Monday 15 February 2021

A walk in Glyfada


It's been so cold here in the last few days that I decided to work on a post about one of our last walks in Greece before we left for the UK. We had been under lockdown for six weeks and had to stay in our area, but we both had dental appointments in Glyfada and after we finished with the dentist, given that we were there already,  we thought that we might as well go for our daily walk in Glyfada.





We started by walking along this quay




this small, pebbled beach on our right.




on our left these small boats







this huge private yacht at anchor in the open sea is always there at this time of year.





At the end of the pier we could see the coast, the place where we had started from.





Lots of small boats around here.




As we were retracing our steps on the pier we stopped to have a look at the fisherpeople's stalls - most of them were closed




but this man was at work, cleaning his catch




 a nice pair of boats




There's a number of bays on this stretch, all beaches, mostly deserted in the middle of winter




We reached the end of the pier and came to To Maridaki (The Little Whitebait), a restaurant that we used to frequent.




All shut now. The government, or the council, I am not sure which, shut down all the bars and restaurants along this stretch because the area is going to be redeveloped, they say - what they mean is it's going to be gentrified and most people won't be able to afford to come and eat or drink here anymore. To Maridaki was very affordable and it was always packed. They closed all these places down three years ago and they just sit there, abandoned, and no work has started - it will probably be another few years before they start. It's such a shame!




This is another restaurant (the cooking and serving used to be carried out behind us, across the road). This was quite expensive, serving fresh fish.




We came to another quay 




small boats again




a winter swimmer braving the cold




Across the road we can see a former hotel (this is abandoned as well now) with a restaurant on the ground floor.




The tables and chairs were here. One of my aunts used to take us, all of her nieces,  here for a meal. We had good times.





The last quay on this stretch, and we could not walk any further





So we turned back, walked along this path




to where we started from, To Maridaki on our left




Past Zervas, a cafeteria and ouzeri. We used to like coming here for ouzos and meze - all shut down now.




Past the tennis courts





past another little harbour with little boats





on our right, on the other side of the tramline and the hardly used road is the old town hall, now an art gallery, but we were under lockdown so it was shut




We walked on the path rather than the sandy beaches




but we were very near the boats







This stretch has some wonderful houses, rich people's houses and it's always nice to have a look. They say that, years ago,  Onasis tried to buy a house here, but no one would sell.





This is one of my favourites




a lot of them are hidden behind high walls and trees




the tramline on our right




another beach - I think there are six along this stretch




high walls and palm trees - no sight of the house




the beach was deserted








Each house is different, architect-built







a new apartment building in the process of being completed




a children's play area on our left, right by the beach




I like the ship - it must be lovely playing here




We had reached one of the tram stops




This house was one of my favourites when I was a kid





because of the conical tower, I guess








Meanwhile, a tram was arriving













We had now reached a stretch where the houses are completely hidden by either a wall or trees











This is another favourite




another small harbour







This is the last cafeteria on this stretch of the coast, and this one, miraculously has been kept open - it's closed at the moment because of lockdown, but we stopped here a few times last year for ouzos




Time to end our walk soon, so we had a good look at these boats,




at this, the last beach,




walked past this house, and made our way to the main road in order to catch a taxi that would take us home.  We did not use any public transport this time round, as we felt it was not safe.




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