If you live anywhere else in Europe than Athens, these last few years, you've probably only seen images of the city that appear on the evening news to illustrate stories that begin "riot..." or "government in trouble.." or "economic disaster"
Well, the economy certainly is a bit of a disaster and no doubting the politics are complex, and there's plenty of evidence of the riots still around... but life goes on: it's not like everyone's dead. And despite (or because of) economic stress, some of the enjoyable bits of life are thriving.
Work takes me to Athens now and again, and I've always liked it as a trip. The welcome you get from the professional community there is magnificent, and they don't get a lot of visitors so people make time. I had a lot of sympathy for some parts of the professional community there: some people were doing the right things, but still got sideswiped by the larger issues. So for my first work trip back for a few years, I had planned to stay over the Friday evening after my last meeting...enough time for an early dinner and a couple of glasses, a visit to the Acropolis museum (new since the last time I had enough time to play tourist) and the Acropolis itself, and then another good meal and few glasses before returning to the airport and London.
In terms of hotel, I wasn't sure I'd be able to stay over, so booked a relatively cheap one. Looking on Expedia, the prices had come down since the start of the crisis-- the youth hostel was the #27th most expensive bed for the night, rather than the cheapest pre-crisis. I chose somewhere with no bunk beds, and while Spartan, it was clean and only a few blocks from the Syndagma Square hotel where work put me, and was less than £25 for the night.
The first night after transferring bag from one hotel to the other, I went walkabout to find my various targets: one of the difficulties with road names is not just translation but transliteration: Syntagma Square will be rendered as Platia Sintagmatos or Constitution Square when we all know it's really ΠΛΑΤΕΙΑ ΣΥΝΤΑΓΜΑΤΟΣ. Different maps use different spellings, and if you're less than fluent with the alphabet even upper/lowercase can confuse. So it's easier to go out wandering and remember you need to turn left at Starbucks.
First stop for aperitivi and unwind is At "By the Glass" on Souri. Reading the reviews, I'm not sure what to think. I showed up at a time when few others were around, alone, and while I have nowhere near the wine knowledge of Mrs., I have learned a few things over the decade we've been together and probably managed to say something semi-intelligent on the topic of wines. The barman thought for a bit then poured tastes of:
- Malagousia "Techni" from Wine Art, round and mineral and great whiff
- A Gewurtz, un-blended...Melissopetra Ktimatselepos (I think?)...almost a like a minerally viog
- "Sideways" mixed white -- something on the nose I couldn't place at all. Chequerboard label only marked in Greek. A sort of smoky honey scent.
Oenomatic machines are clearly the thing in Athens now. I wasn't having full glasses for the taste, though I then settled into a proper glass of the Malagousia which was the winner of three. I suspect if I had Mrs. there it'd have been more interesting as she has a knack of translating her wine knowledge into an incentive for the sommeliers to bring out their best (which is not always, or even usually, the most expensive) but with Mrs. on the hook by SMS and e-mail it wasn't quite the same
Having a bit of adventure and knowing something had only gotten me so far with Sommelier--a little herbed mini-toast. It seemed he's a big fan of the Sampler in South Ken, less than a km from home...and somehow the "By the Glass" guys billed me only €6.60.
No seriously, I asked twice if it was right, and they insisted three tastes, two platelets of mini-toasts and a full glass was only that. They did give a receipt (in Greek) and the only thing I could read was the bottom line, which was definitely €6.60
By then, it was dinnertime for me (not yet for locals though) so wandered over to Oiniscent for a tomato-mozzarella with olive oil and pepper, and another glass--this time a Santorini Assyritiko, but an odd one...it seems to have been oaked and has a heft that the others don't. I couldn't say more than that about the wine as the label is all Greek except for something that looks like a Decanter gold sticker. Pepper brings something in the olive oil out. As light bites go, it was exactly right as it was still hot and not in need of a huge meal... and a bite and glass at Oiniscent was only €11 so clearly economic disaster is doing a few good things. After two days hearing from some of the most distinguished economists in the country about how Greece has regained cost-competitiveness, it's good to have directly observable evidence. But it's Friday night, so difficult to nurse a glass in the corner alone with blackberry or Economist magazine...best to bumble gently back to the somewhat Spartan hotel to read and an early-ish bed.
As much as my Spartan hotel was an OK bunk, we can do better for breakfast--just around the corner, Harvest bills itself as "coffee and wine" and I had spotted it on the previous evening's walkabout, so I came back to see what was open before 9am, and they're say they're doing coffee but not food. "Food breakfast" starts at ten.
"What about that?" I ask, pointing at a cakestand on the counter...
"Apple pie."
"Can I have a slice"
"Sure"
All very good natured, but there is a service concept that isn't yet getting there. Progress, I suppose: they wouldn't have had the pie for sale in the past, but still. Pie is nice... thick crust with a cinnamon crumble top. Their coffee is suspect: a double espresso is double strength rather than double size, and was served with seltzer water, which I've never seen before. Their tables outside give the street scene-- at this hour flower stands are just setting up, and there's an old guy opposite with a stand of pretzels, pistachios and OPAP lotto tix. Traffic isn't yet jammed and sitting in the sun is very pleasant. With another coffee-- strategically a cappucino this time rather than double anything.
By the time I get to the Acropolis Museum after a lingering breakfast, it's rammed. For some reason, it's free today (normal charge is value at €5) and everyone's out. The museum itself is remarkable: it was built of course for political reasons and the entire top floor is plaster casts of what's in the British Museum, interspersed with the bits Elgin missed. It's quite the least impressive bit...I hadn't realised that the Persians had flattened the Acropolis during a short occupation in the same series of wars as the land battle at Marathon and the naval one at Salamis...all the rubble was buried in pits on the plateau before they rebuilt, and a lot of it has come out again in stunning nick, with pigment and expression, looking probably very similar to when it was buried.
After the museum, climb the hill to the Acropolis... well, if there's a hill, after all. This also was free for the same, somewhat vague, reason as the museum, but there weren't as many takers as for the air-conditioned comfort of the museum. What can I say-- some will see a pile of rocks, some see a hill to climb for fun, and some see one of those rare places where something big happened once.
At 3pm and starving, ended up back at Oinoscent, where I'm trying the dish called "lasagne sheets" in paprika, another mozza and a malagouzia, this one a Ktimra Roxani Matsa. Also about halfway through a litre of water...clearly I've been sweating on the hill-hike. Malagouz is apparently a close relative of Malvasia and this one has same roundness and depth of yellow colour. Lasagne sheets turn out to be a sort of chip, I guess they deep fried them: ingenious.
Other blogs (more political ones) make Athens sound like a post-apocalyptic wasteland... while it's certainly post-something, there's no apocalyptic in the bar...it's inventive, tasty and cheap. I'm convinced the disaster in Greece was worse two years ago--people are getting on. Life's reverted to 1990 when Greece was still a medium-poor country with potential. Other bits are more of a contrast--you get reciepts for *everything* with computer-generated tax codes on. There's still more than enough scope for things to go wrong--Syriza sound like cavemen to hear those who've met them...apparently even Beppe Grillo thinks they're economic illiterates.
But at the shallow end of the pool, on the whole, I think I'm more in favour for the unoaked Santorini Assyritikos, but glad I've taken an evening to get to know the food and wine a little better. And will be back.
Note: digging around for this article, we found: http://www.culinarybackstreets.com/athens/2013/athens-new-school-wine-bars/ which we agree with, by and large. A site we'll be reading again when hitting the cities they cover.
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