The Sunday Times June 10, 2018 7 Travel THE BIG WEEKEND

ritty, graffitied yet graceful, Kapnikarea on . Now head is an intoxicating mix to Hoocut, a casual new cafe where some of old — very old — and new. of the city’s top (and most tattooed) chefs Bougainvillea streams from serve a modern twist on souvlaki, with neoclassical buildings, street thinly sliced meat and just-baked pitta Gart coats the walls, and ruins dot the city. (from £2; Plateia Agias Irinis 9). Old men sit in retro coffee houses Skirt along the side of Syntagma clutching their worry beads and puffing Square — the city’s main square, where on cigarettes while, next door, in hip the eternal flame burns over the Tomb of bars, the younger, more optimistic people the Unknown Soldier, patrolled by the who are driving the post-crisis creative presidential guard — and get some energy scene sip drinks and ... puff on cigarettes. with a scoop (or several) of all-natural ILLUSTRATION: CLARE COLLINS AND CLARE COLLINS OSBALDSTONE JULIAN ILLUSTRATION: Athens is a very walkable city but there’s lemon-mint sorbet, or fig and mascarpone a vast amount to see, so book an early gelato, from Le Greche, Athens’s hippest Friday flight, taxi in from the airport dessert spot (from £3; Mitropoleos 16). (£33), dump your bags at the hotel and go Nearby Dia Touta sells moisturisers straight to lunch. and soap made with olive oil and donkey milk. Sounds odd, smells iffy, but you won’t be complaining when (or if) you FRIDAY look decades younger (Mitropoleos 32). Afternoon Souvlaki is said to be the oldest fast food Evening in the world — Homer even mentioned it Walk through the peaceful National in The Iliad. Try it at Kostas, a tiny joint Garden towards the Panathenaic that’s been going since 1946. You can Stadium, which dates back to AD144. It demolish this pork and spicy tomato hosted athletics and wrestling during the sauce-drenched pitta at a high table first modern Olympic Games in 1896. outside (from £2; Agia Irinis Square 2). Cab it (about £5) to the Hilton The Acropolis towers over the city; it’s neighbourhood, named after the hotel busy in the morning, but the coachloads there. It’s the city’s newest foodie hotspot. disperse by 4pm. Avoid the steps and Here, you’ll find elderly ladies sipping instead take the stall-lined Apostolou cheap Alfa beers and tackling crosswords Pavlou, leading to the in cafes next to glitzy new bars. Swanky (£4; theacropolismuseum.gr). Buy a Vassilenas started as a simple restaurant multi-site ticket at the less busy second on the coast in the 1920s. Its tasting menu entrance opposite, which covers 10 other — featuring jazzed-up family recipes such sites (£26; valid five days). as fish soup, orzo with prawns, cod fritters Most people slog straight up the hill to — is excellent value, and the wine pairings the Parthenon temple, but don’t miss the will bring you the best retsinas around , an ancient (tasting menu from £35; vassilenas.gr). steep-sloped theatre turned modern But first, a glass of mastika, a sweet concert venue with spectacular city views. liquor you can sample at Blue Bird (from Climb Hill for a selfie, then £2; Ipitou 4). Wine bars are big here: for take the stone steps past the colourful another glass, 20 yards away you’ll find houses in . Locals fill up on coffee chilled-out Oinoscent, where you can and orange cake on the pretty, plant-filled also try Se Fonto Rosé, the world’s only terrace of Yiasemi (from £2; yiasemi.gr). rosé retsina (from £4; oinoscent.com).

Evening Order cocktails at an outdoor table at SUNDAY Mask (from £7; maskathens.com) — once Morning the summer quarters of the 19th-century Ease your foggy head at Six Dogs, where King Otto — before dinner, a short walk you’ll find the city’s hippest drink (iced away in edgy, bar-crammed Psiri. Try coffee) served at its hippest hangout, a Zampano for plump meatballs with tiered garden filled with trees, festoon yoghurt, paired with tsipouro, a liquor lighting and shades-wearing Athenians made with wild grapes from Epirus recovering from last night’s 5am finish (mains from £7; zampano.gr). Finish your (from £3; sixdogs.gr). night on the pavement at Old Fashioned Next up is a rummage through the (beers from £3; Miaouli Street 16). dusty antiques at the flea market on Avissinias Square. You’ll see everything from midcentury dressers to gold lion- SATURDAY head door knobs — a bargain at £26. Morning ATHENS A 25-minute stroll south takes you to Start the day with the old fellas sipping the National Museum of Contemporary Greek coffee — warmed in copper cups in Art in its new home, a former brewery. hot sand — at Mokka (from £2; mokka.gr), Morning: 3,500-year-old relics. Evening: cutting-edge Temporary exhibitions include the work before making the most of your multi-site of the Greek artist Costas Tsoclis until ticket with a wander round the Ancient July 1 (£4; emst.gr). Agora, once the commercial centre. See cuisine. Hannah Summers on the capital of contrasts Outside, catch the number 10 bus the up close — (£1; buy a ticket at a metro station) to the you’ll have spotted its columns from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Acropolis — grab a picture of the headless Center, a shiny new arts hub and home statue of Hadrian, who visited the city GETTING THERE (doubles from £86, B&B; to the Greek National Library and Opera, 18 Micon Six Dogs Kostas when he was emperor of Rome, then pop Mask Wizz Air flies from Luton 18miconstr.com). The designed by Renzo Piano. The sloping Street into the museum, filled with sculpture, Electra from £74 (wizzair.com). downtown Electra grass of the adjoining lavender-scented coins, weaponry and pottery. Nearby Old Fashioned Metropolis Or try Aegean, British Metropolis has a park is a popular new space in the city — stands the 17th-century Fethiye , Hoocut Airways, easyJet or rooftop pool and bar grab some shade beneath a pine tree Avissinias a 17th-century Ottoman building that Panagia Le Greche Ryanair. with Acropolis views and indulge in the classic Athenian Square opened to the public last year. Inside its Kapnikarea (doubles from £145, pastime of people-watching. creamy yellow walls is an exhibition WHERE TO STAY B&B; electrahotels.gr). dedicated to Hadrian (until July 31). Ancient Agora Blue Bird 18 Micon Street is a Afternoon Fethiye trendy new hotel in an Hannah Summers was a Jump in a cab (£8) and loosen your belt for Mosque Afternoon Yiasemi Oinoscent abandoned warehouse guest of Discover one final meal. Seychelles, in the boho Mingle with teenagers on first dates in Areopagus Hill in Psiri with feature walls (discovergreece.com), Metaxourgeio neighbourhood, is where busy Square, then step (exposed brick, prints of culinarybackstreets.com, the city’s in-the-know foodies obsess over down — this is a city built on layers of Acropolis blown-up watch cogs) the hotels mentioned dishes such as tomato fritters, elegant history — into the tiny, fresco-filled 200yds and handmade furniture above, and Wizz Air salads and beef tongue pappardelle 11th-century Church of Panagia (mains from £5; Keramikou 49).