Athens

Anyone with an interest in the history of western civilisation has to visit Athens, the cradle of European aesthetics and values.

The Parthenon is stunning and it is a strange thought that, to see all its original marble work, one has to visit also the British Museum in London and the Louvre in Paris. Another especially beautiful feature of the site is the Caryatides on the Erechtheum. Athens gives new meaning to the word nightlife.

Whether you start with dinner and then hit the clubs, or begin with a couple of drinks and then make your way to one of the many live music clubs, the city is sure to keep you entertained until the early hours. In summer, it seems as if everyone is out on the town, making the most of the carefree days. Suburbs like Glyfada and Kifissia are especially popular and provide a cool respite from the city. Whatever one is craving for when in Athens will not be hard to get, but when accompanied by a real good time, then the experience becomes outstanding. Visitors whishing to have a more authentic experience should opt for one of the clubs featuring "rebetiko" music.

Literally thousands of traditional eating places, taverns, with or without music but always delicious, inexpensive food can be found in Athens and its suburbs, along with hundreds of restaurants of every style and nationality. Numerous night-clubs vie for the visitor's attention with the uniquely. Thousands of bars, pubs, and snack-type eating places, including the famous souvlaki stands, are to be found, ready to service the needs of a great variety of customers.

Greece, as we all know, has a long tradition in athletics.

A variety of spectator sports and recreation await the visitor to Athens. Soccer heads the list as the nation's favorite sport followed by basketball and volleyball. Track and field is also popular. Most major soccer matches are played at the beautiful Athens Olympic Stadium which can seat 78,000 spectators. During the summer months, international soccer exhibition matches are held with the soccer season kicking off in September until June. Most of the National Tourist Organization of Greece (EOT) public beaches and swimming pools in the Athens area offer full sea sports facilities such as dressing rooms, piers, canoes, pedalos, fields for various games, tennis courts, volley and basketball courts, children's playgrounds, a pavillion, pastryshop, snack-bar, restaurant, self service and discos.

A wide variety of items, from throughout Greece, can be purchased in the center of Athens to take back home as souvenir. Specialties include handicrafts, gold and silver jewelry, flokati rugs of fluffy sheep wool, pottery, onyx, marble, alabaster, leather goods, furs, art items, and local culinary delights.

These items are available in the main shopping area downtown around Syntagma, Plaka and Monastiraki, the flea market.

Your best bet to find souvenirs and jewelry is at Pandrossou pedestrian walkway.

A myriad of small stalls carry everything from

first-class junk to quality cooper, brass, antique jewelry, icons, paintings, rare books, coins and leather-goods. Monastiraki comes alive on Sundays from 08.00 to 13.00.

Athens is a very accessible city. As well as Athens Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport, Athens is well linked to other parts of Greece by road, rail and ferry.