Present Perfect
Athens Remix 2025
This April, I found time to chill for a few days in Greece. From Chișinău to Athens, it’s an easy 2-hour flight. My nephew Jeff had moved there from Vienna in the first month of this year. For the cats, he says.
Preparing to visit the City of Sunlit Splendor1 would remind me of the last time I traveled there. In 2017, I researched extensively for a 6-week solo expedition across Western Europe, Scandinavia, and Greece to collect field recordings and interviews for my podcast. Scroll down for a glimpse of that epic journey.
My Athens Remix would be intentionally lo-fi. I planned very little—flights and lodging, and asked a couple of friends about doable day trips. My greatest ambition was to idle. With Jeff, I imagined a schedule dedicated to drifting, mostly. I would travel light. No recording gear. No journal. An easy, comfortable wardrobe, hiking shoes, sun hat, sunscreen, phone charger, water bottle. Done.
Day One—Strolling the City
I stay in Sepolia, an hour by metro from the airport and a 10-minute walk from the flat that Jeff shares with a friend in Kypseli. In the afternoon, we spend hours catching up while strolling around neighborhoods, pausing to snack at a Syrian café on Fokionos Negri. In Exarcheia, we climb to the crest of Strefi hill. On the verge of sunset, the panoramic view is dreamy. Nightfall finds us dining al fresco at Ouzeri Lesvos. We dive into delicious tzatziki, mackerel, calamari, fresh greens, zucchini fritters, and house wine. Local musicians keep us company, taking turns for violin and accordion solos. A Greek Orthodox processional passes on the street one step from our table.
Tomorrow, we’ll visit the island of Aegina.2 The plan: Ferry to Aegina Marina on the south side of the island and walk the winding path that eventually goes north to the Temple of Aphaia. From there, meander westward (1.5 to 2 hours on foot) or take a taxi (15 min) to Paleochora, and then taxi to Aegina City for the ferry home.
Day Two—Escape to Aegina
Morning dawns beneath a gray sky. A 40-minute metro ride carries us to the port of Piraeus. En route, we ignore scattered raindrops. A speedy ferry drops us at Aegina Marina. After a lovely walk up to the Temple of Aphaia, we linger. The Doric temple dedicated to the mother-goddess is elegant in its simplicity. Best of all, the site is not swarming with tourists. The ruins that stand today date from c. 500 BC.
As the sun gradually gives in and shines, the sky becomes a clear field of blue. We begin on foot, following the chalky road toward Paleochora (direct translation: “old town”). A delicate poppy trail leads the way through the lush landscape, past a few farms and a small picture postcard village with a cemetery. In the span of an hour, only three small cars and a couple of utility buggies roll by. A lone taxi materializes as we cross the only intersection on our path. We wave and jump in. Motoring the last, decidedly vertical mile and a half in less than 3 minutes, our driver Nik drops us at the entrance to the ghost town.
The story of Paleochora begins in the 9th century AD, when Aegina's original inhabitants got tired of all the pirate raids and moved their town to a spot hidden from sea view. They chose a defensible site on a steep hill surrounded by valleys. This was the island’s capital for almost 1000 years. The slopes are now dotted with the dozens of camouflaged chapels that blend beautifully into their surroundings.
“You can open every door!” a friend had texted. And we did, stopping along the way as we climb up the curving rocky path to reach the topmost “castle.” Around us, bright sun, bold wildflowers, trailing vines, and butterflies—the brilliance of spring. Inside the stone churches, after our eyes adjust to the dimness, we gaze at relics—framed paintings, frescoes, candles, tamata (palm-sized thin metal votives), and small altars. A few wooden chairs invite meditation. I wonder, are the stones stacked on every window ledge acts of prayer? Oh, and the bees. Every little church hosts a hive. Jeff, a sound seeker, reaches up with tiny microphones to catch the buzz in stereo.
Nik comes to fetch us for the 7-kilometer drive to Aegina City. He spins right past the touristy section of the port to leave us with a friend, the owner of a breezy waterside cafe across the street from the Plaza hotel. There we sit in the half-sun to sip a cool drink, to savor fresh squid and a salad. A local stray suns herself in a chair at a neighboring table.
We take the slower car ferry back to Athens. The sun sets as we near the city. Standing astern, I capture the ship’s Greek flag3 in the waning light.
