A walk around Glyfada

After my weekly acupuncture session which takes place in Ano Glyfada, we sometimes walk down to the sea and then along the coastline. The first part of the walk is down this road, which leads to the sea. It's a busy road, with quite a few apartment buildings, but nothing as many as in most parts of Athens.

The houses here are prosperous, many of them gated

and quite often it's impossible to see the house itself, hidden behind fences, shrubs and trees.

The pavements are lined with trees and clipped hedges

palm trees abound

an art nursery.

An abandoned house that's turning into a wreck

notice the railings

We have reached the main road which runs parallel to the sea. In front of us the old council house, now the municipal art gallery

an different view of the building





Now we start walking along this path that runs parallel to the sea which is on our left. On our right, the tram tracks, a service road, and

villas of the very rich, hidden behind elaborate fencing, shrubs and trees. It is rumoured that years ago, the ship owner Onassis, tried to buy a house here, but was unable to as no-one would sell.

This one has been a favourite of mine since I was a little girl

one used to be able to see the houses here, but now the trees have grown so tall that most of the time all you can do is guess what lies behind

One of the four or five beaches. Not very good for swimming or sun bathing, but lots of people use them in the summer

A big yacht is moored here today. The man in the photograph was exercising by lifting this big boulder, throwing it in front of him, picking it up, and repeating the process.

Resting

This house was another one that fascinated me when I was little - not much of it is visible now

we can get a better view of the yacht from here

a tram

another beach

one of the few modernist houses on this stretch

the beach looks desolate now, but is teeming with people in the summer

We have reached the marina now - small, modest boats, unlike the ones moored in Floisvos marina

We walk to the end of the pier and reach this wasteland

nice views of the bay

and of the coast across the bay

We retrace our steps and join the path along the coast again

This is the only cafeteria that is still operating on the coast in Glyfada. Last year, the council decided to close all the others down, with the aim of building fancy restaurants which most people won't be able to afford. But nothing has been done, so they all stand empty and abandoned.

We decide to sit here for a while, have an orange juice and soak up some sun

The last beach on this stretch

We have reached the end of Glyfada - the walk through Ellinikon is not pleasant, so we take the tram that will get us home.