Athenian Adventure

When C.P. Lee arrived in Athens in the summer of 1955, he knew little of Greece or of the Greek people.

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He also asserted that he had no interest in the ancient ruins of Knossos or the Parthenon, little knowledge of Xenophon or Pindar and no desire to gaze upon Mycenean vases or Grecian urns, trawling in the slipstream of tourist buses. Instead, he vowed to explore unpolished, authentic, contemporary Greece - armed not with camera or guidebook, just a sense of curiosity. Lee rented a house in the heart of Athens and had soon befriended neighbours, grocers, waiters and cafe-goers. On his explorations of the less-trodden streets, tavernas and squares of Athens and his travels to the islands of Hydra, Spetses, Crete and Cyprus, Lee began to fall in love with the country. His portrait is vivid and witty, nostalgic and revealing; capturing the essence of a people and a brief moment in time.