A Walk up Lycabettus Hill, the Highest Point in Athens
We could have taken the funicular to the top of Lycabettus Hill, the highest point in Athens. But the path was more inviting, winding its way upwards through a pine-scented landscape rich with legends. Besides, I wanted to try to find the rock church of Saint Isidore....
How to Eat Well in Athens
I hadn’t expected to eat well in Athens. I had long ago memories of lukewarm food and greasy kebabs with limp pitta bread, and I had experienced the limited repertoires of Greek tavernas at home. But as I sat in a small café on my first night in the city, sipping good...
Discovering Greek Cuisine on a Food Tour of Athens
Food gives you an insight into a place. However cosmopolitan a city may be, with the English language all pervasive and international brands on the high street, food is one thing that remains stubbornly local. You don’t have to wander far off the beaten track to...
A Tour Around Literary Athens
My trip to Athens was a time for discovering new things. And The Literary Walk was no exception. This was a tour of the literary heritage of 20th century Athens, and it was full of discoveries, large and small, things I would never have found for myself. A Hidden...
Discovering the Early Byzantine Churches of Athens
I’ve always associated Athens with Greek history. Classical Greek history, that is, the sort that took place more than two thousand years ago. But as we stood in Monastiraki Square, Vassilios pointed out the layers of history around us. Ancient Athens was there, in...
Revisiting Athens: TBEX 2014
I last visited Greece in 2003. The country was busy preparing for the Olympics and I was often disappointed to find sites closed, with a sign that they were renovating and would be reopening the following year. And I only managed a day in Athens, the standard tourist...
Photo Gallery: The Acropolis at Sunrise
I'm lucky enough to be staying in a hotel with fabulous views of the Acropolis, standing proud on a hill in the centre of Athens with the city spread out below it and a backdrop of sea and mountains. The Acropolis at sunrise The variable weather this week means I have...
Photo Gallery: Ancient Tiryns, Greece
Looking through my pictures of Greece before setting off for Athens tomorrow, I found this one of Ancient Tiryns, a UNESCO recognised site on the Peloponnese. The East Casemates of Ancient Tiryns Less visited than some other sites on the Peloponnese, Ancient Tiryns...
