Just around the corner from the Acropolis, Dimotiki Agora (or what English speakers refer to rather lamely as the Athens Central Market) is probably the best place to see modern Athens in all its chaotic glory.

Wandering around the seemingly endless corridors of vendors, if one was so willing or so motivated by their OCD, one could count “some 108 butchers, 150 seafood stands and 80 fruit and vegetable stalls” that cram themselves under a giant glass roof and hawk their goods to some 30,000 locals on a daily basis. (Multiply that number by ten come Christmas, Easter, and interestingly enough, President’s Day. Seems Lincoln is huge in Greece.)

There’s also a number of restaurants that can be found underneath where it’s recommended that you sit down and try a steaming bowl of patsas soup (a tantalizing mixture of bull or lamb stomach wall and lamb feet). And you were just going to pick up a gyro? How lame.

Here’s where you can find the market next time you’re in Athens.

I got tipped off to some pretty amazing roundtrip flight deals that Travelocity is running right now, which in a nutshell are springtime flights to Central/South America for less than what it would otherwise cost you to fly somewhere way colder and far less interesting (I’m thinking of you Duluth!).

Here’s some samples: (Click through for the offer).

• Guatemala City … $179
• Lima … $349
• Buenos Aires … $524
• Rio de Janeiro … $669

Having just re-watched “Maria Full Of Grace” I’m naturally skeptical of anyone offering me free flights to anywhere, let alone to Southeast Asia. But not to worry, instead of a shady guy with a bushy mustache who works out of the back of a pool hall, this offer’s coming from the slightly more reputable AirAsia, the giant low cost airliner in Asia (whose logo looks uncomfortably close to Coke’s, don’t you think?).

Unfortunately for any of you who live anywhere where Michael Jackson is not looked upon with favor anymore, this offer’s limited to flights from Vietnam, Cambodia, Myammar, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, China, and within Thailand. Not a bad excuse to make that last-minute trip to Asia though.

A scant five hour flight from Europe and only seven hours from the frigid, frozen Eastern Seaboard of the U.S., tropical Senegal is gaining popularity as a winter destination for those wishing to whittle away their time from the snow and ice by scuba diving, watching exotic birds, lounging on pristine beaches, and taking in the unique blend of cultures that is this former French colony.

Though five-star resorts have been built to take advantage of the natural beauty here, it’s only a short trip from pretty much anywhere in the country and you can find yourself gazing across the pink water that makes up Senegal’s Dead Sea, Lac Rose; trekking out into the bush for a safari amongst “flat-topped acacias and thousand-year-old baobab trees”; or boating through the vast Sine Saloum Delta, home to 600 species of birds and various water mammals. Or you can stay put where you are and enjoy the cool, arctic breeze blowing outside. It’s your choice.

Seen the Vatican? Done the Coliseum? Walked the . . . well you get it. From decorative crypts to Jetsons-like malls, here are the top 10 lesser known sights around Rome you’re unlikely to find in any travel guide.

By Sarah Parker

1. The Hot Air Balloon in Villa Borghese

Villa Borghese may be one of Rome’s most popular destinations during the warm summer months for locals, but not many visitors know about the giant hot air balloon located here. One of the largest in the world, this offbeat attraction allows you and 29 of your closest friends to rise 150 meters into the sky for some of the best views you can get of Rome, short of walking several thousand steps to the top of a cathedral.

2. The Capuchin Crypt

Located beneath the church of Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini on the Via Veneto, this morbid attraction, perhaps best suited for Halloween time, consists of bones from over 4,000 French monks who are said to have fled their home country for the safety of Rome during the French Revolution and whose bones can now be found decorating the walls of the church’s many chapels in intricate patterns such as crosses, flowers, arches, and other happy shapes. Wondering what time it is? Check out the large clock on the wall composed of vertebrae, foot, and finger bones.

3. Municipal Rose Gardens

Spread out over a compact 2 1/2 acres, Rome’s Municipal Rose Garden (Roseto Comunale di Roma) contains over 1,000 varieties of roses from over twenty different countries, including the green-petaled Chinensis Virdiflora and the foul-smelling Rosa Foetida. Open only during May and June, a trip to the Rose Gardens is an appropriate end to a day spent within the carnage and brutality at the nearby Coliseum.

4. Scala Santa and San Giovanni Basilica

Located across the street from each other, the Basilica of St. John Lateran (Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano) and the Holy Stairs (Scala Santa) are some of the most famous locations for Christian pilgrims. The amazingly ornate Basilica is the cathedral for Rome’s bishop, and has seen many reincarnations since its days in the 1st-century when it was a mansion (now located 5 1/2 meters below its nave). Brought over from Jerusalem in the 4th-century, the Scala Santa are a series of 28 marble steps that are believed to be those steps walked by Jesus on his way to see Pontius Pilate. Today you can watch devotees ascend the stairs on their knees while you sit back enjoying a cool Limoncello.

