ATHENS
weekly
SummeR
of Love
Weekly supplement by Insider Publications • www.insider-publications.com • No 105 • Friday, June 24, 2016 SWAN LAKE
LANA DEL RAY
YOGA IN THE PARK
See Tchaikovsky’s hypnotic classic “Swan Lake” by the Russian Ballet Theater in a series of performances around the Greek capital and Piraeus, from June 26-July 27.Tickets from €15 from Public, Papasotiriou, Seven Spots, Ianos and Media Markt stores. For more details, www.viva.gr
Grab your ticket to see enigmatic US songbird Lana Del Rey (hits include Video Games and Summertime Sadness) perform at Rockwave Festival 2016, July 19. Pre-sale tickets €36 (€45 on gate), can be purchased online at www.ticketpro.gr and www.tickethouse.gr. Terra Vibe Park, Malakasa, Athens-Lamia Highway, rockwave.gr
Get your yoga on at two free outdoor workshops, 7-9pm: June 26 (Kolonos Open Theatre, Ioanninon & Kapaneos Street), and July 3, (344th Open Sports Center, Kimeon & Dimofontos Street, Konistra-Ano Petralona). Hosted by YogaWorks certified teacher Sofianna Stasinou for all levels. Tel: 210.528.4875/6 or opanda.gr
Insider is here to luxe up your summer with our series of fantastic giveaways! This week, we have 5 pairs of tickets to the brilliant Socrates Now, (June 25-July 24), starring the Emmy Awardwinning Yannis Simonides. To enter, visit www.insider-publications.com/ insiders-summer-of-love/ or our Athens Insider page on Facebook. Competition closes Wednesday June 29.
TV THIS WEEK
CITY LIFE
Jamie’s Super Food
In Japan, Jamie Oliver harvests and eats seaweed. On the menu is baked eggs and ricotta on toast, super tasty miso, and sizzling prawns with seasonal veg and salsa. Sunday @ 13.00 on Foxlife.
Novotel Athens
Insider’s Guide: THE POOL REPORT – PART 2
If there’s one thing we’re really rather good at here in Athens, it’s swimming pools. Here’s the second half of our Insider’s guide to the best watering holes in the Capital to beat the heat this Summer (from the high-roller to the pocket-friendly). VERTIGO POOL CLUB AT ST GEORGE OASIS HOTEL APARTMENTS LYCABETTUS BOUTIQUE HOTEL A non-pretentious School Holiday go-to What this chic and elegant rooftop pool for families seeking to escape the heat of terrace lacks in proportions, it more than summer and the fuss of constant beach makes up for with its epic Mount Olympus- outings. The paved pool area of the 4-star worthy views and fashionable ambience. Oasis Hotel is huge and well-landscaped, Nestled against the pine-forested slopes of with a plentiful supply of plastic sun-loungLycabettus Hill, the St George Lycabettus ers, tasty eating options ranging from pasaffords breath-taking panoramic views over tas, salads and ice-creams - and efficient Athens to the Acropolis and the Saronic poolside waiter service. Perfect for singles, Gulf beyond. couples and kids of all ages. Opening Hours: 9.00-20.00. Opening Hours: 10.30-18.30. Entry Price: €25 or €40 for 2; €12.50 for Entry Price: €8 for all (includes coffee and children (weekdays); €30 and €15 for chil- juice). dren (weekends). Entry fee includes a cof- Kid-Friendly? Extremely. There’s a lifeguard fee or soda. on duty and a separate kiddie pool in the Kid-Friendly? Only the most well-behaved garden area. little people need apply. Where: Leof. Posidonos 27, Glyfada, Where: Kleomenous 2, Kolonaki, Tel : 210.894.1662, Tel : 210.741.6000,www.sglycabettus.gr www.oasishotelapartments.com
free parking and drink on entry. Open during the summer season, the pool café Clair de Lune will also keep you well hydrated and nourished! Opening Hours: 9.00-19.00. Entry Price: €20; and €10 for children (weekdays and weekends); Includes towel, Semiramis Art Hotel drink and free parking. Kid-Friendly? Etsi-ketsi. SEMIRAMIS ART HOTEL Where: Michail Voda 4, Tel: 210.820.0700, For those who like their pools to make an www.novotel.com/Athens artistic statement, look no further than the Semiramis - the pool that launched a HILTON ATHENS thousand instagrams – in leafy Kifissia. The inviting ground-floor swimming pool at The colourful swimming pool (along with the landmark inner-city Hilton has a classic the whole hotel) is the visionary brainchild retro-60s feel about it, and has long been a of art patron Dakis Joannou and famed popular urban sanctuary and meeting point industrial designer Karim Rashid, and is for American tourists, corporate types, and shaped in Rashid’s trademark fluid curves Kolonaki locals who go to cool off during and Miami-style palette, complete with a the Long Swelter. decadent mosaic water fountain. This is Opening Hours: 8.00-21.00. Hip Headquarters. Entry Price: €25; €12.50 for children Opening Hours: 11.00-19.00. (weekdays); €40; and €20 for children Entry Price: €25 and €15 for children (weekends). (weekdays); €35 and €25 for children Kid-Friendly? Yes. The pool is big enough to (weekends). cater for the needs of all age-groups; plus Kid-Friendly? Hmmm. Not so much. But there’s a kid’s pool too. take them anyway. Where: Char. Trikoupi 48, Kifissia, Tel: 210.628.4400, www.yeshotels.gr
