The neighbourhood of Gazi in Athens is not far from our place in Thissio. It’s just a short hop over a railway bridge… and then across a wide avenue filled with speeding cars and smog-spewing scooters. It’s a bit reminiscent of the waterfront in Toronto, so close yet so far.
There are several pedestrian rail bridges connecting Thissio and Gazi and they provide some interesting views.
When we have made the crossing we’ve found ourselves in an interesting neighbourhood. Visually Gazi is defined by its namesake, the industrial lands of Athens’ former gasworks.
The gasworks were decommissioned in 1984 and left vacant for many years. Then, much like Toronto’s Distillery District and Lisbon’s LxFactory, the complex was repurposed into an industrial museum, events space, and arts venue. This space was then given the Futurama-worthy name of Technopolis.
On my first solo wander-through I popped through some open doors and took photos of cool industrial equipment. When I returned later with Josie the doors were closed and signage suggested there was a 1 euro fee for the museum. Oh well. Here are my illicit photos.
In recent years Gazi has also become a popular nightlife area and is also the center of Athen’s gay scene. We’re not clubbers, but by day there are lots of lively restaurants and cafes. We had lunch at Cartone, a large all-day brunchy place with very good food and service.
The word cartone is Italian for cardboard and — quite literally — that seems to be the theme of the cafe. Maybe the idea was conceived on a dare? I don’t know, but they’ve made it work, with display cases filled with convincing cardboard sculptures of household and kitchen items.
Even the bathroom sinks look like stacks of cardboard boxes.
Thankfully the food did not taste like cardboard. I enjoyed a very good scrambled eggs on toast with prosciutto, and Josie had a club sandwich in wrap form. Both came with a great salad. Food portions are generally enormous in Athens and Cartone is no exception: Josie’s meal was listed under the Snacks section of the menu!
