Coffee in Halndri

Twelve kilometres north-east of central Athens lies the suburb of Halandri. Until the expansion of the city in the 1960s and 1970s, Halandri had been a tiny village. Now it joins seamlessly with the other suburbs of Athens, and is one of the largest, with a population of over 70,000. It’s where my friend, Adrienne, lives and the reason I was there.

The area has its own distinct characteristics, different to the frenetic-ness of the city centre. The houses and flats are rarely more than three or four stories high, nestled closely together among streets lined with trees. The roots lifting the pavement, making walking along them tricky, is made up for by the overwhelming smell of pine. It reminds me of beach holidays on the Mediterranean. There are lots of cars parked bumper to bumper, but few travelling. This is a residential street and it is peaceful.

In the centre of Halandri it is a different story. There’s more traffic than the roads can accommodate and a strong smell of fuel. It’s noisy and grimy. The traffic is at a standstill and moves a yard or so at a time. Leg power is a faster form of transport. But the furnace heat of the air slows me down, so it’s not much faster.

Adrienne took me to a tiny café, hidden in a side street, one car wide. It’s on the corner of an even narrower street. This one has room for pedestrians only. It looks more like an alleyway than a street. But its length and width is full of the umbrella shaded tables of café after café. There’s a low murmur of chatter and clinks of spoons against glass as the coffee is stirred.

This not somewhere for the tourists. It’s where the locals gather. It’s the place to find the best coffee and fruit smoothies in all of Athens. You need to know where it is to find it.

It was relaxed and quiet, but it was the hottest part of the day and a weekday. It’s at weekends and when the sun begins to cool that it gets busy. “Halandri is becoming the place for go for coffee and people come from all over the city”, Adrienne told me, as we sat there, relaxing.

On our way home, we were lured into a bakery by the aroma of breads, cakes and biscuits. They lined the walls inside. Where to look? What to buy? The choice and variety was vast. Eventually, I settled on poppy seed, knotted breadsticks and tiny cinnamon cookies, while Adrienne bought a round loaf. That was tea sorted.