Parthenon

There is said to have been an inside joke in the 90s :
'What is the capital of Albania? - Omonoia. At the time this was
a reference to the large proportion of Albanian residents in the Athens neighbourhood.
A few hundred metres from the metro station, my hostel is in the middle of a district that reminds me more of Morocco: the pavements are rather worn, there are vegetable vendors lined up next to snack stalls and electronic accessory shops - all selling the same thing. How do the mobile phone case shops that have recently appeared actually earn their money? Surely the profits from plastic covers shouldn't be that high?
Actually, I feel comfortable here despite the dingy impression and I've had very good experiences with Moroccans and Albanians so far anyway. ☺️
Walking through the neighbourhoods, I try to formulate my impressions. There are gaps here and there in the rows of houses. Destroyed houses fall into disrepair next to new buildings, here and there you can simply look into the cellars of the houses or climb in. There are pavements in some neighbourhoods, but they are not always narrow. You then take to the streets.
The nearby meat market fulfils my expectations: here you can see fish on ice, sheep without ice (without skin) and everything in between.

Building here must be quite expensive - if you have to reckon with an ancient building being uncovered at any time when digging the cellar and the house either having to be built on stilts or losing part of its footprint.
Some buildings seem to adapt to the ruins and have been built around and on top of them - old and new coexist.

I search for peace and quiet here for a long time - and rarely find it. The sound of the many cars and scooters penetrates every alleyway and mixes into a permanent background noise that I try to escape. Without pads in my ears, I am stressed.
I finally escape to the city's parks and find a good jogging route, which also gives me a good view of the city.

In the hostels, I change my strategy and now often talk to new people - unlike at the beginning of my trip, when I was just starting out.
In contrast to the beginning of my trip, when I travelled through the country for a long time with almost no contact 😃. It's also nice to socialise and that's how I get to know Jonas and Ashley. Together we explore several exit rooms - first on the trail of an investigator in a haunted house, then in a psychiatric institution (with actors) and finally we brew the elixir of life.

In the evening, I sit together with Napoleon, Cinderella, Princess Tiana, Mr Addams and Mia Khalifa in the games cafe and play charades.
During our group self-discovery, we also exchange cultural idiosyncrasies and get on really well.Read more