<![CDATA[Sudden Journeys: Encounters ]]>https://suddenjourneys.substack.com/s/encountershttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ar56!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F36d53c5f-21ec-43e6-8fed-9a2ef1df676b_1280x1280.pngSudden Journeys: Encounters https://suddenjourneys.substack.com/s/encountersSubstackMon, 15 Jun 2026 16:39:41 GMT<![CDATA[Athens | The Stranger Who Saw Me]]>https://suddenjourneys.substack.com/p/athens-the-stranger-who-saw-mehttps://suddenjourneys.substack.com/p/athens-the-stranger-who-saw-meTue, 19 May 2026 16:51:06 GMTThis is the first in a series called Encounters: the people who touched into my life briefly while traveling alone in cities, becoming a friend or a lover or a stranger in passing, and the stories I've been carrying for a long time that I’m now ready to share.

I never heard what he said.

His train was already pulling away from the platform when I wrestled my window open, and by then his mouth was moving behind glass, his hand on the window, the sound swallowed by distance and the screech the train gathering speed toward Piraeus. I stood there with my window open, the January air pouring in, watching him shrink into the night. Two trains arriving at the same moment, pulling in opposite directions. Cue scene. It felt cinematic. It was.. it felt like something from a movie. Except it was my real life. Him going west, me going east and that was the last time I saw him.

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