GETTING THERE
Scoot (flyscoot.com) has just
launched direct flights from
Singapore to Athens four times a
week. Otherwise, several carriers
can get you from Southeast Asia
to Greece with a layover.
HOTELS
AthensWas A luxurious refuge
steps from the Acropolis, this
Design Hotel is done up in a
postwar style that’s heavy on
marble and natural woods.
athenswas.gr; doubles from €175.
City Circus If you’re game for
staying in the edgy Psirri
neighborhood, this quirky,
upmarket hostel is a real value.
citycircus.gr; shared rooms from
€23; private doubles from €60.
Coco-Mat Get a great night’s
sleep on the famous mattresses
from the Greek bedding company
behind this eco-friendly hotel.
cocomatathens.com; doubles
from €140.
Hotel Grande Bretagne
Europhiles will feel right at home
in this classic embodiment of a
19th-century grand hotel. grande
bretagne.gr; doubles from €320.RESTAURANTS & CAFES
Beaver Run “by and for women,”
this café-bar combines great
music, a charmingly gritty scene
and an eclectic, found-furniture
aesthetic. beaver.gr.
Seychelles With its open kitchen
turning out refined small plates
and a long list of esoteric Greek
cheeses, this restaurant givestraditional Hellenic cuisine an
elegant update. 49 Kerameikou;
30-21/ 1183-4789; mains €6–€12.
To P e r i v o l a k i A laid-back spot in
Petralona serving meze and local
beer on a pretty terrace. 7
Athineou; 30-21/3023-7687.
To Therapeftirio This fish-
focused taverna in Petralona is
justly famous for its mashed fava
beans and taramasalata. 41
Kydantidon; 30-21/0341-2538;
mains €5–€32.GALLERIES & SHOPS
Benaki Contemporary Museum
This private museum is known for
its millennia-spanning collection
of Greek art and artifacts, but it
also hosts daring contemporary
exhibitions. benaki.gr.
The Breeder With a mission to
promote Greek art abroad, this
gallery represents the best
artists of the crisis generation.
thebreedersystem.com.
National Museum of
Contemporary Art Greece’s new
home for contemporary art is in aformer brewery from the 1960s
and connects internationally
renowned artists like Bill Viola
and Shirin Neshat with their local
counterparts. emst.gr.
Rebecca Camhi The country’s
top gallerist for international
artists like Nan Goldin and Rita
Ackermann also runs a shop with
Greek ceramics and hosts an
occasional supper club.
rebeccacamhi.com.
Stavros Niarchos Foundation
Cultural Center The first major
work of architecture to arrive in
Athens since the crisis, Renzo
Piano’s temple to high culture
houses the Greek national library
and opera. snfcc.org.
Yoleni’s A new gourmet
emporium in Kolonaki stocked
with delicacies like gold-flecked
Corinthian honey. yolenis.com.
Zeus & Dione By blending
ancient craft traditions with
modern design, this young fashion
label has become one of the most
successful in Greece.
zeusndione.com.The Stavros Niarchos Park
(snfcc.easybike.gr) was
converted from an Olympics
parking lot into a horticultural
Eden in 2016. Rent a bike from
the visitors’ center and explore
the vast green space.THE DETAILS
business law, they pooled whatever
money they had or could borrow,
raided their home kitchens, used
humble local ingredients, and split
whatever they made.
One of the first cooperative
kafeneía was To Pagaki, which
opened in central Athens in 2008, at
the height of the global financial
crisis. It established the template:
modest prices, anarchist literature,
Zapatista-grown coffee and a
contagious spirit of youthful
solidarity. Others have since riffed on
the original recipe. In Petralona, I
visited a foodie co-op café, To
Perivolaki, which serves delicious
meze, house-made lemonade and
unpasteurized beer from the Ali
microbrewery in Thessaloniki. A
15-minute walk takes you to yet
another iteration: Beaver, which calls
itself a cooperativa. Note the feminine
ending. This place was created “by
and for women,” though men are
welcome. The vibe is hard-edged:
found furniture, raw concrete
columns, lights hanging from electric
cords. The beer is cheap, the room
filled with smoke and laughter.
It’s impossible to visit these co-op
cafés without being struck by their
scruffy charm, by the sweet
welcomes of the workers, by how
each place prepares a little €2 or €3
peasant platter loaded with cheese,
bread, cold cuts, olives—a way for
those who are hard up to eat well
cheaply. The cafés reminded me of a
line by the Greek writer Nikos
Kazantzakis: “How simple and frugal
a thing is happiness.”
A las, frugal happiness is the
only kind many young Greeks can
afford. Three out of four recent
university graduates have left the
country to find jobs. For most who
remain, like Maryanne Kanellopoulo,
a 32-year-old with degrees in
psychology and education, there is no
work. “I tried to find something,
anything,” she told me. “Restaurants,
tutoring Greek, nothing worked. This
was my only chance.”
By this, Kanellopoulo means
Saites, the co-op café she and fivefriends created a few years ago in the
Athens suburb of Nea Smirni. It has
wooden mobiles, political literature
espousing workers’ rights, and
excellent homemade meze like
tzatziki and chickpea fritters. “We’re
trying to find solutions together,”
Kanellopoulo said. “It’s hard because
none of us planned to do this, but at
least we know that we’re helping our
friends, supporting small Greek
farmers, and not taking advantage of
people. That, to me, is more impor-
tant than making money.”
This depression, while difficult,
has also given many Greeks a chance
to rethink what their lives should be
about. “This is not just an economic
crisis, it’s also a crisis of values,” said
Gerazouni, the gallerist, echoing a
sentiment I heard often during my
visit. “This situation forces us to be
more innovative, to be happy with
less, to enjoy the sunset, the sea, or
country life, to grow our own
vegetables. Slowly, this is changing
the whole mentality. In a way, it sets
things straight.”TRAVELANDLEISUREASIA.COM / AUGUST 2017 107