Athens, like many cities, did away with its trams, and then repented. So now we have trams again. Better still, they take you to the seaside!


Just a few practicalities to note:

1. Check out some local advice first, because you can't get out and walk the coast just anywhere. We took the tram to Voula, at the end of the line, and then walked a little further south (one of the routes suggested here), but there are other options.

2. For the time being, the trams are not running from Syntagma. So you pick up the "beach line" at Kasomouli or Neos Kosmos (where there's an intersection with the Metro).

3. You save a little money if you buy a "two-trip" ticket, and buying tickets in advance leaves you less vulnerable to the vagaries of non-functioning ticket machines. There are other multi-trip options, but we've not used enough conveyances to make them worthwhile (because we're walking a lot).

4. The ride to the beach is not a quick one (it takes nearly an hour from Neos Kosmos to Voula). But it's very scenic. You trundle through flower-filled streets, and past parks and pretty churches. Then you pop out at the sea, and go by umbrella-studded beaches, marinas, and restaurants, as well as ordinary bits of sandy or pebbly coast.

It was these latter that provided the interest of the afternoon. While we sat in the shade at the back of a little strip of public beach, eating our sandwiches (oh, this overland trip is going to be so, so memorable for its sandwiches...), we watched as people of a range of ages, in ones or twos, arrived at the beach, set up their folding chair or spread out their towel, and variously swam, read, sunbathed, and just chilled. Wonderful. I can't imagine doing that, and I so admire them that it's part of their lives.



You skirt various coves on your way south:






We passed a simple little shrine, inscribed for the Dormition of the Theotokos (the passing of Mary, the God-bearer, from earthly life).



Later, a little further on, we sat in the shade beneath a tree, watching people swimming and wind-surfing. It was breezy. It was pleasant.


I wish I could have bottled that tranquillity. When I got home, I found yet another pesky email about a publication that -- feeling duty-bound -- I have continued to pursue post-university. I thought I had finished with it when I devoted some days to dealing with reviewers' comments back in England. But no, it sticks like dog-dirt. Now the editors of the special edition want even more changes -- which could so easily have been requested a long, long time ago.

I am losing patience. We have been through so, so many waves of micro-managing demands. Should I fight on? Or should I cut my losses and -- out of respect for my health -- just withdraw the article? Still thinking about it....

In the meantime, think of the sea, and the sun, and people enjoying themselves, and the simple faith that sets up a shrine by the waves...