A Traveler’s Tale: Theater director Sam Pinkleton on Athens, Greece—
“In October 2025 I spent three days in Athens for a hair transplant. I had 24 hours free in the city before my procedure. I wanted to make it really count since my ancestry is Greek and I hadn’t been to the city since I was a child. I did all the touristy things, like go to the Acropolis and the Ancient Agora. A local friend invited me to a rooftop bar. My reaction was, ‘That’s tacky,’ and my friend said, ‘No, you don’t understand. We’re a city of sitting on the roof.’ We went to the top of The Dolli hotel, where the view was of the Parthenon—completely classic, totally on the nose. On my second day I had the transplant at Seneca Medical Group. It was the most luxurious experience of medical care I’ve ever had. I was in and out in nine hours, and I took a car back to my hotel, Ergon House, which is this gastronomic market with the most beautiful Greek food but also rooms upstairs. During recovery in my room, I ate spanakopita while spraying saline solution on my scarred head with the windows open, hearing church bells every 30 minutes. It was hilarious. I had maybe two hours of being like, I can’t go out like this. Then I realized, I’m in Athens, for fuck’s sake. I want to go and eat a whole fish at a restaurant. On my last day I walked one block from the hotel, shielding my bandaged head from the sun, to visit the Metropolitan Cathedral, but then I found a tiny chapel nearby, the Church of St. Eleutherius. Inside I lit a candle and did the sign of the cross, which I hadn’t done since I was 14. There was a beauty in this ritual, going out and not feeling shame about getting a hair transplant while getting reacquainted with my heritage. A few months later, my 93-year-old Greek grandmother showed me photos she took in Greece in the 1960s, and—this’ll sound like I’m lying, but I swear it’s true—I found a picture of my grandfather in front of the same chapel. He had a full head of hair.” —Sam Pinkleton, as told to Matt Ortile
Sam Pinkleton is the Tony Award-winning director of Oh, Mary!, currently playing on Broadway and in the West End. His revival production of The Rocky Horror Show at New York City’s Studio 54 opens on April 23.
This article appeared in the May/June 2026 issue of Condé Nast Traveler. Subscribe to the magazine here.
