In June I spent a few days in Athens and on the island of Hydra. Below you can see a few recordings I took during my first days in Athens.
ARRIVAL
My day of arrival in Athens welcomed me with an extremely hot weather. I used public transport to get from the airport to my AirBnB. I managed to wander the streets of Athens for a little bit but the sun was too strong. In the evening I picked up my mum from the airport as she came to Athens as well and we spent a few days together. I hope you will enjoy this videos of my first impressions of Athens.
ACROPOLIS, PLAKA and PSYRI
The recording below is from our first day visiting Acropolis and then walking around Plaka, Psyri and charming streets of the Athenian old city.
We started our day with walking from Monastiraki Square to the Acropolis in the early morning followed by climbing first Areopagus Hill and then Philopappos Hill to have lovey views of the city. We then walked down to Plaka and spent some time roaming the streets followed by an afternoon walk around Psyri and visiting the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens. We finished our day late in the evening.
ATHENIAN RIVIERA, READING NIKOS KAZANTZAKIS and SUNSET on THE MOUNT LYCABETTUS
“All my life one of my greatest desires has been to travel-to see and touch unknown countries, to swim in unknown seas, to circle the globe, observing new lands, seas, people, and ideas with insatiable appetite, to see everything for the first time and for the last time, casting a slow, prolonged glance, then to close my eyes and feel the riches deposit themselves inside me calmly or stormily according to their pleasure, until time passes them at last through its fine sieve, straining the quintessence out of all the joys and sorrows.”
Report to Greco by Nikos Kazantzakis
Below you will see the recording from the day I spent with my mum resting on the Athenian Riviera and reading Nikos Kazantzakis.
In the evening we went to watch the sunset from the Mount Lycabettus ending with a slow walk in the Old City. It was one of the most peaceful days in the last months, if not years.
NATIONAL ARCHEOLOGICAL MUSEUM, 92 ACHARNON STREET, BOOKSHOPS OF EXARCHEIA
Below you can see recording of my last day in Athens. In the morning I took a bus to National Archeological Museum, then I went to 92 Acharnon Street which is also a title of a book by John Lucas. This is where he lived and where his book is set. Afterwards I went to Exarcheia famous for many bookshops. I bought a few books by modern Greek writers and afterwards I went back to the old city to pick up my bag and took a train to the airport to catch my flight back to London.
I had such a peaceful time in Athens. It’s something I have not experienced in a long time.
I hope you will enjoy this video and it will encourage you to visit Athens one day.