Day Three—Cats Meow
Did I mention that Jeff loves cats? Honestly, I don’t remember this about Athens. Wherever we go, felines. Curled up in window sills and doorways, sleeping under trees in parks, sitting on any empty open-air seating, crossing streets with pedestrians (I promise). Snoozing beneath or atop the city’s omnipresent ruins. Slipping in and out of deep shadows. The First Cemetery’s village of cats gathering to feast on a great mound of bread crumbs left for them on a walkway.
Today, while wandering the city in search of fleas (flea markets, to be exact), my eyes fall upon what appears to be a framed photograph in the doorway of vintage shop not far from Monastiraki Square. A pair of cute kittens look out at us, their shy pose preserved for eternity in 3-D. Obviously, they were up for adoption, waiting there for Jeff’s soft heart. I gift the masterpiece to my nephew on the spot. Beneath the parachute canopy of The Art Foundation courtyard one block away, we quench our thirst while considering the market value of his newfound art collection, and then head over to the First Cemetery of Athens4 for a walkabout.
In the evening, the Syrian café prepares our twilight picnic. A light rain has cooled the air. On Agias Zonas, we settle down to eat falafel wraps and drink pomegranate juice. A few cats tiptoe by—skirting damp spots on the sidewalk. It’s time for this story to get musical. We round the corner and step into the small performance venue known as TV Control Center. For the next hour, we zone out on a hypnotic stream of Future Folk sound. We stay to chat with locals in the darkness before returning to mine for tea and oranges. Contemplating the perfection of our days in Athens, we begin to conspire on Jeff’s summer visit to Moldova.
Tomorrow, when I return to teaching English at the university in Chișinău, I’ll share my Greek getaway as an example of the present perfect tense. The good vibes we set in motion at the edge of the Aegan Sea are likely to reverberate for quite some time.
Footnotes for the Curious
1One of the epithets coined byPindar (518–438 BC), an Ancient Greek poet from Thebes
2Zeus fell in love with the nymph Aegina and carried her off to the island of Oenone. There she gave birth to Zeus' son, Aeacus, who then re-named the island in honor of his mother.
3The nine blue-and-white horizontal stripes of the flag stand for the nine syllables of the Greek motto Eleftheria i Thanatos (Greek for Freedom or Death).
4Greek actress Melina Mercouri is buried in the First Cemetery of Athens. In the shadow of her grave lies her husband Jules Dassin, the American actor filmmaker who wrote, directed, and starred with her in Never on Sunday. She sang the theme song for the 1960 film that made her a world star.
Last Time in Greece
I remember tagging my imminent adventure Destination Fresh Art, promising 6 weeks + 5 countries + 9 cities + 595 art encounters—On this exciting field expedition, we’ll transport you to Venice, Italy, Athens, Greece, Oslo and Tromsø, Norway, Berlin, Kassel, Muenster and Marl, Germany and Paris, France.
In Athens, I was on the go. I’d organized in advance a one hour show—Live from Athens on Cannibal Radio. I took in tons of art, crisscrossing the city to reach documenta 14 exhibition venues. I remember the day I made my way to Kotzia Square to meet artist and scholar Rasheed Araeen under a striped awning. Born in Pakistan, Areean has lived in London since 1964. His project Food for Thought. Thought for Change took shape as a multi-colored food tent where locals and visitors enjoyed a free lunch daily. I joined one of the luncheon parties. In our plein-air dining room we sat on folding chairs around a wooden table. The server brought us fresh water in a silver pitcher, a basket of bread, and a plate of freshly prepared food. An organic farmer sourced all the produce. Naturally, I turned on my recorder…
After lunch, I walked over to the Victoria Square to explore the project space conceived by American Artist Rick Lowe. Only two years before, the square had served as a temporary refugee camp. The neighborhood is now home to one of the city’s most diverse communities.
Lowe is known for his community-building initiatives. In 1993, he sparked the transformative Project Row Houses in Houston, Texas. With the same personal approach, Lowe began introducing himself around Athens more than a year before documenta 14 opened—walking the neighborhoods, meeting with community members, playing dominoes with residents. Local artists, activists and architects joined him in the process. All the activities they stirred up—concerts, film screenings, a micro-business for women, art classes for kids, and more—drew the attention of at least one travel writer. The Victoria Square Project made it into the 2017 Lonely Planet guide as an Athens Attraction.
Listen to the episode: documenta 14: A Tale of Two Cities
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