Ano Petralona: tavernas and rebetiko
The old working quarter under Filopappou — family tavernas, a real square, and live rebetiko. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Petralona station and Troon street
Start at the old Metro 1 station and head up Troon, the spine of the quarter — bakeries, butchers, the shops a neighbourhood actually uses. Begin in the early evening as the shutters come up for the second half of the day.

2. Plateia Merkouri
The square the quarter lives around — tables spilling from the *tavernes* (family tavernas), kids on bikes, nobody in a hurry. Sit and order before you decide where you're eating; half the pleasure of Petralona is the deciding.

3. The taverna cluster
Around the square and the lanes off it, the *tavernes* run old-style — paper tablecloths, wine from the barrel, grilled whatever's good. You don't book; you turn up. Go where the Greek families are, not where the menu has photographs.

4. A rebetiko night
*Rebetiko* — the urban blues that came with the 1922 refugees, *bouzouki* and heartbreak — still plays in a couple of the quarter's rooms. Ask at a taverna who's on tonight; it's live and late and not put on for visitors.

5. The steps up toward Filopappou
Climb the stepped lanes at the quarter's upper edge, where Petralona runs out and the green of Filopappou begins. Low houses, bougainvillea, the city dropping away below. The best ten minutes of quiet on the walk.

6. Church of Agioi Asomatoi sta Skala
End at the little church on the steps — Asomatoi 'on the staircase', a Byzantine chapel the lanes wind around. Then back down Troon to Petralona station and the Metro 1 home, the smell of the grills following you down.

Ano Petralona: tavernas and rebetiko