Where in the World Are You, Joanna Kakissis?

Travel Blog  •  World Hum  •  09.13.07 | 5:53 PM ET

The subject of our latest nearly up-to-the-minute interview with a traveler somewhere in the world: Joanna Kakissis, a new contributor to the World Hum blog. Her response landed in our inbox yesterday.

World Hum: Where in the world are you?

I’ve been living in Athens, Greece for three years. I was born here but moved when I was four to the United States (North Dakota, no less), where I grew up. I’m a journalist and worked at a newspaper in Raleigh, North Carolina until I moved here. What Athens lacks in lush trees and good manners (essential in the American South), it more than makes up for in iconic landmarks and caffeinated attitude.

What are you doing there?

I’m a freelance writer contributing mainly to The New York Times, though I also write for other U.S. outlets and a couple of travel books. My latest reporting trip was to Nicosia, the divided capital of Cyprus.

What do you see around you?

I live in a typical central Athenian neighborhood. Narrow streets are lined with apartment blocks shaped like cigarette boxes. Elderly couples mind their bloom-filled balconies, Avril-worshipping tweens and pickled old-timers hang out at the local souvlaki joint (Thessalia Grill, one of the best in town), and people get into fights over (the very few) parking spaces. Just 20 years ago, goats grazed in vacant lots here and an elderly donkey brayed inconsolably at a full moon.

Got a pic?
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What did you have for dinner last night and where?

I actually had a lovely homemade tiropita (cheese pie) while watching a dubbed 9/11 documentary at a Cypriot friend’s house. But when I go out, I always eat at restaurants in Gazi, which used to be the forsaken neighborhood around the city’s gasworks but is now the urban-chic star of the capital. Gazi’s got some of the best restaurants and bars (a good mix of both mod and throwback) in Athens. My favorites: Sardelles (which makes excellent grilled deep-sea squid and salads dotted with pomegranate seeds) and the old timey Skoufias.

What are you listening to these days

I’m wearing out my iPod with The Weepies, Vienna Teng, Charlie Hunter, Alana Davis and the very beloved Chris Whitley (RIP). My musician friends (Molly McGinn in Greensboro, North Carolina, and Alex Panayi and Burgundy Grapes in Greece) are also on my playlists as are the fabulous Mode Plagal (who fuse jazz with traditional Greek songs) and the stunning Greek vocal artist Savina Yannatou. But I admit I also downloaded “Love is Alright Tonight” by Rick Springfield a couple of days ago.

What are you reading?

I just finished Stealing Buddha’s Dinner by Bich Minh Nguyen, a touching and beautifully written memoir about growing up Vietnamese in a small-town in Michigan. I’m now reading another memoir, Speak, Memory, by Vladimir Nabokov, which is making my mind go gymnastic with imagery and new words, and Sweet Land Stories by E.L. Doctorow, who imbues even misfits in dead-end lives with the angelic shimmer of humanity.

What did you experience in the last 24 hours that you’d recommend?

After eating those homemade cheese pies, I had to burn off those calories with a morning run at Veikou Park, my favorite. Running is difficult in Athens—the sidewalks are far too small and they are often filled with parked cars—but there are a few oases for devoted runners. Veikou, in my neighborhood of Galatsi, is my place. I go there several times a week, and I highly recommend a visit if you’re ever in town—even if you’re not a runner. It’s hilly, with woodsy trails of fuschia and yellow blooms that summit to a beautiful view of Athens. On smogless days (I was blessed with one on my morning run) you can see a cobblestoned mirage of concrete, red-tiled roofs and the motley criss-cross of crazy Athenian roads that end at the blue of the Saronic Gulf and the broad crags of Mount Parnitha.

Where in the world are you headed to next?

This winter I’m hoping to go to Thrace in northeastern Greece as well as more far-flung locations such as Stockholm, Beirut and Istanbul. I might go back to the U.S., too, to visit friends in California, Maine and North Carolina and ease my homesickness. Greece is a kaleidoscopic country and many of my endearingly goofy relatives live here, but even after three years it doesn’t feel like home.

Tags: Where in the World Are You, Europe, Greece, News and Briefs


1 Comment for Where in the World Are You, Joanna Kakissis?

travel to vienna 03.10.08 | 11:39 AM ET

hi , great post !

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