There are cafes all over Athens. Anywhere there is a square or a space on the street to fit a few tables you will find a cafe, cafe-bar or cafeneon.
Some other places to hang out and enjoy a coffee or a drink and watch life are Thission, the cafe in the national Gardens, Zappion, the path to the Acropolis, and any of the major public squares with the exception of Monastiraki and Omonia which for the time being are construction sites.
Half the major avenues downtown are being converted into pedestrian streets and that means even more cafes.
In a country like Greece where the climate is prefectly suited for hanging out and drinking coffee there can never be enough cafes.
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Frappe's are the lifeblood of Greek society. Made with instant Nescafe mixed with milk, water lots of sugar and ice, a frappe will provide you with a chemical buzz like caffeine only more intense and under it's effects you are likely to have very profound thoughts as the dust is shaken off synapses long retired from duty.
The Greeks drink these all day and never leave the cafes. Maybe the reason so much wine and whisky is consumed in Greece is directly related to the frappe consumption.
But there is something decadent about starting the day with a frappe rather than a cup of coffee. So you have hot Nescafe.
Same nervous buzz, but for me that means doing the Greek equivalent of the 3 martini lunch, the one carafaki ouzo mesimeri.
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At Fokionos Negri in Kypseli there are dozens of cafes, one after the other and in the afternoon they are crowded with people. Some of the cafes are for old people and some for young.
The most popular cafes can have a couple hundred tables and are always packed at any time of the day. Though most people sit outdoors some of the interiors of these cafes are spectacular and it seems like they try to out-do each other to have the cleanest and most interesting restrooms.
It also seems that they change the furniture and decor every year which gives you an idea of how much money is to be made in the cafe business. The street itself is a big pedestrian mall, like a park that goes on for several blocks.
You can walk there from the Archaeological Museum up Patission street and make a right on Agia Melitiou. I love Fokinos Negri. There are some good restaurants here too.
On the other side of the coin in places like Ermou, Monastitaki, Plaka, Athinas, though lacking in atmosphere, you can find Greek coffee the old style...in hot sand!
And the above places are only a small sample!
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You can walk there from the Archaeological Museum up Patission street and make a right on Agia Melitiou. I love Fokinos Negri. There are some good restaurants here too.
On the other side of the coin in places like Ermou, Monastitaki, Plaka, Athinas, though lacking in atmosphere, you can find Greek coffee the old style...in hot sand!
And the above places are only a small sample!
So we may as well face that some of us are seriously hooked on coffee and the thought of going somewhere that good, strong coffee is not available fills us with a kind of angst.
We can always take the steps to quitting our addiction when we return home where we have familiar surroundings and plenty of psychiatrists to get us through those first difficult weeks, months or years.
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But to quit drinking coffee in Greece is like trying to quit smoking in Greece, or giving up food and sunlight. In Greece we drink coffee.
And there is plenty of coffee for everyone.
