Balcony

Monday, April 3

A detail in the cityscape of Athens that I particularly like is the amount of plants and trees. There are orange, lime and lemon trees everywhere, the blossoms of which make the streets of Athens smell good. Most apartment buildings in Athens have balconies, some of which are large, many of which are filled with beautiful plants.

Some of the balconies are so overgrown with plants that it is hard to imagine how there should be any space left for the owners of the balconies next to the plants. For us, coming from Hamburg, the plant species were particularly impressive. Here in Athens it seems normal to have huge monstera plants and whole, big gum trees growing on the balcony. These look so lush and rampant that when we saw the giant plants, which seemed to be thriving without any problems, we were a bit sad when we realized that our lovingly cared for houseplants in Hamburg are not even half the size. The climate in Athens is simply much warmer and sunnier than in our beloved Hamburg.

In addition to the plants and the large balconies, the even larger awnings on the balconies are also very characteristic of Athens for us. The dark green specimens shown here are the most commonly seen on a walk through the city. Single small parasols, like the ones you see on some Hamburg balconies and terraces, don’t seem to be that common here. But of course – a small parasol could obviously not protect an entire, fully planted balcony from the hot Athenian sun.

In any case, we are impressed by the amount of beautifully planted and sometimes chaotic balconies that give the city its very own look.