Panos Retsos: 'We live life more day by day'

Panos, which 04 places do you definitely have to visit in Greece?
Retsos: Of course, there's Athens and Thessaloniki, the second biggest city in the country. Then there's definitely Crete and the Peloponnese, the peninsula in the south of the mainland.

What do you think is typically Greek?
Retsos: Eating together with the extended family with nanna, grandad, uncles, cousins and so on. The Greeks make a lot of time for that.

Where did you grow up?
Retsos: I was born in Johannesburg in South Africa but moved to Greece at the age of two and I grew up near Athens, to be more exact in Agios Dimitrios, a place south of Athens.

Who do you think is the greatest Greek ever?
Retsos: Aristotle, for me our greatest philosopher.

Your favourite Greek dish?
Retsos: Pastitsio, our type of pasta bake. It tastes better than Italian lasagne...

What don't you like so much about your fellow countrymen?
Retsos: Well, sometimes we are rather disorganised. In Germany nearly every family has an itinerary for the whole week – I like that. It's completely different in Greece. We don't look so far ahead and live life more day by day.

Your secret tip for tourists?
Retsos: I'll have to pass on that one. But although people might groan: You have to see the Acropolis! That's definitely not a secret tip but it's an incredibly impressive structure.

What smell do you associate with Greece?
Retsos: The sea air I breathe when I drive on a coast road with the window open.

Your favourite football club in Greece?
Retsos: Olympiacos, my hometown club.