30/3/24

Another glorious day in Athens. My friend was back this morning, fast asleep 🐈‍⬛ It is lovely waking up to see them (gender undetermined)! I showed the apartment owner the pic I took yesterday & she thought they were gorgeous, so I feel no guilt at feeding them again today with prime steak! Here they are enjoying the small shaft of sunlight the window gets in the middle of the day.

I went out for breakfast this morning & did a little Greek homework. Mainly though I just sat & watched life pass me by as I ate Καγιανάς, which I was told by the friendly waitress is a traditional Greek breakfast. Basically it’s a whopping piece of bread (rye in this case) topped with egg which is scrambled with tomato juice. This is then sprinkled with minimal feta & oregano. It’s delicious & provided a filling start to the day. Of course it was washed down with a glass of water & the obligatory Greek coffee.

This afternoon I went to a local Art Gallery, Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation, which has a permanent exhibition space & a temporary exhibition of Neo-Impressionism in the colours of the Mediterranean. It’s a beautiful collection which ranges from hydromagnetic sculpture & Picasso to Rodin, Degas & Van Gogh. I loved this piece ‘Sailor Sitting at the Table, Pink Background’ by Yannis Tsarruchis, one of Greece’s most recognised artists. I have a bit of an obsession with the play of light on white material in paintings & this didn’t disappoint.

I left after 2 hours & sat outside baking myself in the sun, which was bliss after being inside a cool museum. I decided after a quick rest that I would go & watch the sunset over the Parthenon again, don’t think I could ever tire of it! Once again the place was alive with locals taking their evening exercise.

I stayed for a couple of hours before making my way back down the hill & to a local bakery. I met a very cool chick from New York who is Greek & has just moved back to Athens for a change of scenery. We spent a while talking & exchanged numbers, she’s only been back here for a week, hopefully we can catch up when I come back to Athens.

After I dropped my baked goods back to the apartment I set out again to meet Sergio for dinner & a drink. He hadn’t been to Pangrati before so was happy to come & meet me here. We went to Varnava Square for dinner & enjoyed a couple of hours eating, drinking & chatting. He’s off to Rhodes on Monday & I’m off to Lesvos so it was the conversation of those that know they may never share space again. One of the things I love about travelling alone is the random connections that one can find.

It was pumping out in Pangrati but lovely sitting out in the square, a little chilly, but so enjoyable to be in amongst it all. I’m starting to feel more Athenian every day!

As we were leaving we went in to pay & stumbled on a group of people playing Greek music. They were fabulous & the owner of the bar was generously pouring us shots of an undetermined liquid. It was the colour of whisky but the bottle had herbs floating around in it & the top of the bottle had an olive oil type pouring stopper in it. It was warm & comforting & most importantly not ouzo!! Here’s old mate playing his lyre/banjo type thing & giving his all for the camera 🤣

Yet again it’s midnight & I’ve only just stumbled in the door….I don’t know who I am anymore. I usually go to bed about 2130 so this is a real departure from the norm & I’m rather enjoying this new version of myself! Night x