Thanks for this, your account is moving. Despite my moaning about it, Athens can be a magical place and I spent some of my best years there- not just because I've spent most of my life there (I also lived in Corfu for a long time) (which is just a whole 'nother kind of magickal). I guess, one needs to see Athens with fresh eyes, not the eyes of someone who grew up in Athens, to appreciate it best, as something new.

And just to set the record straight- there are many "geitonies" (neighbourhoods) in Athens, places with parks and cafes and communal spaces right next to peoples' homes, like the article says it and as you hint at it. And when it's hot and everyone is outside, mingling, you do get this feeling of people living their lives all together. Finally, most of the "proasteia" (the suburbs, although Athens is now one big conurbation and there's no real demarcation) have always taken care to maintain as much greenery as possible, exactly to offset the grey concrete. That makes it a little better.

And like I say in my original comment, the summer evenings are magic. The temperature falls a little to just bearable levels of warm and the smooth light makes everything seem sweeter, nicer, calmer, prettier - familiar, to me anyway. Athens is, after all, the only place in the world I can truly call "home".

(though, home is were .bashrc is...)