There's no time like the ancient present

Athens, cradle of civilisation, is enjoying a rapid renaissance, says Luke Abrahams, and the best time to visit is right now

- Luke Abrahams

WHEN you think of Greece, chances are that visions of rocky isles crowned by cerulean skies slide into view. Yet, although the allure of that blinding Grecian summer sun runs deep, there's something wildly special about experiencing somewhere on your own terms, out of season. There are fewer crowds and better rates, but, more importantly, it gives you the rare experience of getting to know a city or a place as the locals do.

I last set foot in Athens 10 years ago. Since then, its grungy, graffiti-lined back streets have changed beyond recognition. Today, it's a city of muses, somewhere that writers, artists and culinary talents congregate to help nurse the Athenian renaissance. Its ascendency or re-ascendency-to southern Europe's new capital of cool does not come as a surprise to Andria Mitsakos, a local PR entrepreneur and the owner of a popular concept store called Anthologist (www.anthologist.com). Athens's 'moment' was born, she says, out of 'crisis'. Grexit (Greece's potential withdrawal from the EU) has been sowing its seeds of uncertainty since the mid 2010s, but it is precisely this turmoil, Ms Mitsakos explains, that has caused waves of creativity. 'Athens is constantly evolving and when one realises that the city was the cradle of civilisation and the incubator of so much when it comes to design, architecture, poetry, politics, theatre, philosophy and sexuality, that feeling becomes infectious.'