Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

Birmingham, England

I love Greece. In a month's time, I'll be taking another trip in speedos and flip flops around the islands of the Cyclades.

Football has been on a high in the country since their victory at Euro 2004, with most main tourist resorts doing a roaring trade in Hellas replica shirts ever since.

So when the opportunity arose to go to Athens as part of my Euro 2008 jaunt, it wasn't one to be sniffed at.

The 'Athens' taverna is in the centre of Birmingham and close enough to the town hall that, pie-eyed on retsina, you might imagine its majestic stone pillars are those of the .

The chef at Athens is exactly the sort of person we were hoping to meet on the road. He claims to have played for Panathinaikos in the late 1960s and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the team. He's also a mean cook, serving up his speciality of mince in tomato sauce with pasta covered in creamy bΓ©chamel sauce and baked in oven.

At times, Athens resembled a scene from a Greek comedy. Plumber Kostas and his brother Yiannis dropped in to watch the but found themselves called upon to mend the cistern in the upstairs ladies' loo before kick-off.

All guests were, however, deadly serious about their football. They sat stony-faced as the reigning champions brand of containment failed them this time around.

Even the much-vaunted local belly dancer let them down,failing to turn up.