(No website found at time of publishing) – Olympia, Greece

How I heard of this place: Walking through town after our late lunch, we came across a man, Georgos, seated at a cafe, drinking coffee and smoking a cigarette. He stopped us to say hello, ask us where we were from, and give us suggestions on beautiful villages to visit in the southern part of the country. We asked him for his favorite pastry/dessert shop and he immediately sent us 50 meters up the road and around the corner to this spot.

Type of cuisine: House-made sweets including baklava and pastries, as well as a number of other sweet treats, including local honey and jams (sour cherry and apricot), biscuits, cookies, ice cream, potato chips and more.

Ambiance: The floor-to-high-ceiling windows surrounding the entire length of the storefront enticed us to enter this mini-mart, which also sells house-made sweets. Beyond the backs of refrigerators of soda, the glass display of a dozen handmade baklava and sweet treats entice the eye. It was easy to disregard the many packaged items also on sale in the store, including gum, crackers and sweet biscuits, wrapped candy and ice cream, not to mention locally made jams, among other things. We were most interested in one thing: baklava.

What I ordered: We selected one large triangle of baklava and one round of shredded wheat. One for me. One for Chris. In that order. (Although, I will have to sneak a taste of the shredded wheat.)

What I loved:

Why I loved it: I most loved the sweet, old man, my height, who packed up a beautiful box with our two selections, smiled sincerely and nodded deeply when I asked if he made the pastries.

Cost: Low (€1.50 per large piece of baklava)