Exhibition
7th Silent Film Festival For those who loved 2012’s The Actor, the 7th Silent Film Festival “Love and Erotism” – is a showcase of classic “pre-talkie” moments from the 192030s, such as The Kiss (Greta Garbo), June 22-July 1 at Michael Cacoyannis Exhibition Foundation, Peiraios 208, mcf.gr. Free David Hammons – Give Me a Moment entry. Reserve seats 210.579.3418. Rarely seen works by the significant American artist David Hammons are now on display for the first time in Greece until September 30, in Give Me a Moment, George Economou Collection 80, Kifisias Ave, Marousi, including works from private collections, and some of Hammons’s most iconic pieces, thegeorgeeconomoucollection.com
GASTRONOMY
Introducing: Testaccio Organic Insider stops by new Vouliagmeni hotspot, Testaccio Organic Deli & Restaurant and finds a chic hangout that plays both naughty and nice 2016 is shaping up as the year of the Concept Store – and now Testaccio Organic Deli & Restaurant, in Vouliagmeni, has joined the ranks of a new strain: the Concept Restaurant. Out for a Sunday morning stroll over the weekend, it was initially the achingly chic Hamptons-style fit-out of this very recent Riviera arrival (on the old Silver Star steakhouse site) that drew us to investigate further. With its elegant white plantation shutters, white crocheted parasols, crisp
black and white interiors (and zen-like spa tunes floating out onto the pavement), it seemed like a good as spot as any for a caffeinated comfort break. Inside, there’s a nifty deli section of organic goodies that you didn’t know you couldn’t live without, such as: Manuka honey, red lentil penne, goats milk baby powder, Mayan rainforest chewing gum, and Matcha Ninja powdered green leaf tea from Japan. This all flows onto an organic butchers and photogenic green grocers market that’s open every day from 9am.
INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL CLUB VARI Insider will be Public Enemy Number One for letting this cool cat out of the bag. For years, Southsiders have been heading to the perfectly pleasant and chilled-out suburban pool space (that’s part of the International Football Club of Vari) when they want to escape the hectic crush of the Athenian Riviera summer scene. Great prices, friendly staff and relaxed, democratic mood that welcomes everyone from teens and toddlers to coupled-up sun-worshippers. Opening Hours: 10.30-20.00 daily. Entry Price: €6 for adults; €3 for children. Kid-Friendly? Big Tick. There’s usually a life-guard on duty and a generously-proportioned shallow end. Where: Andrea Papandreou 2, Vari, Tel : 210.965.5300. Find them on Facebook. For our extended insider’s guide to Athens Best Pools, visit: www.insider-publications.com
Nurse Pam resurfaces as a lethal threat to the town; Jason’s past becomes known. Friday @ 23.30 on Fox. Watch FOX and FoxLife on NOVA, OTE TV, Vodafone, CYTA
CINEMA THIS WEEK
GENIUS
A chronicle of Max Perkins’s time as the book editor at Scribner, where he oversaw works by Thomas Wolfe, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and others. With Colin Firth, Jude Law, Nicole Kidman
Independence Day: Resurgence
Oasis
Two decades after the first Independence Day invasion, Earth is faced with a new extra-Solar threat. But will mankind’s new space defenses be enough? With Liam Hemsworth, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman
BOOK NOOK
Festival
The Equilibrists A celebratory showcase of Bright Young Greek artists, The Equilibrists captures the fragility of our current times. Organised by the New Museum, New York and the DESTE Foundation in collaboration with the Benaki Museum (Pireos Annexe), tickets €8, until July 31, Peiraios 138, Kerameikos, 210.345.3111.
