Back to Athens

I had a practical problem, my need for food. I would arrive in Athens on the evening of the second day of Christmas and I wasn’t looking forward to taking a fast meal from the airport. I decided to bring some porridge oats and tahini in my suitcase for a worst case scenario Christmas dinner. Without the extra honey, a dash of milk and a pinch of cinnamon, it wouldn’t be the same, but even then, it would take care of basic survival just fine. Yet, once settled in my apartment, I wanted to try and see, if I could buy myself something a bit more celebratory.

I decided to explore my neighbourhood and at the same time look around for something still open. It was warm for the end of December. The darkness and the apartment buildings surrounding me, gave me the feeling of walking through a jungle. Not too far from my place, I ran into a small shop, doors open. It looked rather dark, a bit shabby even, underground. Behind the counter, a middle-aged man was talking to another man who seemed to be a customer, or maybe he was a friend.

I walked in. They paid me little attention and yet gave me the impression I was a strange intruder. My blonde hairs, sand-coloured trench coat and adventurous mood, contrasted strongly with their dark complexions, casual sweaters, their low and soft speaking. I couldn’t make out what they were saying. As I started to doubt my Greek skills, I discovered that they were simply talking a whole other language. Turkish I guess, but to me, it could have been Arabic too. “Yah sas,” I tried in Greek, but this seemed to be received with even more surprise. Which country had I come to? Curiously, I looked around.

Apart from a small selection of magazines and newspapers, the shop sold some basic fruits and vegetables that had probably seen better days, and then in the back some canned foods. As I took a tin off the shelves, I felt how it was covered in dust. I would not find something celebratory here, but I was enjoying the mystery of the place, especially on this second day of Christmas.

I bought a can of peas, a can of tomatoes and an onion that looked acceptably suspicious to me, and had a nice survival dinner back at my apartment. It gave me just the energy I wanted to rush to Syntagma Square straight after. My neighbourhood being located directly behind the Hilton hotel, the route towards Syntagma ran almost fully along the Queen Sophia Boulevard, for the occasion turned into an arcade of lighted stars. It was magic. Cars were rushing by. Other people were headed to the centre in happy holiday excitement, just like me.

I noticed I accelerated my pace, I was now almost skipping with joy and expectation. For the first time, I started to feel I had really made it back to Athens. I could feel it buzzing around me. As I neared Syntagma, suddenly the Acropolis came into view. Just as I sighed from bedazzlement, I heard a Greek couple next to me sighing the same. “Isn’t she beautiful?” said the man. “Yes,” answered his wife “She doesn’t need anything else.”