Monocle Weekend
Edition: Saturday

Celebrations are in full swing, shopping streets are at their bustling best and Monocle’s London Christmas market is primed and merry as this week’s dispatch lands. We’re taking a look at the Notre-Dame’s fresh vestments, trying our luck at Spain’sEl Gordolottery, talking tourism with Iceland’s former first lady and making tracks in the Bregenzerwald with the Monocle Concierge. We begin in Athens, where Andrew Tuck has some winter sun overhead.

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On Tuesday afternoon I was taken to lunch in Athens. Now that’s a nice sentence. It was nudging past 20C as we walked to the restaurant and the warm winter sunshine was making the city look like it had been dipped in syrup. It was about 14.00 when we took our seats, the place was empty (this is not a city that believes in eating early) but over the next hour interesting clusters of diners inhabited table after table. On one side of us we had an amorous couple in their fifties who were surely headed for bed after dessert, on the other side was a family stretching across three generations, all happy and alive to each other. Who were all these cool people that could head off for an extended lunch on a Tuesday afternoon? And, more importantly, was their club open to new permanent members?

Akra is in Pangrati, a neighbourhood that’s seeing an uptick of interest. It’s beautiful with lots of fine apartment buildings from the 1950s and 1960s, their lobbies generous and inviting. En route we walked past hardware stores and fruit-and-veg shops but also cute bars and a lot of busy restaurants. You can see why people would want to live here. Akra opened in 2023 and it’s a hit. Owned by Ioannis Loukakis and Spyros Pediaditakis, it takes the concept of the open kitchen to a new level. The chefs cook away at the back of the space, while on both sides of the restaurant dishes are assembled and pastries baked. You almost wonder if you should offer to help.

My hosts, Iro and Chelmis, did the ordering and with commitment. A ball of bright green chicory came with a soft goat’s cheese; grilled beetroot was surrounded by fried capers and almonds; chickpeas and mushrooms arrived as a stew in a hot pan. Every piece of tableware – bowl, plate and platter – was impeccable. By the time puddings landed (a borderline life-changing chocolate tart with salted caramel and milk ice cream), the call of Athens was loud and clear.

Now I am not telling you this to make you jealous but because Akra is just one of the entries in Greece: The Monocle Handbook (the latest in a series that also includes Portugal, Spain and France). The book is officially out in February but we have pre-release stashes at our shops in London, Zürich and Merano as well as online – and I’d encourage you to nab one. Greece wants to entice visitors to explore, to go beyond the same few island hangouts, to enjoy new neighbourhoods and to come to the country year-round. And I hope that our Handbook adds to this mission.

We toasted the pre-launch on Monday evening with a party, in partnership with the Greek National Tourism Organisation and the minister of tourism, Olga Kefalogianni, for some 200 guests at the Athéneé restaurant. The ambition in the room was extraordinary – hoteliers, restaurateurs and designers – all thinking big about what’s next for Greece and how they can deliver projects at scale in a sensitive way that protects all that makes this country special. My Tuesday lunch dates, for example, are working on the transformation of Athens’s modernist gem, the old Hilton, into the Ilisian, a destination with residences, a hotel, numerous restaurants and a vast private members’ club.

So here’s what I suggest you do. Get a copy of the Handbook, book a flight and go explore. See this ambition – and more of this country – for yourself. And try to secure a table at Akra, if salted caramel is not your thing, have a taste of the coffee tart with hazelnut instead, and then walk through the city in the golden glow of winter.

You can buy a copy of ‘Greece: The Monocle Handbook’ here.

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Finally, some Crimble business. Today and tomorrow we are hosting the London edition of our Christmas market at Monocle’s Midori House HQ. It’s a chance to snap up gifts (including The Handbook), glug some Glühwein, meet Santa and say hello to the reindeer (they’re quite affable). Of course, the Monocle crew will also be in attendance, so please pop by to make merry. Head to monocle.com/events to find out more.

Fashion touches every aspect of French culture, including the outer vestments that clerics wear during mass. To mark the reopening of the Notre-Dame, the archbishop of Paris commissioned designer and artist Jean-Charles de Castelbajac to create liturgical garments for the cathedral’s bishops and priests. Castelbajac, who is best known for his primary-coloured, pop-art-inspired work, incorporated some of his playful aesthetic onto the minimalist, off-white garments in the form of colourful blue, yellow and green patches that surround a large gold cross.

The idea was to reflect the cathedral’s stained-glass windows. The garments are elegant and bold, and a representation of France’s ongoing commitment to preserving its craft traditions. Castelbajac worked with le19M, the Chanel-owned home of some of the country’s best artisanal workshops, to produce the garments. To apply the gold to the fabric, embroiderer Lesage employed a heat transfer process known as sublimation. It’s a look fit for a historic cultural moment.

