One of the worst parts about growing older is that you occasionally feel like you’re losing a battle with time. You blink, and four months have passed since you were popping champagne with your friends on New Years Eve.
There was Easter. There were deadlines. There was ennui. Concrete started pouring out of the streets of Kypseli, like some weird modern doomsday sign. Then there was winter again. I bought a bougainvillea for my balcony and I’m checking on it every day, like it’s a pet.
May has come upon us, and with it, summer and so many events happening in Athens, that I promise, you will be overwhelmed. I am.
She is pretty. Wish her luck. I’m actually better with dogs than with plants.
On to the news.
No more large cash payments: there are new rules requiring transactions over €500 to be made electronically and much higher fines for anyone trying to get around the limits
Strike alert: on May 13, public workers are walking out and rallying in central Athens, to protest for higher wages and better labor protections
RyanAir could stop operating from Thessaloniki soon - just a heads up for anyone who is relying on them for commuting
The I Renovate - I Rent programme is starting again - those of you who own flats could get as much as 36,000 euros to improve it
A new legal framework for evictions has been implemented. What changes for tenants and owners who have reached this unfortunate milestone
Astypalaia has become the latest Greek island to be declared in a temporary state of emergency due a lack of drinking water
Greece is expanding its network of protected “untouched” beaches, adding 13 new coastal sites where sunbeds, beach bars, and vehicles will be banned
Greece is trying to attract skilled professionals back to the country by offering generous tax breaks to Greeks and other Europeans who move their tax residence to Greece and take jobs in the public sector - including doctors, scientists, and university professors
“In my misery there was no one to comfort me”. A very dark story, where you can read what people were writing in their suicide notes during the Greek Interwar Period.
How could I, who did not bother anyone, do not drink, do not smoke, do not gamble, was not a degenerate, be useless to myself as well as to my neighbor?
Do the new Golden Visa rules, that still allow foreigners to get residency with a €250,000 investment by converting commercial spaces into housing, help Athens or change its fabric for the worse?
You can watch a lot of classic movies at the Athinaion during May - among them Blade Runner, Predator or Alien
On Sunday, May 10th, join the crowd at Plato’s Academy Park with sunscreen, food baskets, and checkered tablecloths for a picnic featuring music and performance
Also on Sunday May 10th, the first of the Filoppapou Hill Sessions is happening. It’s a warm-up, so it’s not on Filopappou, like the other ones, but check out the schedule nonetheless
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On May 12, the National Symphony Orchestra of ERT plays Beethoven at Olympia Theatre
Check out this performance on May 17, if you are a rebetiko enthusiast
Athens Street Food Festival is starting tomorrow, May 8 - and it will go on for every weekend in May
The fascinating Tilda Swinton is in Athens in May, for an autobiographical performance in which she tells the story of her wardrobe
A few cool places to eat and drink in Galatsi (though I do think this story makes that plateia sound a lot more interesting then it actually is - but hey, maybe it’s changed massively since I moved away from there, who knows.)
In Vari there is an orchard where you can eat whatever the garden produces
Here is a list of May concerts in Athens (Patti Smith and Iron Maiden among them) and a list of outdoor parties. And if you’re still not overwhelmed, here’s a list of events happening at Kypseli Municipal Market in May and a list of 28 festivals happening in Athens in May, including the beloved Athens Jazz Festival at Technopolis, starting May 25.
That’s it. Have a great weekend and do write back. Even if it’s just to complain.
Ioana
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