Free Thinking Zone

"“Are we in Exarchia or Kolonaki?” is the first question I ask owner Areti Georgili as we sit on the café’s burgundy Chesterfield couch. This is intentional, as Free Thinking Zone sits right on the “barbed-wire fence” between radical (and now heavily gentrified) Exarchia and upscale Kolonaki, two distinct Athenian microcosms that rarely mix. This very blend of worlds and ideas is at the heart of this activist book café. “People don’t argue anymore. We need to do that more often, especially when our worldviews differ,” says Areti. Her point lands as a delivery driver arrives with some books, informing her that the Trump titles she ordered are currently out of stock. “We’re hosting a U.S. elections debate next week. We already have books on Kamala Harris, so it’s only right that we have some on Trump, too,” she explains, as Kostakis, the shop’s stray cat, meows asking to go outside. Of course, he does the same after two minutes, asking to come back in. Free Thinking Zone (named after the concept of Free-Trade Zones, where goods change hands under relaxed rules) opened in 2011, during the early years of Athens’ turbulent financial crisis. Since then, Areti has focused on “creating real-life content,” hosting book clubs, presentations, workshops, Greek lessons for refugees, city walks, and more. “Most people imagine bookstores as either quaint, Meg Ryan-run shops or Tom Hanks-owned megachains. A bookstore, I believe, should always be visible. It should serve the community it creates,” she says. FTZ’s volunteering community strongly focuses on refugees, LGBTQ+, and women’s rights. Areti, co-leader of Lean In’s Athens Network, also oversees FTZ’s own socially conscious collection of publications that support similar causes. The bookstore’s broader catalogue is thoughtfully curated and leans towards fiction, with a growing section of Greek authors available in English translations. Here, the nourishment is intellectual; the bar serves a simple menu of all-day drinks with a soft spot for products from the island of Chios, along with light snacks. And in case you were left wondering, the answer to the first question is Exarchia."