Athens: Colour amid the crisis in Greece

As Greece’s debt deadline looms, Rachael Pells visits Athens and finds a city embracing its creative side
Rachael Pells16 October 2015

It’s hard to miss Greece’s most famous landmark. The Acropolis looms over Athens as a constant reminder of the country’s incredible history, even if its future is less resolute.

I’ve come here not for a lesson in classics but to explore the Greek capital’s more modern side. Economic woes have led to a surge in creativity in the city, and despite the ongoing unease it’s still a fantastic place to visit (if you’re concerned, booking a package holiday and taking euros in cash will offer security should the country suddenly pull out of the shared currency).

What strikes me about Athens is its unexpected kaleidoscope of colour. More than 2,000 graffiti and street artists are working in and around the city, and in an economic climate where 60 per cent of 20-30-year-olds are unemployed, some even manage to make a modest living from their art. Shop owners and even homeowners pay artists such as my tour guide Achilles to cover up unsightly graffiti with their designs. Achilles is so prolific he’s even become something of a local celebrity — as we walk, children run up and ask him to play football with them.

To graffiti over private property is otherwise illegal, not that it really makes a difference. Accepting murals like Achilles’s as art is a smart move on Athens’s part. What was once seen as an eyesore now lures visitors in, and offers a positive future for the city as a cultural hub.

Like a friend showing off his workplace, Achilles takes me through the city centre and the old silk factory district of Metaxourgio, into fashionable Gazi — named after the gasworks that once dominated it. Everywhere I turn, walls, shop fronts and houses are awash with colour. Some designs are abstract but others illustrate characters that pop up in murals across more than one neighbourhood. As we stop by a series of Gothic, Tim Burton-style paintings of a girl, Achilles tells me the artist was so heartbroken by his girlfriend leaving him that he painted a cartoon version of her all around the city. The final one we see has written underneath: “Let’s Stay Friends”.

Once a poorer, industrial area known as the Technopolis, Gazi is now home to bars and restaurants that stay open until the morning. The noticeable number of burger joints smacks of Shoreditch, but more traditional tavernas can be found easily around the central shopping district.

So where to stop for fuel? Along with walking tours such as that led by Achilles, tour group Alternative Athens offers a guided round-up of top bars and hang-outs. Abariza café on Lekka Street is a good starting point, close to the Drunk Sinatra bar (Thiseos Street) and Heteroclito wine bar (Fokionos Street), all near the city centre.

It may seem unnecessary to pay a guide to scope out your drinking holes but many bars are hidden either high above or below street level — most don’t even have a sign.

In the bohemian Monastiraki district, 6 Dogs on Avramiotou Street is a fantastic example of the slightly ridiculous Athenian bar set-up. I’m led through a suspicious-looking alleyway filled with rubble and rubbish bags, up and down stairs and out into a hippy paradise with hints of a Mexican cantina. Sandy floors and treehouse-like seating areas prove that in Athens you really can’t judge a bar by its doorway.

Drinks aren’t cheap, which does beg the question: in these times of economic turmoil, can many locals afford to drink wine at the equivalent of £6 a glass? And yet there are locals here, old and young, so there must be money somewhere in the city, or rather — as my guide suggests — Greeks seriously prioritise their social time. As a tourist, the adventure and creativity in these converted prisons, factories and rooftops is more than worth the price tag. Sitting on the terrace of Couleur Locale, high above Normanou Street, with sunset colours bouncing off the Acropolis, turned out to be the perfect way to spend a Saturday evening.

Grecotel Pallas Athena was my bed for the night. This quirky hotel in the historic centre, a short walk from Plaka (the old town), is something of an exhibition in itself. It was designed with the street art scene in mind; each room has its own mural designed and painted by one of the city’s best known artists, known only as “B”. The images vary; while I enjoyed sleeping in the company of Spiderman, another suite looks like a 1920s boudoir, and one VIP regular is said to insist on the “octopus room” whenever she stays.

If you look out over Athens from one of the many rooftop bars, you’ll see a sprawling mass of white-washed buildings – and, of course, the Acropolis. I’m not sure what the ancient Greeks would have made of modern, street-wise Athens, but this is a city that manages to embrace its past while moving with the times, Gr-exit or no Gr-exit.

Details: Athens

Aegean Airlines (0871 200 0040; aegeanair.com) flies from Heathrow to Athens with one-way fares from £54.

Grecotel Pallas Athena (00 30 210 3250900; grecotelpallasathena.com) has doubles from €109.

Alternative Athens (alternative-athens.com) offers guided tours including street art, Athens by night and the historic city.

Discover Greek Culture (discovergreekculture.com) offers tours of Athens, including of the Acropolis.

For more information, see discovergreece.com

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