On Saturday morning, like we now do every year, we welcomed 2021 with a hike on Hymettus mountain!

This time, due to Covid-19, we were only a small, but active team. With our former unaccompanied minors who just turned 18: Two of them marathon runners, our Muay-Tai champion, our photographer, and our young journalist. They are our children who have grown up and are our pride and joy!

We started climbing with rhythm, with music, filling our lungs with fresh air. We discovered the dark caves of Hymettus, we got to know the arbutus berries, the sage, we rubbed oregano on our palms to “trap” its smell.

With every one of the hikers and climbers we met on our way, we greeted each other and exchanged wishes, “Happy new year”, “Many happy returns”! It was like something connected us, perhaps our love of nature?

Some of them asked us, “Are you tourists?” What to answer them… Sometimes we started a conversation about unaccompanied children, about the situation in Afghanistan, about the progress the children have made. And we heard, “Bravo”, “Your Greek is so good,” and they looked at the children with admiration.

When we reached the summit, proud of our accomplishment, we were overwhelmed with the gorgeous, infinite view: from the Argosaronic, Piraeus, the Acropolis and Lykabettus, to the Olympic stadium and from the mountains of Parnitha and Pentelis to the Euboic Sea, Rafina, and Markopoulo.

In the end, it started drizzling rain, and our stomachs started growling. We started the descent. Like a normal family, like a group of friends, like those we met on the mountain, we will keep the unique moments we lived, the beauty of this place that we call “home”!