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The journey from Neo Peramos to Athens  

After spending most of September by the sea we decided, for a change, to spend October in a big City so headed 725 km south to Athens, The capital city of Greece.   I have never been to Athens before and the last time Karyo visited was 20 years ago so we were both well overdue a visit.

Getting to Athens from Nea Peramos proved to be much more difficult than we had first envisaged.  The easiest and most inexpensive route would have been to fly from Kavala to Athens which would have been a simple one-hour journey costing around €50 per person.   However, there was only one flight on the day we left and that did not leave Kavala until 9.30 pm, this would have meant arriving at our destination late and by the time we had found our Airbnb accommodation it would probably have been not far off midnight which we did not want to do as being ex-hosts ourselves we understand how inconvenient it can be when guests roll up really late.  So we decided to put plan B into operation.

The first bus leaving Nea Peramos to Thessaloniki was at 9.30 am but there was one that left Kavala every hour starting at 8 am, after far too much debate on the advantages vs disadvantages of an extra couple of hours in bed or arriving at our destination two hours earlier we plumped for the 8 am from Kavala as a starting point to the trip.  To give us any chance of getting to Kavala by 8 am we needed to catch the 7.10 am from Nea Preamos,  it was already looking like it was going to be a long day.

We had prepared everything the night before so everything went smoothly and we were all packed and stood on the bus stop by 7 am.  What we had not taken into account was the fact that we were in Greece and every time a specific time is ever mentioned, promised or agreed should, by law, have an ‘ish’ at the end.

At 7.30 am the 7.10 am bus arrived.  Now, getting to Kavala by 8 am was looking less likely but by a combination of the fact that there were so few cars on the road plus having a bus driver that seemed to be in training to be an F1 racing driver on his days off, we somehow managed to pull into the bus station with a couple of minutes to spare.

 ” You grab the bags, and I’ll get the tickets” yelled Karyo as he lept down the bus stairs in a scene that brought back memories of Anneka Rice as she jumped out of a helicopter back in the early ’90s.  I did as I had been told, slung the rucksack over my shoulder and, dragging both suitcases behind me raced across the road heading in the general direction of the dust cloud trail that Karyo had left behind him.  Two things crossed my mind at this point, 1 –  that Jumpsuits were never a good look, what was she thinking? and 2 – that the suitcase wheels were not going to last two minutes if we carried on like this when I glanced up and there he was, walking towards me clutching two tickets but with a face like a smacked arse.  The 8 am bus was fully booked, we were going to have to wait until 9 am!

Athens? This way?

We caught the 9 am bus and at 9.30 am trundled past the bus stop in Nea Peramos where at 7 am we had stood waiting for the 7.10 am bus to arrive at 7.30 am to catch the 8 am that we missed – ( I hope you are keeping up!)  In hindsight, we should have gone for the stay-in-bed option but, as we all know, hindsight is a wonderful thing!

After that, thankfully,  all went smoothly –

Bus –    Nea Peramos – Kavala bus station  –    €2

Bus –    Kavala bus station – Thessaloniki bus station –      €15

Taxi –   Thessaloniki bus station -Thessaloniki train station – €3

Train – Thessaloniki train station – Athens train station – €43

Taxi –   Athens train station – Accommodation –  €3

        The total cost of the journey  –  €66 per person

 It was 5 pm by the time we eventually arrived at our apartment, ten hours from start to finish.  It had been long, hot and tiring but, except for the hiccup at the beginning, it was a relatively stress-free journey.  During the journey, we discussed whether doing that type of journey every four weeks might be a bit too much as four weeks go so quickly!  As this is all still very new to us and everything is fluid and open to alteration at any point we decided to see how we feel at the end of October.  Moving on every month will enable us to see lots of different places but it could also prove to be really exhausting.

The accommodation

The accommodation is fantastic, It’s a huge, recently refurbished  4th-floor apartment with the all-important good wifi and veranda.  We are the first guests to use the apartment so it is in perfect condition, it has a really nice retro feel to it with some lovely pieces of  ’70s furniture mixed in with more modern touches including remote-controlled lighting and a blue tooth speaker system for your music.  An ultra-modern bathroom and a small but well-equipped kitchen, two bedrooms, both of which are huge and each has its own balcony.   The living area has three double doors opening onto a massive 4-mtr x 10-mtr veranda aka -Karyo’s office for the month.

