Kat´s Haberdashery: Being a Tourist in your own City!!!
When I am traveling, I am the kind of person that makes a list with
all the landmarks and interesting places that city is famous for and
is worth visiting. I want to taste the local food, meet interesting
people and just for a little while be part of that place, breathe its
culture and enjoy everything that it has to offer.
I was out for a coffee with my friend the other day. It was one
beautiful Saturday morning and we were planning our next trip, feeling
very excited for the places we were planning to visit and all the fun
stuff that we would do and suddenly it just struck me.
I had never treated my own city as a touristic destination! I live in
Athens for good ten years now and I never thought to explore it as a
tourist. I always took Athens for granted just because I live there
and never occurred to me that it is not the place that matters so much
but the journey of exploration and discovering where you actually
live.
Just then I decided that Athens should be my next exploration project
and for one day, I would be a tourist in my own city. Only to the
sound of this idea, I felt so happy all of a sudden and an excitement
rush overpowered me.
I logged in to my FB page to check if any events were happening
locally. “Open House-Athens” was on! What pot luck!
“The Open House project invites the public to explore and understand
the value of architecture. Every year for one weekend, private and
public buildings open their gates to everyone for free and the city is
transformed to a big museum, with its buildings and architecture being
the exhibits. http://www.openhouseathens.gr/en/
I grabbed quickly a city map and there was me exploring Athens city
center in a way like never before. For the first time, I had the
opportunity to visit 91 buildings that I never thought or occurred to
me that I could visit and admire their architecture while listening to
their history. Obviously I did not visit all 91 but I managed to go to
a fair number of them.
I was so surprised!!! At first glance someone who doesn’t know much
about Athens would think that only the Parthenon, the Archeological
museum and the ancient Agora with Monastiraki close by is of any
worth, but I knew better. Athens is a city with beautiful buildings
and most of all great history but even myself could never imagine that
great architectural wealth. Behind the facades and the closed doors of
numerous public buildings, historical sites and contemporary
residences I discovered astonishing spaces and interesting stories to
match. I felt very lucky that I had the chance to take a sneaky peek
inside some of Athens’ most desirable buildings. Lucky and proud at
the same time as I realized that my city never stops to amaze me!!
The day finished with a visit to the Athens National Garden. That was
the first time I went there and once I entered the Garden my jaw just
dropped. In the very heart of Athens, there were 7,000 trees, 40,000
bushes and other plants, making up 519 species and varieties and they
all were spreading in front of me. This is definitely the green heart
of Athens which many don’t think there is one but here it was and it
includes six lakes, all with playful ducks to add in my surprise.
There is also a conservatory, a children’s library and a small café.
The library has two reading rooms, a fairy tale room as well as a
music and film room. A walk in the National Garden for me was love at
first sight. It isn’t only a green oasis in the center of a
metropolis. The heart of Greek and Athenian history beats in the
National Garden and it is there waiting for everyone to explore them.
I returned home that day feeling grateful and proud for my city. For
the first time it was not just the place I live in but a place full of
amazing areas, stories, interesting people, surprises and many many
more.
My advice to you my friends? Explore your own city. Take a break and
be a tourist in your own city for a change. You will discover a whole
new place and you won’t believe that this is the sometimes ordinary
place you live in!!!
andulkaphoto
kianamaiart
dailybridgerton