Having worked hard since my last holiday break in July, it was high time for me to have a small break to recover and get ready for the Christmas season. As it was also the occasion of my birthday to celebrate and time to renew my haircut, I chose to retreat to the comfort of home in Athens. Of course, I mustn’t forget to mention that having disposed three pairs of shoes during the summer it was definitely time to renew my collection and for that reason again home is normally the place where I replenish them.
An incredibly hectic schedule at work and accumulated tiredness from the daily routine and scenery of a millennial working lady, I feared that I would be “too broken”, as my best friend describes it, to enjoy my break. I was wrong though. The moment I logged off from the office on the Friday afternoon, my mind switched to holiday mode automatically. My fish had their tank washed and prepared with the holiday food tablet, plants were watered, suitcase was packed – in truth it was totally empty – house was hoovered and all was ready for my break.
Athens is where I was born and should be referred to as home, however, after being away for 10 years I am now more of a tourist. I cannot feel it like being home anymore I’m afraid, but I can definitely call my childhood bedroom my retreat of feeling safe and young again. My parents clearly proud and happy to have me there have indulged me and pampered me beyond words and I let them do so as I needed to be taken care of. No matter how grown I pretend to be and act in the UK, the moment I set my foot in Athens I become a child again or more accurately the returning student from university who just wants to enjoy the homemade treats and pampering that has been lacking at halls!
During my visit, I went for a very special father’s-daughter walk at the centre of Athens. The last time I visited that part for Athens was probably fifteen years ago. It was a lovely sunny yet crisp morning for November standards and we visited Kolonaki, where I did my English lessons and dad had his surgery. Wikipedia calls it a wealthy and upmarket district and one of the capital’s leading shopping areas with high end boutiques, museums and galleries. For me it’s the place of my childhood memories of spending time waiting in the surgery lobby and doing homework while dad was seeing his patients. It’s the place where my English born tutor was teaching me lot of grammar and pronunciation to perfection so that I could pass my English exams. It’s the place that we would go out for special occasions as a family. It’s also the place that as I grown up I would go for theatre performances, culinary restaurants and luxury shopping.
I’ve read quite a few articles in the Greek newspapers about how the place was changed and shaped to the new modern society but it didn’t prepare me enough to deal with seeing the changes myself. I think it’s probably an expat feeling that might be common to other people who live far away from where they grew up – the feeling that nothing changes back home and it is exactly as you remember it. A very unfair feeling I would say since one changes and grows up even if they live in a different country yet they expect things to remain unchanged in their home country. After all haven’t I changed myself to a super modern lady leaving in Hertford who cannot imagine life without a smart phone and a laptop?
Change though comes everywhere and Kolonaki didn’t escape from it. The square that used to be like a mini-park with benches and trees that people sat and exchanged news while their children played, has been replaced with cold marbles full of graffiti with no benches and no invitation for visitors to sit and enjoy a friendly chat or a break between places. One of the main streets that used to have boutiques is now full of trendy bars and coffee shops all with a foreign themes and look. Apparently, they are “the places to be seen and not seen at” and all of them where full at midday with their different types of clientele who were enjoying the sunny lunch hour. I spotted a couple of politicians and an actress, so the description was verified!
Motorbikes dominate the streets all over and are parked in a rank in the main avenue in an Italian fashion. Most restaurants have an English or foreign name and offer authentic world cuisine, dismissing all Greek recipes and themes as an old-fashioned habit that is no longer trendy. The same applies to most shops where the names are all written in English and there is no Greek brand name to be seen for miles.
Perhaps the only thing that has not changed is the old classical buildings and Lecabettus hill with the funicular which is still standing above Kolonaki with the same rigour and height despite the changing times. I didn’t get a chance to go up and see if too it has been touched by the years – this will be something to do next time I visit Athens.
As a person who loves change in everything, I should have embraced this new face of my childhood past. However, I disagree with it not because it’s modern but it’s because it’s denying our Greek culture and character which in my mind I feel is quite strong and doesn’t need to be influenced by American style trends and names. I don’t understand why my fellow Greeks feel that they are more sophisticated if they speak half in English and half in Greek and why they think in their minds that everything foreign is better and has more prestige. I can only hope that it is a passing trend and that perhaps they may soon realise that a modernisation of our Greek roots is an equal way forward.
The rest of the “walking” programme while at home was quite full, filled with lots of delicious homemade food, sleeping, shopping and of course the much awaited and longed-for hairdresser’s full treatment. I must say that the result was absolutely stunning and have no regrets at all for making such a long trip for it. I returned back to my little castle in Hertford from my walks in Athens with a suitcase full of goodies and lots of energy to endure the winter which has started showing its cold face.
Walks and Smiles 