Things to do in Gdańsk and Athens
Short, honest notes from the two cities we live and work in — walks through Gdańsk’s Old Town and along the sea, the central Athens quarters we know best, and the practical stuff like arriving well. Written by the family, with new notes most weeks.
St. Dominic's Fair, the 766th summer
From late July through mid-August, the Main Town of Gdańsk becomes a market — as it has, with one long interruption, since 1260. Our Old Town homes stand inside the fair, so here is the whole truth of those three weeks.
Mavromichali, the street we wake up on
Many of our Athens homes sit on Mavromichali, where the street climbs from Akadimias toward the pines of Lycabettus — bookshops below, a Saturday market above, and a quarter with opinions all around.
Dolne Miasto, where our keys live
Ten quiet minutes south of the Long Market, Gdańsk keeps a water-ringed quarter of grass bastions, bathhouse art and slow renovation. Our own building stands here — so consider this an introduction.
The Royal Way, at dusk
The Long Market empties, the lamps come on, and six centuries stand around you in the amber light. The best hour on Gdańsk's grandest street costs nothing.
Granary Island, raised twice
For centuries it was the warehouse of the Baltic; in 1945 it was flattened. The island across the footbridge is the rare rebuild that gave a city its waterfront back.
Brzeźno, and the long pale beach
A tram ride north of the bricks, Gdańsk keeps a second rhythm — a wooden pier, a wide Baltic beach, and a shore path that runs for miles.
A lane back from the Royal Way
Piwna, Ogarna, Straganiarska, Toruńska — step one street off the postcard and Gdańsk belongs to the people who live there. The landmarks stay close; the crowds do not follow.
Plaka, the oldest address in Athens
The oldest continuously inhabited quarter of the city wraps the slopes of the Acropolis — lanes that have carried their names since antiquity, and a hidden island village forty houses small.
An evening on the stone promenade
Dionysiou Areopagitou and Apostolou Pavlou join into one open-air walk beneath the Acropolis. To us, it is the loveliest evening in Athens — and it is free.
Kolonaki, on the slopes of Lycabettus
Named for a little ancient column, Kolonaki is where elegant Athens shops, dines and looks at art — with the city's highest viewpoint rising straight above the café tables.
Arriving well
The unglamorous notes that make the first hour easy — airports, trains, trams, and the one thing to tell us before you travel.
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