The pungent sting of teargas seeped into the car, while a swarm of faceless riot police, alien in gasmasks and segmented armor, lumbered into the square. As we sat in the car philosophizing the value of “dude let’s get outta here” vs. “dude relax it’s nothing”, several sharp explosions punctured the night, followed by shouting and the dull thud of flashbangs.In a show of mutual agreement that Greek politicians could learn a lot from, we concluded that Exarcheia was quite blasé after all, while Psiri was clearly the place to be.

Historically, Psiri has been home to influential artists and poets. It was here that Lord Byron first laid eyes on his muse, Teresa Makri, who inspired in him the… Continue reading →