Our host, Teo, is great.  He was here to meet us on arrival and show us around and was happy to pop back one day when we struggled to get the Bluetooth working. ( It turned out you had to press the button! )

If any of you ever find yourselves on a short break in Athens I would highly recommend you put this place on the top of your list of accommodation choices and, as I said previously, if you are unlucky and this apartment is already booked then Teo has other listings that I imagine will be just as good.

www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/45414492

Kypseli, Athens

Our accommodation is in an area in Central Athens named ‘Kypseli’ ( English translation – ‘ Beehive’ )  Honestly, it’s not a particularly pretty place.  It is really densely populated with streets and streets of ugly concrete 5 and 6-storey apartment blocks.

The area of Kypseli has a chequered history,  100 years ago it was just countryside.  Development of the area started in the ’30s and over the next two decades, it was transformed into an affluent area popular with well-to-do Athenians.  Unfortunately, Kypsili became a victim of its own success, as it became more popular and more densely populated it lost its exclusive appeal and the elite started to leave preferring to live in the less populated surrounding areas.  The area then started to decline and rents dropped.  This attracted immigrants from Africa, Asia and the Balkans to come to settle here to live amongst the local artists, actors, writers and musicians that already called Kypseli home due to the large number of theatres in the area.  The result of this is that the Kyseli of today is now the most multicultural area of Athens.

There are far too many cars in Athens and I would definitely not recommend bringing one here!  Even if you managed to learn how to navigate the streets,  the unwritten code for when to, or not to ‘beep’ your horn seems to be a law unto itself.  Beeping to signal hello, goodbye, go, stop, cross and don’t cross all seem equally acceptable.  Even if you eventually decoded this car horn conundrum, where would you ever park?  The streets are narrow and always full on both sides with parked cars, there is never a space to park, never – ever!  I have a theory that people are so fed up with trawling the area for days, maybe weeks, looking for space to stop that when, by some miracle, they manage to eventually find one they never dare move their car again knowing the whole nightmare will start over so they just leave it there, forever, and from then on just hail one of the thousands of yellow taxis that patrol the streets day and night.

It’s not all bad news though, and there are hints, among the sea of concrete, of the grandeur of Kypseli of days gone by.  Smatterings of beautiful houses and art deco buildings that somehow survived the destruction of the ’70,s

 Although there is a country worth of concrete in just a few square kilometres surprisingly, there is a real visible love for nature here, many of the balconies have a mass of plants growing, some that would put any suburban garden to shame.  There are garden centres within the city centre bustling with locals looking for inspiration to put some  life into their dead, concrete surroundings

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Many of the streets are tree-lined and there are large parks that people use to run, walk, dog walk ( Athenians love their dogs!) socialise or just sit and watch the world go by.  The parks are well lit making them safe and popular 24 hours a day.

Today, Kypseli seems to have turned a corner yet again.  The comparatively low rentals and availability of rows of tiny shops have meant arty, creative people can afford to live and set up micro-businesses here, opening small, independent shops that they could never dream to afford in other areas of Athens.  On every street is something different to see, touch, eat and experience.  African restaurants, Chinese clothing, Greek pastries, art galleries, designer brands, €1 shops, market stalls, Hungarian groceries, dressmakers, jewellers – it seems endless and, of course, the obligatory coffee shop on every street corner,  it’s a maze of colour, sound and diversity.  Running through the centre of Kypseli is Fokionos Negri Street, this street is for pedestrians only, it’s very green due to an ancient stream that still flows underground. The street is lined both sides with bars and cafes making this the place to hang out with family or friends.  Kypseli is no longer the place that twenty years ago nobody wanted, or was too scared to visit.  It’s now bustling with activity, trendy, diverse and vibrant.  In fact, according to Time Magazine, Kypseli is now ‘Athens’s coolest neighbourhood’ – It seems that the aptly named Kypseli is buzzing again – I love it here, what a discovery!

Next Stop – The Acropolis. More on that next month.

Until then, as always, Thanks for reading

Hugs, Colin & Karyo xx

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