🇬🇷 Greece
Athens
Athens (Αθήνα — the city named for Athena, goddess of wisdom and warfare, who won it from Poseidon in a contest by gifting the olive tree) is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Europe (3,500 years of documented habitation) and the birthplace of democracy, philosophy, theatre, the Olympic Games and much of Western civilization. The Acropolis (the Sacred Rock above the city — the Parthenon (447–438 BC, the most perfect building ever designed), the Erechtheion (with the Caryatids — the porch supported by female figures), the Temple of Athena Nike and the Propylaea gateway) is the most important ancient monument in the world and one of the most emotionally overwhelming sites a human can visit. Modern Athens (3.6 million in Greater Athens) is a city completely transformed since the 2004 Olympic Games: the Acropolis Museum (2009 — one of the greatest purpose-built museums anywhere), the pedestrianized archaeological promenade connecting all the major ancient sites, and the food scene of the Monastiraki and Psiri neighbourhoods have made Athens one of the most compelling city-break destinations in Europe. Greek food is the most misunderstood of all Mediterranean cuisines: the souvlaki (the street pita wrap with pork or chicken, tomato, onion, tzatziki and paprika crisps), the gigantes (giant baked beans in tomato), the taramosalata (fish roe spread), and the mezze culture of small plates is far more sophisticated than the tourist beach-resort version suggests.