Spain celebrates Christmas across three distinct days (writes Liam Aldous). There’s the traditional evening feast of 24 December and the official day of gift-giving on 6 January, which conjures up the generosity of los reyes magos, the treasure-bearing wise men of Bible fame. Both of these better-known festivities are preceded by an even bigger eruption of seasonal cheer: the country’s national-lottery draw, which glues almost everyone to their TV screens on the morning of 22 December.

Commonly known as El Gordo (the fat one), the Christmas lottery started in 1812. This year’s prize pool will dish out €2.7bn to a syndicate of winners who often spray cava over the camera crews that patiently stake out some of the 11,000-plus ticket offices.

The annual tradition has no shortage of idiosyncratic tropes. There’s the saccharine, sing-songy voices of the children announcing the winners over three long hours. And the accompanying advertising campaign, which has the fanfare of a short-film premiere. This year’s advert is a real tear-jerker, touching on timely themes such as small-town depopulation and modern loneliness.

But the biggest seasonal miracle is the lottery’s capacity to rally the country round a rare expression of national unity. Rather than just one winner there are upwards of nine million, with each €200 ticket divided into décimos (tenths) that cost just €20 each. This sees groups of friends, relatives and colleagues band together to stake their fortunes on one (hopefully) lucky number. The myriad cash prizes have been known to change the lives of entire families, workplaces and small villages forever.

Spare a thought for Costis Mitsotakis, who was the sole resident of Sodeto to miss out on the €740m main prize back in 2011 because the women’s association selling the tickets simply couldn’t be bothered walking to his house on the town’s outskirts. He made a documentary about the modern tragedy to compensate for his misfortune. Stories such as these about the fear of missing out are all part of the lore that brings the country together to celebrate, invest and dream about winning the big one.

Tokyo-based Auralee has joined forces with New Balance for a fresh take on the US label’s 990 running shoe (writes Maria Papakleanthous). First showcased in January at Paris’s Men’s Fashion Week, this new iteration of the Made in USA 990v4 was finally released yesterday.

It’s available in two colourways: taupe, accented with muted blue detailing, and dusty blue, with hints of lime green. The limited-edition kicks are a celebration of American and Japanese craft, combining quality with design sophistication. They come in a custom shoebox and are up for grabs at select brand shops across the globe.

While reporting for our Austria survey for The Monocle Entrepreneurs, we visited the bucolic Bregenzerwald region. It’s a place where the Western and Eastern Alps meet and rolling hills are kept trimmed, whether by lawnmower or grazing cow, and most buildings sport a neat layer of wood shingles.

For a full rundown of the region’s offerings, from hotels with a great spa to the best handmade ravioli, pick up a copy today.

In 2004, Canadian writer Eliza Reid married Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson, an Icelandic historian and politician. From 2016 to 2024, Jóhannesson served as his country’s sixth president. Reid promoted Iceland’s tourism industry as first lady; here, she tells Monocle about how its hotels are beacons of sustainability and why you should visit the country year-round.

How did you get involved in celebrating Iceland as a tourist destination?
I started a long time ago. I used to work for a magazine called Iceland Review and was the editor of Icelandair’s in-flight magazine for a number of years. Then my husband was elected president and I had the opportunity to travel around. In 2017 I was named the UN’s special ambassador for tourism and was given the chance to talk about my adopted homeland in terms of sustainability and the ways in which experiencing other countries can help with global understanding.

What challenges did you face in the role?
We had opportunities rather than challenges. For example, a volcano with an unpronounceable name erupted a number of years ago, forcing airspace across Europe to close down. So we created a campaign telling people that Iceland was perhaps closer than they thought. Tourism took off in the country and now we work to promote sustainable travel – focusing on one area; travelling at any time of the year, not necessarily during the high season; respecting nature. To me, sustainability has to do with the people and the values of a country. I know that when I visit Iceland, the people at the hotel are paid a fair wage. And I know that I won’t be turned away because of my race, gender or sexual identity. These are important things that travellers are looking for today. Plus, we have some great hot springs.

What makes Iceland appealing as a year-round destination?
One of the best things about visiting a new destination is meeting and interacting with the people, and that’s something you can do at any time of the year. Every season is different. If you go in the summer, you have 24-hour daylight. You can travel very easily around the whole country and see all of its natural wonders. Wonderful cultural festivals take place in the darker season: music, literature, art and more. And, of course, you can see the northern lights.

For more top travel tips, dive into Monocle’s bumperDecember/January issue, available now online and on newsstands. Or, better yet,subscribeso that you never miss an inside word. Have a super Saturday.