While tens of thousands of Athenians fled the sweltering capital for yesterday’s holiday of the Dormition of the Virgin in what is traditionally the last mass departure of summer holidaymakers, their less fortunate fellow-citizens had to make do with congested, dirty seaside destinations near the city such as this beach in Piraeus, close to the country’s largest port. Holidaymakers are expected to start returning after August 20, while traffic restrictions in the center of Athens will be reintroduced at the end of the month.