If Berlin is for sausages then Greece is for lovers….and for: white pant enthusiasts, classical architecture buffs, party goers, hard core tanners, handsome coppers, moustaches, lazy dogs, friendly pigeons and people who like to eat (a lot). Greece is for Lovers is also the name of a talented design collective based in Athens. Vasso Damkou, Thanos Karampatsos and Christina Kotsilelou make up the core of a creative crew, whose creations, whilst taking a bit of a dig at the traditional Greek establishment, are beautifully made and seriously cool. Here reside the perfect gifts for the possession-ally well endowed.

Picky skater: check out Ridden in stone or Tougher than leather (for the “7ply Project” exhibitions organised by Propaganda Rolling Co). Skating has never been so…erm…archaic? Urbane imbiber: Hooker’s delight – a martini glass with finely crafted, gold plated olive snare. Cradle of civilization, indeed!

Regular letter receiver or mildly aggressive classics major: Prepare yourself with Zeus! A solid brass letter knife that affords dealing to your paper-enabled correspondence with style and a healthy level of fury. General worthy recipient (this may indeed be oneself) – take your pick from such treats as bikini based bottle holders, candles (R.I.P relationships) and hand knitted/knotted ipod sleeves that will have Gran salivating into her BitTorrents.

So, if you’re popping by the Parthenon it would be criminal not to take a hop, skip and/or jump to their store on 13a Karyatidon Str. Here you will find one or more of the team (maybe even Constantine, if he is ‘just passing by’), a big friendly dog (Akira) and a selection of their finest products. The closest metro line is Line 2 – Akropolis stop (red). They are open from 10:00am to 6pm on weekdays and from 11:00am to 3:00pm on Saturdays.

Athens not on the itinerary this week? Luckily you can find them online at: www.greeceisforlovers.com or http://www.greeceisforlovers.blogspot.com/

…if these guys are anything to go by it would seem that Athens doesn’t suck much at all.