It’s no longer unusual to see international business leaders visiting Athens. What is unusual, however, is to see them turning down five-star hotels, Michelin-starred restaurants, and the dazzle of "business luxury" for something more authentic.
The CEO of a major European industrial company – a man with a heavy surname and even heavier responsibilities – surprised us when he said: “What struck me the most in Athens was my walk through Anafiotika. The twilight, the narrow alleys, the light, the courtyards, the view. Up there, above Plaka, I saw Athens differently.”
He wasn’t seeking relaxation through extravagance, but through simplicity. His walk began on Dionysiou Areopagitou Street. He passed by the Acropolis Museum and, instead of heading to one of the usual Athenian elite haunts, he made his way uphill into the winding paths of Anafiotika.
This is where Athens seems to breathe with island air. Tiny whitewashed houses, blue window frames, alleyways that transport you straight to the island of Anafi. And it’s no coincidence. Anafiotika was built in the mid-19th century by stone masons and carpenters from Anafi who had come to the capital to help rebuild the city and King Otto’s palace. They brought with them their craftsmanship and their island architecture, and in just a few nights, they began building small, makeshift homes on the rock of the Acropolis.
Today, as we read on Wikipedia, only 45 of those houses remain. And in this tiny oasis, our CEO stumbled upon a man selling ice cream from a tricycle and sat down on an old wooden bench. He watched the sun dip behind Lycabettus Hill and said something we won’t forget: “It was like I had traveled to a Cycladic island — no boat, no plane. Just ten minutes from the center of Athens.”
He shared the route he took with us, and we followed it ourselves: From the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, along Prytaneiou Street, into Anafiotika, then a stop for coffee and ice cream in Plaka, and finally back through Lysiou Street. And perhaps that’s how we begin to understand what truly matters when we talk about business life. It’s not always the galas and the high-end dinners. It’s also the moments of quiet. The authenticity. The walks that never make it onto the meeting agenda, but stay etched in your memory — like a courtyard, a narrow path, and a light that reminds you what it means to be alive.
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