Coffee runs through the Greek veins and sitting in the local cafe a favourite pastime. Seeing the old men in the old-school kafenio’s (basic cafes) screams ‘Greece’ on every level. Coffee is taken very seriously; it’s considered an unhurried, sacred time.

A brief history

It’s said the world’s first coffee shop was opened by Greeks in 1475 in Constantinople – occupied by the Turks and now known as Istanbul.

Wherever you travel in Greece, you’ll find a kafenia in village squares with men playing tavli (a board game similar to backgammon) outside or more modern coffee shops, not quite offering the Starbucks range, but nonetheless always offering the famous elleniko kafe that’s brewed using a briki – a small cylindrical pouring device with spout and handle to boil the coffee.