Athens Greeknotes 16 Aug

The wildfires seem to be less destructive this week, despite the strong summer meltemi winds that bring welcome relief in the hot august afternoons but also spread fire all over the shop. Maybe those winds have been dropping the temperatures to below 30ºC the past couple of days? Sitting outside the spirto bar late last night my bare arms – while not cold – did feel a little chilly. An unexpected sensation! The feast day of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary Also unexpected was the bar being open at all – this weekend is (deep breath) The feast day of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary – the meaning of which I refuse to learn. It is however the apex of the greek summer and this city is absolutely deserted. Most shops and businesses that weren’t already on a month long holiday are almost certainly shut this weekend. I’ve not visited the center so I assume that is still humming along busily with tourists, but out here in the burbs you can find parking spaces anywhere which for athens is…