6. April 2026

🌍🎹 Following the Music: My Journey from Nea Makri to Athens and Salt Lake City with Ludovico Einaudi

By Despina

There are trips you plan, and then there are trips that feel like they were quietly waiting for you long before you ever booked a ticket. My journey with Ludovico Einaudi’s music and with a friend who became family, belongs to the second kind!

This is the story of how a pianist on TikTok, a friendship born in a livestream chat, and two unforgettable concerts carried me from Nea Makri to Athens and all the way to Salt Lake City, Utah.

How It All Started 🎹 A TikTok Livestream and a Friendship I Didn’t Expect

Two years ago, I was sitting in my home in Nea Makri, scrolling through TikTok, when I stumbled into a livestream by pianist Koba Bakytovich. I joined for the beautiful music and stayed for that music, the uplifting LIVE vibes, and the amazing people I met along the way. In the chat, I kept noticing one username. She was kind, funny and clearly as devoted to supporting our favorite pianist, as I was.It was @Katcha, who eventually became my sweet Kathy…🌸

We started talking..Then talking every day.. and then we realized that we had more in common than we thought! And before long, this stranger from Utah became one of the closest people in my life!

It’s strange and at the same time incredible, how music can introduce you to someone who feels like they were always meant to be there. Music, truly connects… and sometimes, it creates friendships 💜

🏛️ Athens, September 2024, The First Concert Together

When she told me she was coming to Greece, I couldn’t believe it! Meeting in person after all this time, felt surreal, familiar and new all at once.

And our first adventure together? Ludovico Einaudi at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus. The story behind it.. That concert was my birthday present 🎂 from her!! She had emailed me two tickets so I wouldn’t go alone… Next step? Invite her to my home and tell her that if she doesn’t come, I’ll just go by myself! She accepted the challenge!👌🏻

If you’ve never been there, imagine this:

Ancient stone rising around you
The Acropolis glowing above
A warm September night
And Einaudi’s piano drifting into the open sky with a magnificent moon

It felt like time stopped.. Sitting there close to him, listening to the music that had been part of our friendship from the beginning, I felt something settle in my heart.. It was one of the most beautiful nights of my life!

We promised each other it wouldn’t be our last Einaudi concert together.

✈️🇺🇸 October 2025 — My First Trip to the United States

A year later, I found myself boarding a plane to Utah..my first time in the U.S., my first time seeing Salt Lake City, and my second time seeing Einaudi with the person who introduced me to this whole journey.

We stayed at The Grand America Hotel, which felt like stepping into a movie. Marble floors, chandeliers, velvet chairs the kind of place where you half expect someone to offer you tea on a silver tray. Not exactly my style, but certainly you couldn't ignore its beauty and elegance! And I also couldn't ignore the harpist playing "River flows in you" near the lobby. That was a memorable moment..🪉

During the days, we explored the city:

Wandering through downtown
Trying new cafés
Laughing at how many times we got distracted by mountains
And soaking in the excitement of seeing Einaudi again

But we also had a mission.

🎁 The Gift Delivery Adventure

We had brought a gift for Einaudi. Something meaningful, something from the heart and we were determined to deliver it. The only problem?

We had no idea where he was staying.. So we became detectives.🧐

We walked the city, scanning hotels, following clues, and piecing together hints like we were in a musical treasure hunt. It was ridiculous and fun and exhausting and perfect👌🏻

Finally, after a day of scouting, we found it:

The Kimpton Hotel, right by the Eccles Theater.

We delivered the gift. A small victory that felt huge!🎉 One of those moments you know you’ll laugh about for years..

🎹 Salt Lake City, October 18th, 2025, The Second Concert

The night of the concert felt different from Athens. Colder air, a modern venue, mountains instead of marble but the emotional weight was the same.

Einaudi’s music filled the hall with that familiar blend of stillness and movement. His melodies felt like memories, like conversations, like echoes of the Athenian night a year earlier.

Sitting beside my friend again, this time in her city, felt like closing a circle.

Two concerts! Two continents! One friendship that somehow grew stronger with every shared note! 🎶

🌙 After the Final Note

When the last chord faded and the applause rose around us, I felt the same quiet afterglow I had felt in Athens! It was pure magic! ✨

Walking out into the cool Utah night, I realized how rare it is to have a friendship that spans oceans, time zones, and cultures, yet feels effortless..

Music brought us together! Travel deepened the connection! And Einaudi’s concerts in Athens and in Salt Lake City became the bookmarks of a story still being written.✍🏻

And I know this isn’t the end… it’s just the beginning of the next chapter!! Nothing is easy. But with ‘pathos’ (like Pathos by Ludovico Einaudi, meaning passion in Greek) and will, great things can happen!

How do I know? We’re both on the same page, living by this motto:

Seize the Day!

Do you have a story to tell? One that started online, and turned into something unexpected? If you’re willing to share, I’m here, ready to listen.. 🤍