Our Italian journey ended in Rome. From Rome we took an Easyjet flight to Athens, Greece. After one and a half months of traveling and sightseeing we were ready to relax and spend time on the sandy beaches of the cyclades but not before we paid our respects to my beloved city, Athens. Most people use Athens as a stepping stone to get to the islands, not taking any time to see the city. But for me Athens is a jewel in disguise waiting to be discovered.

Athens is a city that lies close to my heart. The first time my 21st self stepped foot onto the sun-kissed concrete city I felt like I was back in Tehran, Iran. A free Iran.  From the architecture, traffic, and landscape to the warm people and the amazing food everything for me was a gentle reminder of my motherland.  I was lucky enough to have travelled with born and raised Athenians who knew the city inside and out and as a result was given a thorough tour of the city and what it has to offer. Athens is comprised of old and new high rises, neoclassical houses, and incomplete concrete frames.  There is a certain orderly chaos that makes the city so charming.  Not to mention the people who are kind, giving and welcoming. The most welcoming hosts on our journey through Europe (after Turkey) making Greece again one of my top three destinations in the world. Here is a list of my favorite things to do and see in Athens.

1. Get lost in the oldest neighbourhood of Athens, the Plaka and shop for souvenirs and trinkets. Don’t forget to bargain your price down as bargaining is a way of life in Greece. Try to find your way to Byzantino (tel: (30-210) 324 6605). Here you will find handmade ‘museum-copy’ jewelry replicating ancient Greek pieces. You can be assured that nothing here is made in China as all is made in the Athens workshop of this family run business.

2. From Plaka walk your way up the hills toward the “high city”, the Acropolis. Here you’ll see the Temple of Athena Nike, the Erechtheion (my favorite) and the Parthenon along with many pieces of stones arranged on the ground for eventual reassembly. The Count loved to re-live the history of the Persian kings burning the ancient city of Athens to the ground.

3. Visit the Acropolis Museum and revel at thousands of years of history carved in marble. 

4. Spend the evening in one of the many outdoor cinemas nestled in parks and gardens around town. My favorite is the one located at the south side of the Acropolis, the Thiseion (tel: 30-210 347 0980).

5. Party it up in the lively Gazi district. It has been dubbed Athen’s coolest neighborhood with many bars, restaurants and live music venues.

6. For treasure hunting visit the Monastiraki flea market located in the Avissynias Square. You can literally find anything and everything from books to clothes to souvenirs.

7. Since I am a foodie I never miss the opportunity to visit a city’s central market, in Athens that is the Agora market. Here you can get the freshest meat, fish and vegetables along with a lively setting with lots of yelling and bargaining.

8. Eat a Greek salad in one of the city’s many tavernas washed down by a souvlaki. Or vice versa.  

9. Spend the evening shopping, drinking and dining in the chic neighborhood of Kolonaki.  10. Take the obligatory photo with the guards at the Parliament building in Syntagma square. 

Side note:  Since my last trip to Greece in 2007, the country’s economy has suffered. I was afraid that visiting the country would deplete me of my wonderful memories and sadden me at the state of affairs. What I found was a proud people keeping their head up and hoping for change to come. Living in the United States often we only see the worst headlines on the news. Many warned us to redirect our Greece trip based on the headlines to avoid being caught in strikes and violence. Yet, it was still as safe and friendly as ever. If tourists stopped going to Greece, Greeks would suffer even more from a decrease in one of their main sources of income, tourism. So my advice is: go to Greece and live the myth for yourself! It is no wonder that it was the home of the gods as there is a certain mystical sense of beauty and history at every turn.