Last year I shared my experience of Open Walk Athens by atenistas. During that walk, I checked out a lot of mid-20th-century buildings in downtown Athens. This year I participated in another Open Walk, this time in Pagrati.
The walk started off from Proskopon (Scouts) square. There we popped in Magemenos Avlos (meaning Magic Flute) restaurant. The restaurant operates since 1961 and was the hangout for Greek artists at the time. Manos Hatzidakis was one of the regulars in this restaurant.
Then we made our way towards George Seferis house. George Seferis was a renowned Greek poet, who won the Nobel prize back in 1963. The house has an island feel: it is white and has blue shutters like most houses in the Cyclades have.
We then wandered into Pagrati park, which is one of the few parks in Athens. The park was created back in 1908 from Princess Sofia and in 1920 its commercial use started. It belongs to the City of Athens since 1936 and in the past hosted a petting zoo and a theater. Today it’s a place where you can walk and unwind. It is ideal for dog walking as well and has a playground and basketball court.
Next stop was Pnyka bakery, known for its sourdough bread. I discovered this bakery a few years ago as they have a store near my office. I particularly like their whole-wheat sourdough bread.
Our last stop was the apartment where composer Manos Hatzidakis lived from 1936 to 1962 (no photos from there) unfortunately. The apartment is now empty and for the Open Walk, it was filled with photos of the composer as well as press clips.
It was nice to explore Pagrati. I’ve frequented this neighborhood many times in the past but didn’t know many of those places. Apart from the dedicated stops we stopped and shot some pictures from the National Research Foundation (first photo and below) and spotted a couple of beautiful but abandoned houses as well.
P.S. I was interviewed by Om Trips Blog where I shared my favorite places to visit (and eat) in Athens as well as my favorite yoga studio! Go check it out!
Let me know when was the last time you re-discovered a neighborhood in the city you live in?
I'm Anna and this is my lifestyle and travel blog! 
Open Walks sound like such a fun thing to do! I wonder if Houston has anything like that. It’s fun to be a tourist in your own city… and that bakery looks fantastic!
It is very fun. So far I’ve been in 3 open walks and I discovered places never knew existed and got inside buildings I wouldn’t otherwise (they were open just for the event). They are organized by a not for profit organization which organizes various activities around Athens.
Gorgeous photos of details, as ever! 🙂 This sounds like such a great way to explore, and sounds perfect for how I like to travel!