Art & culture

Many places in Athens claim to be “art spaces”, “art cafes” or in general art related – and they probably are, I won’t argue about that.

There is one place though, that is an official art cafe, with a degree. That is the cafe (or the cafeteria) of the National School of Fine Arts. The Alumni Association of National School of Fine Arts is also hosted here. So, yes it is official!

The cafe is located in a house with a yard in Plaka, at Tholou street. As its name denotes, it is a student cafeteria; that means that the menu is limited to beers, refreshments and some alcohol. That also means that the prices are student prices, so I think that it is the cheapest place in Athens – and I say that taking full responsibility.

So, why go to this student cafe? Not for old times sake, but because of the quiet, fresh yard. The building is a traditional Athenian house under the Acropolis: the entrance leads to an internal yard with trees, surrounded by “rooms” where people used to live and are now used as ateliers by the students . The character of the cafe is revealed by the various statues in the yard and some exhibitions that occasionally take place.

So, after a long wander in Plaka, rest your tired body and sunburned head in the Cafe of NSFA!

I have been hearing about the Train in Rouf for a long time now, but never had the chance to visit it until few weeks ago. I must admit I was impressed!

The Train in Rouf is a well preserved old train in its natural environment, a train station. Theatrical plays, music performances and art exhibitions take place in the train wagons. The theater wagon is reformed as a theatrical scene, the wagon bar, with its wooden decoration and low lights creates a mysterious, retro atmosphere, while the restaurant wagon is as taken from those old time movies, where so many things could happen on a train…

The schedule varies from season to season. In the summer you can have a drink of wine on the dock and in the winter you can dine in the wagon restaurant, experiencing a unique atmosphere. Feels like you are in a movie… Anna Karenina maybe..?

Visit the website to find out more about the current schedule!

Enjoy the ride!

There are many reasons to visit taf: the events, the exhibitions, the good music but above all the space. This is one of the scarce spots in town where you can still see the internal yard which dominated in most of prewar buildings of Athens.

The building was constructed in 1870 and there have been done several renovations ever since.  It is the only remaining I have seen of this type of internal yards. People, back then, in those inner yards might have come from a total different background but the yard would unite them. That’s the reason why the yard used to consist a symbol for Greeks and especially Athenians of this era.

The old image does not affect at all the contemporary orientation of this multispace. Exhibitions of Greek and international visual artists, performances, live concerts and several other events are taking place there. For more information visit the website. Beside the cultural events, taf is one of the best places in the center to enjoy your coffee or your drink.

The Artist, opened 2012, is a cute café-bar situated far to the north of the centre of the city, in what must definitely be one of the “here be dragons!” zones for most travellers and tourists in Athens. It certainly belongs to those hangouts for which a single photograph just isn’t enough. It’s on the first floor (second, if you’re American!) of an old building; the staircase leading up to it is all painted and drawn on and has little Christmas lights. The entrance to the building itself is almost covered in posters. That’s just for entreés.

Doing its name full justice, The Artist is furnished with recycled “trash”, hosts temporary art exhibitions and tango lessons (on Wednesdays), has concerts usually on the weekends and often features theatre plays. In fact, that is how I got to know the place: the drama group I participate in has rehearsals here several times every week. We’re putting up five performances in June on the little stage in the cozy backyard. You’re welcome to come see us play, if you’re willing to watch a play in Greek of course. In general, the prices aren’t the cheapest but then again, the northern suburbs are the posh ones.

Its only short-coming is its remote location, but that is easily solvable: central trolleybus line 10 has its terminus right outside it: you can even see the “antennae” of the buses waiting to leave from inside the café!

This is a spot that some days I love and others I hate it. K44 is a dirty, filthy space that has become one of the most hip bars in town. It is now considered as one of the classic cases of finding an empty warehouse and turning it into a bar.

When τώρα k44 opened its doors it was the ultimate hipster destination until it became mainstream and was transformed into a noisy club. Since the day I went there and I faced gate keepers and a huge crowd waiting outside it took me some years to visit it again. The motive to return was an event, a gig of Kid Flicks (gr) and Slow Magic (USA) with a free ticket. There were few people, good music and the whole atmosphere took me back to the first days of k44.

Whichever edition of k44 you prefer, the old one or the new mainstream, the main reason to be there is the events. Concerts and dj sets of any kind (hip hop, post rock, experimental, dub step, even Greek trash) are hosted there. If you are searching for the best events of Athens check what’s going on at k44.