An epidemic of falls on the ‘mean streets’ of Athens

September 19

Locals and tourists alike complain that navigating the Greek capital’s sidewalks by foot can be fraught with peril

Early this year I took a fall. In broad daylight, on a street in downtown Athens, I tripped, clipping my right foot on a marble step jutting on to the pavement in front of the entrance to a furniture store. The step’s railing, grabbed in a desperate attempt to break the fall, then did what I never expected: collapsing in my hands, it threw me with even greater force across the pavement. A broken shoulder was diagnosed. Seven months later physiotherapy continues.

In this I am far from alone. The mean streets of Athens are an obstacle course daily blamed for such injuries (or worse). Like the marble step that town hall officials later branded illegal, all manner of “visual noise” – starting with motorbikes and cars – occupies valuable pavement space.

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