Dec 11, 2020
It took me 20 years – and a pandemic – to realize that Mt Ymittos is only a 58-minute walk (watch in hand) from the door of my building.
High up on the mountain, what I saw was like an inversion of the metaphor of the sprawling concrete jungle. An initially narrow green strip that starts a few meters away from the Hilton Hotel (in the often overlooked park of Alsos Ilision) progressively expands in width, as it crosses the University of Athens’ Zografou Campus.
This stream of green cascades down from the mountain, reaching almost the very center of the city. Alsos Ilision is a five-minute walk from Vasilissis Sofias Avenue and from there, you need 50 minutes to reach the foothills of Mt Ymittos proper.
