May 19
Arrived at airport, took the train from the airport to our beautiful lodgings in Omonia (neighborhood near center of Athens, not far from the Acropolis). Rested and explored, then went to hear some contemporary music at a cool place called Underflow, recommended by Peter Jaques, a musician whom we sort of know through Balkan camp, and whom we actually met at the venue. Beautiful music and great musicians, although it was not our usual folky genre.
Afterwards we ate at a 24-hr diner, conveniently named 24-ώρα. What was extra special, for me at least, was that our waiter gave us all complimentary shots of mastika to end our meal! Definitely “not in Kansas” anymore!
May 20
We started the day visiting the Acropolis, which was super interesting for us and apparently for the many other tourists from all over the world.
Afterwards, we lunched at a nearby restaurant—and found out that *anything* anywhere near the Acropolis is priced [€€€] for tourists. After a necessary afternoon siesta, we went to a Rebetika restaurant called Argo ΑΡΓΟ. There we had the best immersive Greek experience so far, with wonderful music that was right up our alley. Dalia has really immersed herself in this genre and was singing along with a lot of the songs. We all got up and danced with the locals, who thought that we were Greek! (Like, what [crazy] Americans would show up here and dance and sing?). The singer, Stella, even invited Dalia to share the mic for Zinguala! Later, the musicians as well as the owner of the restaurant thanked us profusely for “bringing the energy.”
Dalia told them that it was the best night of her life, and the owner was almost moved to tears.
While enjoying ourselves at Argo, Noel texted our landlady Katarina to tell her what we were doing, and she ended up calling the restaurant and treating us to a round of drinks. Amazing hospitality!
