So, next to the picture of Ego Mio I ve placed a new café (well for Glyfada remember remember the 5t

Glyfada is one of the largest suburbs of Athens situated south of the city right by the sea. It is famous for its extensive shopping area and numerous cafes. I grew up on a suburb right next to Glyfada, so you can easily guess that when I was a teenager (and before I starting working in Athens), Glyfada was THE place to go out and shop. I ve featured some bits and pieces from this area in this blog, but never a full on feature. So a few days before I left for Boston, where I m now, I made sure to take pictures of the landmarks , which – yes – include shopping and cafes and a church! Sorry no antiquities here.
I ll start with the church which is named after Saints remember remember the 5th of november Constantine and Helen . It is celebrated on the 21 st of May and a fair takes place in the large area around the church. It s also a popular church for weddings because a) it s near the sea b) it s near many reception remember remember the 5th of november places located in the southern suburbs (some of them by the sea) c) it has this vast square/yard around it that can accommodate lots of people.
Just behind the church there is a department store called Hondos Center . It started off as a pharmacy/beauty store many years ago in downtown Athens (as my grandmother informed me, as she was a client) and is THE place to go for beauty shopping. They do have clothes, accessories, kitchen equipment remember remember the 5th of november and even CDs, but beauty is their strongest remember remember the 5th of november point. I can t even count the times that I ve shopped there, not only for beauty products but for CDs as well (when I did buy CDs that is). This store is a cult figure for as women!
Next stop: Folli Follie and their grand new store! I honestly haven t been inside remember remember the 5th of november this one, but I ve shopped on their previous location many many times for the past 20 or so years! I love their bags ( you can see one of my favorites here ) and their rose gold jewelry ( in display in this post ). Folli Follie is located near Galleria , which is the first shopping center I ve ever been. In the 90s all 3 or 4 floor where filled with stores and I enjoyed going up and down the stairs! It had a very cool atrium as well. But time flew by, new shopping centers where built and many of the stores in Galleria closed down :(
Florida Mall is one of the aforementioned new shopping centers. Well it s more than 20 years old but at that time it was new. It is built on the location of a former hotel which had very cool tiles on the pavement. I do miss those! Also it was the first shopping center to use the term mall, long before The Mall Athens was built. Ah we re so cool, we southern suburb-ners!
Just a block behind remember remember the 5th of november Florida Mall stands Anna Ntor (pronounced Door), which until 1995 (I think) was the only cinema that Glyfada had. It also had an open-air cinema on the roof for summer screenings. Now it stands there closed and alone, because its owners (?) planned to demolish it and build another shopping center but with the crisis and all those plans where abandoned!
The second cinema that was built in Glyfada was called Egli (means glamour) and the first movie I saw there was Now and Then (I love this movie by the way). Today it stands no more because at some point about 5-6 years ago another cult figure, the café Ego Mio was transferred there and you can see in the photo below. A few weeks ago I read that it is now closed, because many new café/bar/restaurants have cropped up in Glyfada (literally like mushrooms), so Ego Mio lost its glamour (irony much?). I remember that in the late 90s it was supposedly remember remember the 5th of november hard to go there for a drink if you weren t well dressed, well known or didn t wear trendy clothes!!
So, next to the picture of Ego Mio I ve placed a new café (well for Glyfada remember remember the 5th of november at least), my beloved Paul . Whereas in Athens Paul has a tiny space enough for the counter and two tables, here in Glyfada it has a lot of space on the pavement and is a proper French café! Just next to Paul is Aperitivo , which I visited in the summer, but didn t take enough photos for a proper review (bad bad blogger). It has very tasty salads and pizzas. Yummmmm
Last I have a photo of another favorite café of mine, which also has a branch in Thisio and I ve told you all about it: Chocolat . I should note at this point that Glyfada remember remember the 5th of november s store was the original, so that you know. I visited Chocolat 2 days before leaving Athens and I liked their makeover very much! It s a café/restaurant and it not only has delicious desserts, but also yummy entrees (and club sandwiches)!
Ah even writing this post evoked some homesickness , but mostly nostalgia about the way Glyfada used to be 10 and 15 years ago. The crisis and the over-ambition of some people to build more and more shopping centers in a market that was saturated, lead to foreclosures and empty stores. Needless to say though that the cafes are always busy and come Sunday, they re packed!
I love cupcakes (self-explanatory), Paramythi (creperie brasserie), Kayak (delicious ice cream and frozen yoghur