Where: Vass. Sofias Ave, Athens, Tel: 210.728.1000, www.hiltonathens.gr
NOVOTEL ATHENES Another glorious rooftop option for those who like to swim with the Gods. The boutique-sized pool at the Novotel Athenes, is 4km from the Acropolis, in downtown Omonoia, and offers stonking views of the famous landmark, along with luxe loungers,
UPCOMING EVENTS
Wayward Pines 2
The vibe is restful and unhurried, so we took a seat and stayed on to split an egg white omelette with mushrooms, gruyere and multi-coloured cherry tomatoes which was pleasingly plump and tasty in a way that egg white omelettes very often aren’t. Testaccio’s Bio Day menu is one of the most innovative we’ve seen in a long time around these parts. Among the most interesting propositions we’re tempted to come back and try: Broccoli crust pizza, burrata, with mixed mushrooms and poached egg (€13.60); Grilled cauliflower sandwich with Asian slaw and mint (€7.20); oven baked carrot fries with tofu and jalepena dip (€4.20); and papaya, radiccio, shiso leaves, soba noodles, sesame, ginger and miso (€12.30). And among the carnivorous offerings: Flap steak with seaweed butter, pearl onion and potatoes (€19.80). In the evening, Testaccio apparently amps up into a humming meet-up spot with a very pleasant courtyard bar area serving great cocktails, wines (and oysters!), alongside your favourite detoxifying fruit smoothie. We do love a place where the decision to play naughty or nice is entirely yours. Testaccio Organic Deli Restaurant, Litous 2 & Apollonos Vouliagmeni, Tel: 210.896.4112, open 9am-2am daily.
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What to read at the Beach this Summer Insider’s resident book worm Anna Roins recommends her top 3 summer novels. The paperback hauled in my straw tote has to both enthral and entertain when I’m heading to the beach. It has to bewitch me until the time comes when I’m inevitably flicked with sand by small, nimble feet or interrupted by sandcastles. In other words, I want a novel zippered to my mind like yesteryear’s skinny jeans. All three of these favourite reads from recent years have one thing in common; escapism. They’re little holidays inside your holiday: The Case of the Fickle Mermaid by P. J. Brackston, New York Times bestselling author. A delight given the unexpected genre - adult crime-fantasy based on a Brothers Grimm fairy tale. It’s like those colouring-in books for grownups - good fun that offers light relief. It’s about Gretel (of the gingerbread house variety) who’s now 35, still living with her brother, Hans, and a famous, private detective in 18th century Bavaria. Captain Ziegler invites her on his ship, the Arabella, to investigate the disappearance of two of his sailors. There are rumours a capricious mermaid is involved. When Arabella’s cook is murdered, and the sombre Quartermaster accuses Gretel, she must act quickly before the crew abandons ship. Ziegler suspects rival Captain Sommer is to blame, but Gretel has other ideas. She and Hans take off in a lifeboat
to look for the alleged mermaid at nearby islands where they meet up with all manner of strife and dark adventure. Throw in some ill-fated wigs, some romance, and sardonic 18th century speech, and it will make you laugh-out-loud (a rare occurrence for me, in the Alpha Bank no less). This rollicking murder mystery is sure to compliment the sound of the waves lapping at your feet.
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante, a pseudonym of the acclaimed Italian author who refuses to make her identity known. It’s the first book out of four in the series of the ‘Neapolitan Novels,’ with the fourth longlisted for the Man Booker International Prize this year. The novel has an end-of-your-nose perspective enriched by historical accuracy and raw, vibrant detail. It’s almost like reading a diary. It’s about the friendship between two fiendishly smart girls; the bookish Elena and the irreverent Lila, who grew up in a tough neighbourhood on the outskirts of Naples in the 1950s. They rely on each other to survive but buffet an undercurrent of rivalry at the same time. In adolescence, the socio-economic differences in their backgrounds force them down separate paths. Throughout the upheavals and joys of their lives, they satellite around each other; sometimes as friends, sometimes as foes. They embody a country going through a drastic change against the backdrop of rage, poverty, and despair in post-war Italy.
Ferrante is a true storyteller who doesn’t dress up her characters in flimsy personalities. Her writing is immediate and sharp. It’s like a home-made Spaghetti alla puttanesca; warm, salty and organic. You can’t get enough of it and your hunger increases as you wolf it down.
Snowdrops by A.D. Miller, shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2011, is a psychological drama that almost reads itself. This novel has an unyielding sense of place. You are catapulted to the sordid, complex side of Russia in the early 2000’s where corruption, petrodollars, and violence prevails. It’s about Nick Platt, UK lawyer, working in Moscow who weathers minus zero degrees and glamourous, shady deals. One day in the subway, he rescues two classic Eastern-bloc beauties from being mugged. They strike up a friendship and start hanging out, until Nick falls for one of them, Masha. When she asks him to help her aunt broker a deal to exchange an apartment for one in the countryside, he doesn’t think twice. Little does he know he’s caught up in something bigger than he could ever have imagined. It’s a fast read because of its epistolary style (it’s prefaced as a letter to Nick’s fiancé) yet the extraordinary descriptions sear into your mind. The depiction of snow alone will make you shiver despite the block-out and burning sun. It will leave you breathless until the last page.