Right Side Of The Globe

Getting past bouts of anxiety on skipping one of the famed isles of Greece, I now know why Athens makes for a perfect destination in itself.

- Nidhi Raj Singh

She scribbled something on a piece of paper, trying to recall every non-touristy (and some touristy) things I could do in Athens. She kept returning with more nuggets of information that she could feed me with as soon as the captain switched the belt sign off. The flight to Athens was a bumpy one, but I had too much on my mind to be bothered with it. Is it going to be too cold? Will I get by in the city without the warm cocoon of my family? The closest would be my sister, some 2,500 km away, in Germany. Will there be too much walking (I loathe walking, let alone taking a leisurely stroll). But, something about that Greek stewardess’s earnest attempt at making me acquainted with her city assured me that this solo trip would just be fine.

Having tried my luck with solo trips before and experiencing the feeling of being stranded at an airport in a foreign land, I was smart to get my hotel to pick me up from Athens Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport. As I stepped out in open, the crisp Mediterranean air enveloped me. Every city in the world, I feel, is distinct the way its air feels. Bali is thick with anticipation. Durban is musical. Beijing is cold, cutting right across the soul. Kathmandu is chaos. Athens felt feather light, almost like clear glass. Pleasant. Ancient yet modern. As I zoomed past the coast that became a fuzzy ball of different tones of blue that Pantone has ever created, I read and re-read the tiny note clenched in my palm: Monastiraki Square, Plaka and Anafiotika neighbourhoods, Mitropoleos Street...