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TRAVELLER
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27
THE BUZZ
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SHABBY CHIC
SMARTENING
UP THEIR ACT
PSIRI
ATHENS
Once home to
gangs of spivs
and pimps, the
gentrification of
this north-western suburb over the
past 20 years has made it the new
fashionable zone. Have a seat outside
traditional Oraia Penteli café, on the
corner of Aischylou andAristofanous
Streets, and watch the world go by.
BLYTHSWOOD
HILL
GLASGOW
In the early
20th century,
the windows of
Blythswood Square looked out on
ladies (andmen) of disrepute. Now
they wink down fromsmart bars and
offices, and the 5* Blythswood Square
hotel (
pictured
), whose red-accented
décor is a nod to its saucy past.
LAALAMEDA
SEVILLE
This plaza
has turned
its reputation
around in the
last three decades, and the 30-odd
brothels found here in the late
1980s have been replaced by stellar
nightlife options for a mixed gay and
straight crowd. Get your groove on at
Weekend (
43 Avenida Torneo
).
Threemore insalubrious
areas that have become
go-to hotspots
between 25 and 40 here, as it has the
same happy street vibe as the BairroAlto.”
Themainstreamcrowds have, as
usual, brought the big-money investors,
keen to capitalise on developing these
shabby streets. One of these, the
MainSide Investments group, has created
the PensãoAmor (number 36) out of a
disusedmulti-storey block that was once
used by prostitutes to entertain clients.
Opened in November, the “house
of love” contains a plush bar, as well
as rooms that can be rented by the
hour, day or month. But rather than for
anything shady, these are now taken
as artists’workshops and office space,
while naughty murals in the stairwells
are a tongue-in-cheek reminder of the
building’s past.
The paintings could be said to
epitomise the sexing up of the whole
area. Indeed, if it carries on the way it’s
going, soon those sailors and ladies of
the night won’t recognise the place.
Clockwise from far
left
: cabinets of
fishy snacks at Sol e
Pesca; psychadelic
patterns on Pensão
Amor’s dance floor;
back streets in the
newly cool Cais de
Sodré area; cheeky
paintings at the Bar
daVelha Senhora