How big is Athens? Massive. For some reason, the capital of Greece feels much larger to me than Tokyo, Bangkok, or even New York City, despite all of them being much bigger in terms of population. I think it’s because Athens sprawls endlessly with low-rise buildings instead of skyscrapers, making it stretch out rather than build upwards.

Standing on a hill like Lycabettus, where this view was taken yesterday, I could see miles of dense, uninterrupted concrete cityscape with no clear center, no big rivers cutting through, and only a few green spaces to break it up. Also, unlike cities with grids, Athens grew organically over 3,000 years, making it feel wonderfully chaotic, boundless, and never-ending.

As this is my third visit, my collection of images from Athens is now nearing what I’ll need to create a book from my visual experiences here – I no longer have any doubts that I’ll be able to do so. Also, there are so many derelict houses and buildings here, that I might just have to increase the page count of the future book about abandoned places and spaces.