YAMAS! A Cutie Jet-Setty Bookshop Tour of Athens
It’s officially Pumpkin-Spice, black tights and boots, blankets and soup season here in London. There are mince pies on supermarket shelves. You definitely need a coat. Topping up my Factor 50 in Athens last week feels like a distant memory, a dream, but it was real and I was there! I have the souvenirs and the mosquito bites to prove it!
As well as jaw-dropping ancient monuments, blue skies and bitter coffee, Athens has many lovely bookshops. I went out there with my trusty suitcase of books to meet buyers and inspire them (just like The Muses) to order up on new titles.
I stayed at a hotel in the leafy Kolonaki neighbourhood. It was right by the Benaki Museum, and the surrounding streets were lined with cafes and fancy shoe shops. After enjoying breakfast on the terrace (which just felt like sitting in the SKY with all of that blue) I walked to my first bookshop of the week. Here’s a roundup of some of my faves…
Booktique
Booktique is an indie serving the Kolonaki area with literary fiction and children’s books in Greek and English. When I visited on Wednesday morning, the team were preparing for a baby story time session with props and puppets. The owner of the shop proudly showed me her new Mystery Book Vending Machine. Inside each book is wrapped with clues to the genre and themes - fun! It’s a relaxed, bright shop with comfy chairs for reading and a selection of prints and ceramics made by local artists. A sweet place to start my bookshop tour of Athens.
Hyper Hypo
Hyper Hypo specialises in art and design books, zines and prints. It is watched over by big neon eyes. I love their branded t-shirts and tote bags. I bought myself a pressie here- some postcards and Cookie Mueller’s Fan Mail, Frank Letters and Crank Calls.
Bookstore Politeia
This huge bookshop is located next to the university and is maze of tunnels, rooms and staircases. It felt like a place with a very human history, where characters have met and lived and read important things. The team I met here were so sweet and friendly. They walked me around the shop and introduced me to the booksellers. It was cool to hear that this independent, family-owned bookshop employs around 130 people. It was buzzy and busy and warm. The idea is that there should be plenty of people on hand to help you find what you’re looking for and I love that. It’s the opposite to what many bookshops in the the UK have done over recent years, cutting staff down to maybe one person overseeing an entire shop floor. It’s boring to have nobody to play with/bitch with on a long shift. At Politeia it felt like there was no danger of that happening. They also had the hottest fiction section in Athens and I couldn’t resist buying myself a new book- a paperback edition of The Coin by Yasmin Zaher.
A Delicious Time!
It was such a delight to discover that Athens is a great place to be vegan! There are lots of vegan restaurants and takeaways around the city and what I love most is that you’re not just choosing between boring burgers or bad falafel wraps, you can find delicious plant-based versions of Greek classics. My favourite was Vegan Beat. The ‘Space Gyros’ are made from seasoned, roasted mushrooms, doused in vegan Tzatziki and wrapped up in a fluffy warm pita. Reader, I went there three times in three days. It was so good and cheap (less than a fiver for the best lunch of your life) and I sat outside in the sunshine on a wooden picnic bench, with Rihanna’s greatest hits pounding out of the speakers. Heaven.
I would also recommend Veganaki for more of a sit down ‘grown up’ meal (no Rihanna here). I loved the moussaka and cashew-feta Greek salad.
For something sweet there’s Lukumades. It’s a pretty hectic, late-night takeaway that specialises in these deep-fried donutty balls. They’re traditionally soaked in honey and dusted with cinnamon, but here they have vegan options clearly labelled, like the ones I had which were drenched in bitter dark chocolate.
A Treasure Hunt!
Athens is souvenir heaven. The Monastiraki area is packed with gift shops selling tat glorious tat! I especially love the mass produced mugs- kitsch imitations of ancient pottery and treasures. There are cuddly donkey shaped handbags, Aphrodite figurines, Zeus tea towels, shiny evil-eye toe rings and Eros shot glasses. When I visited Athens for the first time last year, I went WILD in these shops. I think we have all of the Ancient Greece Merch we need, so this time I was more restrained, but still returned to London with a FAMILY PACK of Kalamata Olives for Joe of course.
I bought a few non-book bits at The Naxos Apothecary. This beautiful cosmetics shop is the place to stock up on Korres lotions and potions. Santorini Grape moisturiser? Greek Yoghurt face mask? Yes please! They have shop assistants wearing white lab coats, and a herbal tea bar on the first floor. I walked out of there smelling like a goddess.
My final appointment of the trip was a meeting with the buyer of an online bookshop. We met at the rooftop cafe at the Benaki Museum. It was so nice to sip on icy coffees in the sunshine with the acropolis in the distance. My favourite bit of any museum is usually the gift shop- and this one was no exception.
I’ll miss the vegan souvlaki and espresso freddo, but it’s time to embrace the pumpkin spice and curl up with one of the new books I brought back to London with me.