Don't mind the octopi hanging up to dry

Wrapped in little more than a sarong, you soak up the panoramic view from the portside taverna as the sun slowly sinks into the dazzling Aegean Sea.

In the fading light you reach into the bread basket, breaking off chunks of white fluffy bread to mop up olive oil from your Greek salad. Metres away, dinner is being pulled fresh from the net and onto the port.

After another round of retsina (wine flavoured with pine tree resin), your grilled sea bream arrives, sizzling hot and flavoured with lemon and olive oil.

With its balmy summer evenings and restaurant balconies delivering sweeping Mediterranean vistas, Greece is surely the best country in Europe to dine alfresco.

Eating is the Greeks' favourite pastime; meals are best savoured slowly, with friends and family and a steady stream of ouzo.

Greek cuisine is varied, hearty and absolutely delectable. You might be tempted to order the kind of fare you find in Greek restaurants the world over: stuffed vegetables, bowls of olives, taramasalata, dolmades, mousaka, fried cheese, Greek salad, pasta (the Greeks are convinced they invented it) and souvlaki.

But there's so much more to sample here - tripe or lentil soup; sheep's yogurt - served with fruit and nuts and drizzled with honey; green beans, okra and chickpeas; razor clams, squid and octopus (don't mind the latter as it hangs out to dry like washing) or for the truly adventurous or downright hungry - fried sheep's testicles.