Awoke early to this pretty little kitty on my windowsill 🧡
Just one of the many street cats in Athens looking for a safe place to rest for the day. My windowsill, as you can see, is safe, soft & secret, the perfect combo! It was a little startled when I opened the blind but settled again quickly enough & was still sleeping when I came back to the apartment 8 hours later! What could I do but share some chicken with it? That was quickly devoured before it settled back to sleep…oh to be a cat!
Lesson today was early, 9am & the streets were relatively quiet as I made my way through the park to the city centre. Stopping on the way for breakfast, I had a spanakopita & espresso which I couldn’t drink because it was so bitter. The morning was warm & by the time I got to class I had taken my βοuφφαντ (puffa jacket) off. Iv’e just realised that I’m starting to translate what I want to say into the Greek way of talking…I ‘took’ the spanakopita rather than I ‘had’ the spanakopita. I could be totally wrong but after 10+ hours of class this week this is how my head is working, or not as the case may be 🤪
Lesson today was fun & I met a chap from Italy who shared a coffee with me after class, before he had to go to work. We sat outside in one of the many cafe’s that line the streets of the city & after he left I stayed to take it all in. The waiter & I had a conversation about the train accident I mentioned a few days ago & he seemed very disenchanted with Greece, saying that things would never change here. I found that a bit sad, that someone so young could be so disillusioned with his country, the government & the way of life here. I think what has really hit home about the Tempi disaster is that it could have been any one of them on that train. This waiter said he’d been on that train many times & one of his friends had a ticket for that day but for whatever reason didn’t get on the train, fortunately for her. The waiter couldn’t wait to leave Greece & is planning on moving to the Nederland’s where things work, the roads are maintained, things are safe & money can be earned.
The wages in Greece are low & with the cost of living high it’s making it hard for people to survive. I take his point about the roads. Some of them are appalling & the paths around the parks are frankly dangerous. I have thought everyday, that in Australia people would be making a big noise about the state of them. Everyday I see people struggling with prams & it’s a trip hazard bonanza for elderly people everywhere I go. Cars are parked both sides of narrow streets & pavements are often impassable so I’m stepping up & down Kerbs, over loose & uneven pavers & there are hills & steps galore. People are obviously used to it here & I’m not advocating for it in any way, but most people are slim, agile & walk everywhere.
Anyway, back to lunch. The road in front of the cafe was blocked to traffic but there were hordes of people going to the hole in the wall souvlaki place next to the cafe & when I looked it up it’s rated as the best souvlaki shop in Athens! It’s obviously on all the Athens blogs because it was absolutely heaving & people were turning away because the wait was so long. It’s called Kostas if you want to look for it. It’s been there for 65 years & is now run by Kostas jnr! Here I am in the cafe, I stayed for so long because the seats had cushions & it was quite comfortable!
This was downstairs on the way to the loo…obviously a different vibe at night?! ⛓️
I took a meandering route home, visiting busy streets that I hadn’t been to before. I walked through the material district & the jewellery district. Maria Von Trapp has got nothing on this shop 😂
It was really busy all the way home & I struggled to find a bench in the shade in the National Gardens. It’s lovely to see so many people enjoying the outdoors. I must admit I’m feeling a little city fatigued, it’s mega busy here & I’m not used to being in amongst it all the time. I noticed also today that there is a definite odour of drains in the city as it’s warming up. When I say drains, what I actually mean is sewers 🤢
After a couple of hours of Greek Netflix I ventured out again to watch the sunset over the city. The park behind the Panathenaic Stadium was alive with walkers, runners, dog walkers & sunset watchers. Athens really does start to come alive as the sun sets. I sat quietly for a couple of hours & soaked in the last rays of this warm day. It’s all a bit surreal watching sunset over the Acropolis!
I decided to go for dinner to the place I went the other night with the girls because I was craving the steak that they ordered. However, when I ordered I got steak, but it was double the size! My eyes almost popped out of my head when it arrived & I bought 3/4 of it home to share with the kitten!
I was walking home when I got a message saying come to the bar for a drink & so I did. The girls were there with a male friend who lives locally, they met through dog walking & we sat drinking beer & talking about politics, economics, literature, psychology & Eurovision 😆
The conversation was stimulating & the atmosphere, besides the smoke, was very convivial. The place was absolutely humming, apparently it’s one of the busiest bars in Athens & only 3 minutes walk from the apartment. This is a picture of it as I was leaving at 2345.
So, an unexpected end to a day that turned into an absolute corker. The only other thing I have the brain power to add to today’s offering is regarding the rally I spoke about previously. I found out that it was held to denounce the governments response to the Tempi train crash. The gathering coincided with a debate regarding a no-confidence motion in the Greek parliament. So, as I said before I think the Tempi disaster is changing the face of Greek culture, whether they realise it or not.
