"All right, folks!" Raiden said with an enthusiastic clap of his hands once everyone had assembled. "This week we're heading to my country of origin, although I've never actually been where we're going today, because one of my brothers is...dramatic." No, not that one. "See, I'm from Corinth, which is a little bit west of where we'll be going today: Athens, Greece! Athens is one of the oldest cities in the world, with a recorded history going back almost three and a half thousand years, and evidence of people living in the area going back to...like...thirteen thousand years ago. In ancient times, Athens was one of the most powerful city-states in what is now Greece, and it's considered the birthplace of democracy and the cradle of what we consider Western civilization. In modern times, the metropolitan area is home to almost a third of the population of Greece, home to numerous museums and historical sites like the Acropolis...and they've got some very delicious food.

"Greek food is a Mediterranean diet, which means that it's based on certain things: wheat; olive oil, wine, and seafood traditionally more than red meat, although these days meat is more common...though usually sheep or goat over beef, because the terrain in most of Greece isn't overly suited to cattle. Greece was one of the earliest wine-producing areas in the world, and the olive oil and yogurt from Greece are renowned worldwide. They use a lot of phyllo, which is very thin sheets of dough used for making pastries, both sweet like baklava and savory like spanakopita. Some other Greek foods you may be familiar with include feta cheese, moussaka, which is a delicious baked eggplant casserole with ground lamb, horiatiki, more commonly known in English as 'Greek salad,' tzatziki, a sauce made of that delicious Greek yogurt and cucumber, and gyros or souvlaki, the Greek version of fast food made from meat roasted on a spit. While we're in Athens I would also encourage you to try retsina, a wine made with pine resin that's been produced since ancient times, or ouzo, an anise-flavored spirit." If you did try both of these, you might be left with the suspicion that Raiden was secretly evil. Or you might like them. Who could say?

"I'm starving, so let's head through our portal to Athens and get started on our self-guided food tour!"