In Greece, after 48 hours of scorching temperatures even before mid-June, the thermometer is starting to drop slightly. The maximums must therefore reach 35°C on Sunday June 16 compared to 43°C the two previous days. In the Greek capital, faced with this heat wave, the town hall has however opened a large handful of air-conditioned places all week, where elderly people in particular can meet around a coffee or a game of cards. .
2 mins
With our correspondent in Athens, Joel Bronner
In this week of intense heat, around fifteen elderly people have already taken over the air-conditioned room of one of the seven “friendship clubs”, as the Athens town hall calls them.
“ If I am here today, it is above all because it is very cool, thanks to the air conditioning. Plus we find company, we can play cards, we can drink coffee for only fifty cents… With the heat, a lot of people have come here in recent days. Especially at midday, the room is packed », notes a user.
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City heat versus human heat
A room exceptionally open this week from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Enough to allow some to multiply the parts of biribaa Greek variation of rummy.
“ We don’t yet know who will win, but the other team is ahead… well, a little ahead. But we can still beat them! As you see, most of the people who come here are elderly, especially widows and widowers like me who is 88 years old. Despite the heat outside, with the air conditioning, we feel perfectly good here. »
While waiting for milder weather, the Athenians of modest means who find themselves here come to exchange the heat of the city for a little human warmth and freshness.