OF G REECE INTO THEIR COOL CRE ATIONS.

The inside SCOOP

T E X T: N E N A D I M I T R I O U , G E O R G I A PA PA S TA M O U P H OTO S : A L I N A L E FA 1 3 4 — GREECE IS

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Bon Bon Fait Maison

KRITON POULIS started his

professional life as a pastry chef, working as the right hand of the famous Pierre Hermé. He remembers how the inspiration for his fig ice cream came as he strolled the cobbled streets of Kythera. Ever since, the flavor that has become his signature returns every summer to his stores in Piraeus and Syntagma – albeit for a brief spell. To make this off-white, fine cream, the leaves of the fig tree are harvested when they are still fresh to retain all their flavors and aromas. They are then infused in milk with just the tiniest pinch of cinnamon, clove, orange and grapefruit zest. Bon Bon Fait Maison, 30 Petraki, Syntagma, Tel. (+30) 210.331.8703 and 39 Polydef kous, Piraeus, Tel. (+30) 210.411.7999

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Epik Gelato

EPIK’S FLAVORS ARE LIKE a vacation on Ikaria, Syros, Hydra or in the cool mountains of

Pilio. The gelateria on Mavili Square transports you to the islands and other destinations with ice cream made with creamy katiki cheese from northern Greece and small pieces of sweet preserved fig from the Tsekos family on Ikaria in the eastern Aegean. Then there’s the one with rosewater that’s like a Turkish delight, or the one with yogurt and honeycomb, and that one inspired by amygdalota (almond biscuits) with caramelized almonds from Thessaly. There's also the kaimaki with mastic from Chios, served with chopped preserved sour cherries and sour cherry syrup. You can also create combinations of your own, mixing and matching these unusual flavors. 2 Doryleou, Mavili Square, Tel. (+30) 210.646.4105 1 3 6 — GREECE IS

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EXPLORE

FOR MOST OLDER GREEKS , kaimaki is a traditional ice cream whose taste takes them back to childhood summers. In contrast to kaymak, the unsweetened cream from water buffalo milk found in Central Asia, parts of the Balkans, the Caucasus and the Levant, Turkey, Iran and Iraq, Greek kaimaki is made with fresh milk and flavored with salep, often with the addition of grated mastic or essential oils from the gum. The salep enhances this ice cream’s distinctively rich and almost chewy texture. At Stani (10 Marika Kotopouli, Omonia, Tel. (+30) 210.523.3637), a dairy shop that has been around for 90 years, kaimaki is made with sheep’s milk, and the discreet mastic flavor comes from essential oils supplied by the gum cooperative on the island of Chios, from where mastic hails. The kaimaki is also delicious at the Assimakopoulos Brothers (28 Harilaou Trikoupi, Exarchia, Tel. (+30) 210.361.0092), believed to be the oldest pastry shop in downtown Athens. It's also made with sheep's milk here, but without mastic, and is served with a sprinkling of walnuts. The pinnacle of Athenian kaimaki, however, is at Xara (339 Patission, Ano Patissia, Tel. (+30) 210.228.7266). If you’re in the area, drop in and try some of the ice creams that were brought to Greece from Asia Minor in 1922 by Aristea, the grandmother of the current owners. Their kaimaki comes in two versions, one of which is made with water buffalo milk and used in their legendary Chicago ice cream, where they add chocolate, Chantilly and syrup. For extra pleasure, ask for a good squeeze of sour cherry syrup.

K AIMAKI

A chew y blast of the past

Ice Cream

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Le Greche

of an authentic master of the art, so lines started to form – day and night – outside her store in downtown Syntagma Square soon after she hung out her shingle. La Greche is where we discovered what wonderful things ice cream does for a hangover: lemon-mint, tiramisu, pavlova, chocolate with rum and plums, ricotta with bergamot and Aperol, amazing almond and Sicilian pistachio, seasonal fruit sorbets … it’s almost impossible to choose. There is no shortage of Greek flavors, either: yogurt, baklava (including small, crispy pieces of syrupy filo), anthotyro (soft cheese) with fig, and Lemnos Moschato sorbet. 16 Mitropoleos, Syntagma, Tel. (+30) 216.700.6458 1 3 8 — GREECE IS

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THE OWNER OF THIS ESTABLISHMENT learned the tradecraft of Italian gelato at the side

