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Athens and City of the Sun
I haven’t told you much about our flight from JFK to Athens. My usual tactic to any airline flight is to select a window seat for Tom and an aisle seat for me and hope no one purchases the middle seat, because no one wants a middle seat! And it often works, so we have more room to stretch out. Not this time.
A young man stops at our row as we are boarding. Tom offers him the aisle seat and he gratefully accepts. During the flight we strike up a conversation and discover Zach is part of the band City of the Sun. The band was performing on the streets of New York when they were discovered and they have a worldwide following, although oddly, not as popular in the US. It turns out the band will play in Athens when we return from the islands and Zach offers to comp us tickets. We are intrigued, so of course we start listening to the band to get an idea of their music and immediately agree City of the Sun is wonderful and we MUST attend the concert.
I am in communication with Zach via WhatsApp – if you travel internationally you must get this app! Zach let’s me know the concert is in Gazarte hall, in a roof top venue. The doors open at 8pm, but the band won’t likely start until 10:30 and will likely play until midnight. This is way past our normal bedtime, but we decide to go anyway.
We have dinner reservations at 7PM on the rooftop at Kuzina (thanks for recommending this, Jephthah!). We walk to dinner and have a nice meal with lovely service. The view is absolutely incredible.
After our meal, we decide to walk to the venue. By the way, we are walking miles everyday. And the cobblestones and tiles are bumpy and uneven and you MUST pay attention or you could sprain an ankle even in sneakers. Also, cars, motorcycles, and scooters are aggressive and they don’t stop for you! So, be alert when you travel – especially in the cities.
We arrive at 9:30 and all the tables are full. I search through the bar, finding a table in the front row with four stools and only two men. So I ask if anyone else is going to use the stools and of course, they invite us to join them. We make fast friends with Kostas and his brother-in-law John are generous and welcoming, as typical in Greece. Won’t even let us buy them a drink. It turns out John is a DJ from Kalamata, so of course we arrange to see him when we visit his city. Also, John is a HUGE fan of City of the Sun and has followed them for years. He is thrilled to finally see them perform live and has brought his CDs for them to autograph.
The band starts playing and it’s even more wonderful than we had imagined. How do I describe it? Incredible talent plus pure joy. You will have to listen for yourself. You can check their Facebook page or hear them on YouTube or Spotify.
I can guarantee we will see them any and every time we can. Oh, they will be in Portland in December, but we won’t be home yet. Maybe you can go and give our regards?
The moral of this story is: keep your hearts and minds open and be on the lookout for beauty. It is everywhere, if you have an eye for it – or an ear.
More about Athens coming up….
How fun is this?!! I love this story. It sounds like you guys are having the time of your lives. Enjoy!