greeking out / athens guide

feta late than never! 🇬🇷

Sun-soaked streets, clouders of cats dozing under park hedges and enough feta cheese to feed a family of five. Yes, you guessed it, this one’s in Athens.

The Greek capital is known for many things. Ancient landmarks? Tick. Tales of angry Gods? Ticks. Great food? Say less. Despite it being in the shoulder season (November), when I stepped off the plane I was greeted with a lick of warm winter sunshine. I was there as part of a pit-stop support crew for two friends who were about to tackle the Athens Marathon. The original, authentic race starts in the nearby town of Marathon. One of them is half Greek, with his family being from the city making the trip extra special.

The Authentic Marathon

If you’re not interested in the origin story of the marathon, scroll on, I end up talking about food and fun things further down. But for those of you who are also interested in the self-flagellating horror that is long-distance running - hello!

The tale goes that after the Greek army defended itself against the Persians in the Battle of Marathon (490 BCE), a lone messenger called Pheidippides was instructed to spread the news of their victory back in Athens, just over 27 miles away. While this legend is almost certainly not true, in fact, it likely comes from the 19th-century poem by Robert Browning, the Greeks do have an inarguable rich sporting history.