Insider’s Athens — where the locals hang out
The novelist Victoria Hislop has fallen in love with a little-known area of the city. She describes the places few tourists see.
(September 24 2016, The Times)
Not long ago, during a quiz on Greek television, a question came up on whether I had a house in a) Kolonaki, b) Plaka, c) Glyfada or d) Patissia. The contestant got the answer wrong. The first three are areas for the well-heeled and well-connected of Athens. The fourth is more down to earth, but renting a flat outside the centre, in an authentic neighbourhood, has given me a new perspective on the city.
My place is in “Kato” (meaning lower) Patissia and my apartment block is near leafy Kalligas Square, which is named after a wealthy landowner who specified… (read more at the Times (paywalled))