Maraboo IN THEIR TINY WORKSHOP

and store, Vicky and Igor have fun experimenting with fresh fruit, herbs, nuts and nut butters, trying different recipes and posting those they like best on the blackboard outside with the day’s flavors. There’s only a handful of staples, like the elegant fresh cream; everything else on their small eclectic menu is a surprise. One day, the duo may cool you off with a velvety chocolate and avocado sorbet that makes the perfect mess, while the next day, they"ll offer the hard-tofind sorbet of cherry or bitter almond. Or maybe they’ll produce one with tahini and honey, or chewy mastic kaimaki, or the one with dark beer… A winner on the hotter days, their refreshing watermelon sorbet is not to be missed. They add a bit of mint for extra freshness. 17 Archelaou, Pangrati, Tel. (+30) 210.724.7037 AT H E N S

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Ice Creams

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Django

YOU’LL HAVE TO WAIT in line,

unless you’re having ice cream for breakfast here at the coolest corner in Koukaki. Fresh, completely natural, free of preservatives and flavor enhancers, and made with ingredients from small-scale producers, Konstantinos Karakatsanis’ ice cream shop is magical. Fruit sorbets are his forte and include fragrant watermelon served with slightly tart yogurt ice cream, fig (when in season) and apricot. The flavors he presents every morning depend on what ingredients his suppliers deliver. The peach is made from just four ingredients: the fruit with its skin, sugar, salt and lemon juice. “My favorite peach is the white kind because it's the most fragrant. The sorbet comes out pink because the flesh is red near the stone. I also add a pinch of salt to remind us of the peaches we used to eat as kids on the beach that we washed in the sea,” says Karakatsanis, who hails from the island of Syros. He recommends pairing it with a ball of smoked hazelnut. 15 Veikou, Koukaki, Tel. (+30) 211.422.2029

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Varsos

IT’S NOT JUST THEIR PURE and old-fashioned – in the best sense of the word – ice cream

that’s so attractive about this historic dairy and pastry shop in the northern suburb of Kifissia, it’s also the fact that it’s served in a retro-style metal bowl with a Varsos logo on its handle. The garden at the back is lovely and well worth the trip north, where the temperature tends to be a couple of degrees cooler than in downtown Athens. And as for the ice cream, the vanilla flavor is wonderfully milky, the chocolate is rich and indulgent, and the strawberry is refreshing and zingy. Enjoy the combo in the signature dish, served in the shade of plane trees. 5 Kassaveti, Kifissia, Tel. (+30) 210.801.2472 AT H E N S

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ΝΈW ANCHO IN AGHIA IRINI SQUARE

Ancho welcomes all lovers of Mexican cuisine to its new branch on 25 Aiolou Street. At this ultimate street food destination, Mexican vibes meet the Californian cool of burrito bars in a fast casual spot where visitors can create their own combinations, selecting a base, fillings, extras, salads and sides. Alternatively, there are several signature dishes on the menu. You can enjoy your meal with a frozen margarita or Mexican beer, and don't forget to leave some room for dessert: delicious, homemade churros. www.ancho.gr

THE ELLINIKON SUPPORTS THE ATHENS EPIDAURUS FESTIVAL 2022

Faithful to its mission as a cultural institution, The Ellinikon (a multi-purpose development project moving ahead on the Athenian Riviera) is embracing a strategic collaboration with the Athens Epidaurus Festival 2022 and hosting, for the first time, a pair of artistic events. On July 28, “The Big Cypher,” a dance production curated by Ilias Hatzigeorgiou will take place here, while on July 29, the Nikos Chatzitsakos Jazz Sextet will perform, featuring the famous saxophone player and composer Dimitris Tsakas. Entrance to both events is free. www.theellinikon.com.gr

D-MARIN ENTERS THE ITALIAN MARKET

A Greek-based leader in the premium marina industry that, at present, boasts 15 marinas in the Mediterranean and the United Arab Emirates, D-Marin is making its first investment in Italy, and will shortly welcome Punta Faro into its family. Not far from Venice, the Italian marina in Lignano Sabbiadoro, one of the largest marinas in the Northern Adriatic with 1200 mooring spots and the capacity to host yachts measuring up to 40 meters, is officially welcoming its first guests this summer. d-marin.com/en/

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YOU WILL WANT TO STAY FOREVER

This year’s advertising campaign for the National Greek Tourism Organization, with its message “You Will Want to Stay Forever,” stars Otto the Austrian. He visits Greece one summer, is enchanted by the magical landscape, the Greek way of life and its friendly people, and decides to stay here forever. This shouldn't come as a surprise; Greece is one of the most recognizable tourist brands in the world. It's a special place, not just for its history, its gastronomy and its diverse natural beauty, but also because visitors to Greece can expect to enjoy amazing life experiences and warm, welcoming hospitality.

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