|
Sunday 11:30 a.m. Oh God, it's that perky wake-up
woman again. I am late, but this is Greece. On Sundays, Athenians
flock to the seaside like thirsty seagulls. My friend Konstandina,
a rembetika musician
from Pasalimani, has promised to give me an insider's tour
of Pireaus, Athens' port. I dress hastily; later I dutifully
endure a token brush with public transport. Ommonia Station
is squalid, peopled with one-legged beggars and screwballs.
I am crushed between the carriage door and a moist armpit.
Grannies in their Sunday best give dishevelled backpackers
and wrung-out journalists the evil eye. A succession of increasingly
maimed panhandlers and buskers hop on and off the train. As
we rattle overland through the patchwork of unfamiliar suburbs,
I wonder whether the city will shrink or grow when the Metro
finally opens. Outside Piraeus Station, a white-haired man
has passed out on a bench in the fierce heat. I take this
as a warning and brace myself for the final bout with my tireless
opponent.
12:05 p.m. I am too late to catch the bargains
in the Pireaus Flea Market. Konstandina suggests coffee in
Kastella instead. A barrage of motorbikes and open-top jeeps
are parked outside the noisy cafes lining the canal at Mikrolimano.
We cross the wooden footbridges and admire the yachts. The
beach at Votsalakia is already crawling with sunbathers and
racquetball maniacs. I am longing for a swim, but a dip here
would be asking for a nasty skin disorder.
1:02 p.m. Konstandina swears an ouzaki will cure
my pounding head. She steers us away from the tacky seafood
joints in the Mikrolimano and Pasalimani to the neighbourhood
of Hatzikyriakeio. Next to the Naval School is Margaro's,
the oldest garidadiko in Piraeus that serves just three dishes:
deep-fried prawns, fried fish, and Greek salad. "People pray
on the altar of the koutsomoura here," says Konstandina, rolling
her huge green eyes and licking her lips. But today Margaro
is closed. "Ha! She's made so much money, she can afford to
sleep on Sundays."
1:51 p.m. I need either sleep or sustenance,
and fast. We backtrack past Ilias's Family Taverna and a series
of bustling seaside joints to the pretty Peiraiko Limani,
a horseshoe harbour bobbing with caiques. Concerts are often
held here on summer nights, the audience perched on the rocks
munching mezedes from Kalyvas's Seafood Restaurant opposite.
The menu is part of the decor-gaudy headlines screaming "Saganaki
Soupies Special" and "Garidosoupa" flutter among the bedraggled
octopi draped above the diners. The exclusively Greek customers
attack their food with the unmistakable concentration of kalofagades
("good eaters"). We sit down and a smiling waiter rushes over,
brandishing a tentacle. Soon we are savouring unlikely octopus
croquettes, exquisite calamari, and crunchy marides, pausing
every so often to clink glasses to the inevitable chorus of
"Yia mas!"
3:04 p.m. Two portly old gentlemen, sentinels
guarding their lair, sit on either side of the blue doorway
of Lefteris' Kafeneion. Excited by the novelty of female company,
they follow us inside. A checkerboard floor, pistachio-green
paint work, and a dog-eared Olympiakos football club poster
from the 1970s dominate the interior. A full-scale backgammon
battle is under way. Lefteris brings us each coffee and a
thick wedge of watermelon like a huge, juicy grin. "Kalo kalokairi,"
he smiles-"Have a good summer."
3:37 p.m. We crawl along the coast, hypnotised
by the glistening sea. We discuss our beach options: Glyfada
and Vouliagmeni are too crowded, Varkiza too dirty, Skinias
and Nea Makri too far. I yell at the taxi driver to stop as
we pass Zea Marina. The next Flying Dolphin hydrofoil for
nearby Aegina leaves in 13 minutes. That's it. I've given
Athens a run for her money. Now I'm off to the islands, and
there's no telling when I'll be back…
Where to Find Them...
- Alarm,
Ilisiou 1, Metz.
- Amfitheatro,
Vas. Georgiou II St., Glyfada. Tel:894.4538.
- Banana
Moon, 1 Vas. Olgas St., Athens.
- Brazilian
Coffee Store, 1 Voukourestiou St.
- Cafe
Avyssinia, Plateia Avyssinias, Monastiraki.Tel: 321.7047.
- Cycladic
Museum, Neofytou Douka St., Kolonaki. Tel: 722.8321-3.
- Dexameni
Cinema, Kolonaki. Tel: 360.2363/362.3942.
- Everest,
Ommonia Square.
- Gazi,
Pireos and Persefonis Sts.
- Herod
Atticus Theatre, Apostolou Pavlou St., Box Office: 322.1459
- Ierofandis,
13 Ierofandon St., Gazi.
- Ilias'
Family Tavern, 104 Hatzikyriakou Ave., Pireaus. Tel: 451-1261.
- Kalyvas,
280 A.Themistokleous St., Piraiko Limani. Tel: 418.3772.
- Kipos
Cafe, National Gardens, Herodiou Attikou and Lykeiou Sts.
- Koutouki,
9 Lakiou St., Ano Petralona. Tel: 345.3655.
- Lefteris'
Kafeneion, Evrimedontos and Vas. Athassiou Sts. Pireaus.
- Margaro,
Hatzikyriakou Ave., Pireaus. Tel: 451.4226.
- Museum
of Musical Instruments, 1-3 Diogenous St., Plaka. Tel: 325.0198
- Pil
Poul, Apost. Pavlou and Poulopoulou Sts., Thisseion. Tel:
342.3665.
- Platanos,
4 Diogenous St., Plaka. Tel: 322.0666.
- Romeo,
1 Ellinikou St., Glyfada. Tel: 894.5345.
- Saint
George Lycabettus Hotel, 2 Kleomenous St., Kolonaki. Tel:
729.0711.
- Stavlos,
10 Irakleidon St., Thisseion. Tel: 346.7206/345.2502.
- Symposio,
46 Erechthiou St., Irodion. Tel: 922.5321.
- Taverna
tou Yiannopoulou, Meatmarket, Athinas St.
- To
Kafeneion, Irakleidon and Akamandos Sts. Tel. 347.3133
- Vareladiko,
4 Alkyonidon St., Voula. Tel: 895.2403.
- Zonar's,
corner of Voukourestiou and Panepistimiou Sts.
- Zoo,
Michalachopoulou and Sevasteias Sts., Ilissia.Tel:778.6672.
- Source:
Odyssey Magazine ( http://www.odyssey.gr )
|
