Advertisement
Christmas Special - Get your first 12 issues for just £12
SUBSCRIBE
News

Vendor City Guide: Athens

Street secrets revealed by the people who know them best. This week we head to Athens with street paper Shedia and vendor Michael

Our guide this week: Michael Samolis, 61, comes from Athens and sells Greek street paper Shedia. He became a vendor after being long-term unemployed. He says: “Being a vendor saved my life. I could not find another job, I was homeless and really desperate. If it wasn’t for Shedia I don’t know where I would be now.”

My favourite part
The Acropolis and surrounding area

Around the Acropolis we can see the museum of Acropolis and The Parthenon. These two sites are my favourites and make me feel proud about my country and its ancient history. I like living in Athens because I like the ancient history of the city. Athens is one of the oldest cities in the world and this makes it unique.

My favourite cafe
Gianniotiko

Gianniotiko, which is a small cafe in Omonoia Square is the best place to eat and drink for two reasons: it has the best coffee and the nicest souvlaki (skewers made with meat or vegetables and one of the most traditional dishes of Greece) in Athens and it is always open – 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This makes it very special for people like me who work in the street and live in a shelter.

Best free sight
The National Garden

Advertisement
Advertisement

The National Garden is a park full of trees, flowers, a lake and some animals. You feel like being somewhere outside the city, you forget that you are still in such a noisy place like Athens.

To escape city life
Glyfada

I go to Glyfada, a southern suburb of the city. Glyfada is very close to the sea, you can swim if you want and I like to swim. It is also very touristic and it combines the sea with beautiful nature, not so big buildings and a lot of people walking, going to the sea or to the many bars and restaurants that you can find there.

Everyone should go to
Omonoia Square

I like very much to go to Omonoia Square, because there you can meet people from all over the world. It is a place that a lot of immigrants go to sit, to chat with each other and to spend their spare time. I enjoy being there so I can talk to them and learn things about so many places and countries. It’s an opportunity to communicate with people from other cultures. I have [refugee] friends who are scared to go out because they will be attacked. We have to explain to people all over Europe that they are people like us. We have to tell them why they risked their lives to come here. Three years ago I didn’t want them here. Now I spend 24 hours a day with them. When I meet them and hear their stories, now I understand.

Best time to visit
March to September

This is the best time of year here because the weather is wonderful. You can be all day out in the streets, go to so many places and do a lot of beautiful things.

Illustration: Taaryn Brench

Advertisement

Change a vendor's life this Christmas

This Christmas, 3.8 million people across the UK will be facing extreme poverty. Thousands of those struggling will turn to selling the Big Issue as a vital source of income - they need your support to earn and lift themselves out of poverty.

Recommended for you

View all
'Where's the compassion?': Council refuses to give 11-year-old boy his father's ashes after funeral
Funeral poverty

'Where's the compassion?': Council refuses to give 11-year-old boy his father's ashes after funeral

DWP benefit reforms to get people into work are 'smokescreen for cuts', disability activist says
dwp secretary liz kendall
Disability benefits

DWP benefit reforms to get people into work are 'smokescreen for cuts', disability activist says

Ending post-Grenfell cladding crisis could take until 2035 and beyond: 'Unacceptably slow'
Grenfell tower
Cladding crisis

Ending post-Grenfell cladding crisis could take until 2035 and beyond: 'Unacceptably slow'

We've given 50,000 haircuts to homeless people – here's how a simple trim can change everything
Photo of man hugging a woman to illustrate a story about the Haircuts 4 Homeless charity
Homelessness

We've given 50,000 haircuts to homeless people – here's how a simple trim can change everything

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know
4.

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know