When I first visited some 12 years ago, I immediately felt at home in the raw, messy and poetic temperament of Athens. I was born in Tehran, but my family immigrated to Canada when I was seven, and I later moved to London in my early 20s, where I lived for over a decade, though I felt displaced in both countries. Athens felt like the Tehran I remembered but couldn’t go back to. I moved here a few months ago.
Athenians themselves will tell you, “We are from the east, not the west”. It is the last stop in Europe before we enter the Middle East, and our shared, overlapping history is still reflected in similarities from our food to our music. Its position on the map has protected it from rapid, compromising gentrification and the individualistic culture of the West.
Once a logistical stopover to align flight and ferry timetables to the islands, with short visits reduced to the Acropolis and touristy Plaka that stretches beneath it, today Athens is alive with new ventures that appear almost daily – from galleries and clothing shops to new-age tavernas and bars – born by Greeks and a growing enclave of expats. Over these years, I’ve watched Athens transform into one of the most creative cities in Europe.
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