Life can be stressful, chaotic and confusing. Having a place to take a break, put your thoughts in order and reconnect to yourself is essential, sometimes even crucial. Now that I live in the countryside I have many places to do that but when I lived in the city my choices were very limited. Athens has a severe shortage in parks and vegetation but there is one place in the heart of the city that is a true gem!
The national garden is the first and probably the most well structured, ornamental park in Greece. The landscaping began around 1840 and it kept going for quite a few years. Thousands of plants were imported from Italy and other countries of Europe and northern Africa and were planted along with indigenous species from all over Greece.
At the time of the creation of the garden, Greece was just making the first steps as a newborn, (almost) independent state and the city that now expands all around it, was hardly a small town. The project had nothing to do with the needs of the community or the welfare of the people but now I am glad that it was made in the first place. It became public in 1923 and now it is the most comforting piece of land in the center of Athens.
I visited it again during my big autumn trip (that is ending in a couple of days) and although I couldn't help noticing signs of negligence, I was really grateful that it was there for me to visit. After nine years in the countryside, I get easily overwhelmed of the city's pace and this park was a true shelter right where I mostly needed it.
The 154.000 square meters (38 acres) that it covers, is more than enough for a nice decompressing walk under the shadow of the trees and the chirp of the birds. And the small buildings that are left every now and then, gives the fleeting impression of crossing a rural scenery!
Sitting under a pergola, lying on the grass or jogging, there are plenty ways to enjoy this rare oasis in the concrete jungle of our capital and let me assure you that there were a lot of people doing so. Fortunately not too many :)
This is my contribution to the #wednesdaywalk challenge, hosted by @tattoodjay
Thank you for reading and if you want to know more about me you can check out my introduction post.
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