As sun goes down,
Athens comes up
Night brings streets to life
with Greeks and tourists
 Petros Karadjias / AP file A young tourist girl skips along a mock track built in Athens' historic Plaka district. |
ATHENS, Greece - At night, Athens comes alive.
The sluggishness of the afternoon and evening is wiped away, a cool breeze blows and Greeks and tourists alike head out to catch a bite to eat, meet friends and watch each other on the small streets of the Plaka — the oldest neighborhood of Athens.
Come sundown, the narrow, stone streets in this neighborhood between the Acropolis and the National Garden fill up, and walking faster than a few steps a minute becomes a challenge.
Tavernas — small Greek restaurants serving traditional food — line the steep stairways and greeters, worry beads in hand, attempt to attract customers.
“The nicest roof garden here,” shouts one in heavily accented English, practically pushing people in with his outstretched arm. “Just look at the food, you don’t need to stay.”
Unlike in other tourist areas nearby, more Greek is heard on the streets than English. The late hour does little to diminish the crowds. Young men with guitars and puppeteers performing Greek plays attract onlookers, while a band set up in the nearby ruins practices for a future concert. At 11 p.m., parents sit at restaurants and cafes while their young children play in the shrubbery.
Nektarias Selimas meets friends almost nightly in this area for coffee or ouzo — the strong Greek liquor made from grapes and flavored with anise.
“For me, nothing has changed now with the Olympics,” said the Athens resident.
Just two weeks before, the scene was vastly different, according to neighborhood shopkeepers — summer vacations had taken Greeks away from the city, and tourists were nowhere to be found.
“It was dead here before the Olympics,” said Takis, a maitre d' at a popular taverna.
Bright lights from the many souvenir shops give the illusion that it’s daytime and most are keeping late hours to cash in on the extra visitors.
“The tourists more than double at night,” said George Anastassiou, the owner of Olympic Gold, a silver and gold shop in the area. Though he usually locks the doors at 11, Anastassiou now stays open until 1 a.m., standing in his small shop 16 hours a day.
Across the street, the nearly all-male shopkeepers hawk Olympic paraphernalia, wood-and-marble backgammon sets, decorated urns and linen peasant shirts. Tourists pause briefly to check out the goods and walk slowly on to the next store – they are here more to look than to buy.
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