Arriving in Athens was bittersweet. As the final stop in our trip, it marked the wind down of an amazing three week journey across Turkey and Greece, with a brief side-trip to Paris. Although I was admittedly reluctant to give up island living, especially the Mediterranean beaches, small towns and relaxed atmosphere, I was excited to see what the Greek capital had to offer.

It was quite apparent that Athens, the pillar of Greece, has been hit hard by the country's recession. The city is hardly sugar-coated with the same tourist appeal as the islands, nor does it boast the same beautiful landscapes and beaches. Most buildings are covered in graffiti, and the city lacks the polished image of other well-known capitals across Europe. But, despite the city's rough-around-the-edges feel, it was a great way to see Greece from a big-city perspective.

Unlike within the Cyclades, the tourist areas are confined to a very small area of the city. It's evident because the menus begin to cater to North American visitors, the streets are suddenly proper and everything is in English. But Athens is a sprawling city, and outside of these tiny tourist boundaries it becomes a living Eastern European city. Prices drop dramatically, food options become more authentic and you feel like you've suddenly entered the real Athens. After a morning of shopping, we wandered a bit further than planned and came across the Athens meat and fish market. Avoiding the meat area, we dove right into the fish market. Fish, squid and octopus were being flung from buckets onto crisp trays of ice, the cement floors were covered in puddles of water and vendors shouted their prices and products in Greek to passing customers. I'm slightly surprised that I didn't find any unsuspecting sardines that had made their way into my bags later on, because that market was certainly an experience.

Clearly I didn't get my lunch from the market that day, but Athens did offer up a plethora of food options. Whether it was the bakery-made spanokopita each morning, the frappés at Coffee Island, the locally-sourced rich & creamy Greek yogurt with honey, walnuts, black cherry and every other fruit compote you could imagine at Fresko Yogurt Bar, or even the crispy loukoumades topped with ice cream, I accumulated multiple 'favorite spots' in Athens that I wish I could have brought back with me to Toronto. Although maybe not all the healthiest options, food is definitely an important part of Greek culture and lifestyle, and therefore should be enjoyed to the fullest (or that's what I like to tell myself, anyway).

As I mentioned before, leaving Athens was bittersweet. Not necessarily because I wanted to stay in Athens for the rest of my life, but I was flying home after a trip that I had been eagerly awaiting for quite some time. From riding a black Vespa in Paris, enjoying authentic Turkish delight and tea in Istanbul, hot air ballooning at sunrise in Cappadoccia, relaxing on the Turkish Riviera and crossing borders in Bodrum, watching the sun set in Santorini, exploring an old Greek town in Naxos, experiencing the nightlife of Mykonos and finally, seeing the Acropolis perched atop of Athens. These all embody the Aventurière way of travel, where travel is not a check-list of things to see, but rather a collection of diverse experiences across the globe.

Until next time, Europe.

Arrival in Athens