5. MACRO Rome (Contemporary Art Museum of Rome)

Once the site of a large industrial complex, MACRO (Museum of Contemporary Art Rome) sticks out in a city where it’s hard to find a museum containing works less than a millennium-old. MACRO contains works from Italian artists from the 1960’s on, or what is considered in Rome as “recently.”

6. The Keyhole of the Priorato di Malta

One of Rome’s oddest attractions, if you stoop down to look through the keyhole of the Priorato di Malta located in the Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta, you’ll get a perfectly framed view of the dome of San Pietro, an effect apparently planned by the architect of the surrounding building. Perfect for a romantic evening of two or for that out-of-town visitor that really loves keyholes.

7. Porta di Roma Shopping Center

Rome’s newest and one of Europe’s largest, the Porta di Roma is a 150,000 square-meter mall consisting of 220 shops along with various restaurants, four tennis courts, two football pitches, and an indoor gym with a swimming pool. Tired from all that walking around you’ve been doing in the Ancient City? You’re in luck. The mall contains a series of moving sidewalks, escalators, and upholstered seating to aid your weary feet.

8. Trattoria Remo

Found in Piazza San Maria Liberatrice, Remo is almost as well known for their long lines as they are for their their giant thin-crust pizzas. Consistently ranked as one of the top-10 spots for pizza in Rome (which is saying alot ), you can also pick up some authentic cooking supplies like rice and mozzarella filled breadcrumb coating at this local institution.

9. Ristorante-Caffe’ Lo Zodiaco

This quaint cafe on Viale del Parco Mellini offers breathtaking views of historic Rome from high above. One of the lesser-known by tourists, this cafe is especially romantic at night when the meals are served by candlelight beneath gigantic windows framing the city nightscape. Note: if your girlfriend is heading here with a Roman “friend” you may be in store for some trouble.

10. Villa d’Este

Visiting Rome makes it apparent that no one lived better throughout the years here than the members of the Church. Villa d’Este is a testament to the power and grandeur even a Cardinal can bring to a building project when he shows a little interest. Built in the 16th-century by order of Cardinal Ippolito II d’Este, this palatial estate boasts some of the most beautiful gardens in Europe and serves as one of the finest models of Renaissance culture

Travel to Vietnam has been exploding during the last few years, with over 4,000,000 international travelers in 2007 alone (a 268% increase from 1998), and it’s probably fair to say that the Vietnam’s well-deserved reputation for food has helped drive this surge.

Far more the pho, Vietnam’s busting at the seams with restaurants serving muc nuong muo ot (grilled squid served with chilies and salt), oc nhoi thit (snail shells stuffed with minced pork and lemongrass), and bun thit nuong (grilled minced pork served with fresh basil and mint, shredded cucumber and carrot, bits of lettuce, and chopped peanuts).

Here’s a few suggestions when in Saigon for where to try some of the best of the above, one of the coolest sounding places being Quan An Ngon, a restaurant that recreates the chaotic and eclectic vibe of the food market, and featuring some 19 separate stalls, each providing their own in-house live cooking show for the diner.

Did I mention that entrees in Vietnam average around USD$3? Yeah, that may also help to explain it’s popularity.

I can admit that I watch way more public television than anyone under the age of 50 probably should (or should admit to), but where else would you find a documentary about two semi-unhinged guys who set out in their mid-40’s to retrace Marco Polo’s journey through some of the roughest and most dangerous parts of the world?

It turns out that they’re really not that unhinged, they’re just two guys who love to travel for most of the same reasons the rest of us love to travel: the love of adventure, the chance to meet new people, the addiction to experiencing other cultures. For my favorite part, check out around 6:25 on the second-to-last segment called “Return To Venice” where the guys look back on their epic two-year trek and remark how the trip helped them discover that the world really has more good people than bad and how “travel is the enemy of bigotry.” So true. I couldn’t put it any better.

Ever since I got back from Colombia last week I’ve been noticing this odd trend every time I’m riding on the subway home to Brooklyn: there seems to be more and more girls who look like famous photographer Annie Liebowitz. What’s with that? Did this trend catch on during the 11 days that I left the country? Was this some sort of coordinated effort that I failed to hear about? Or maybe it’s not that everyone else is looking more and more like Annie Liebowitz, it’s just that I am looking less and less like her. I’m not sure.

Martin Luther King Day in Reykjavik? Valentine’s Day in Stockholm? St. Patrick’s Day in Copenhagen? Umm . . . National Quilting Day in Oslo? (I ran out of major holidays, but what better place then Oslo to celebrate your fondness for quilting?)

Iceland Air just announced some really kick-ass deals on flights throughout Scandinavia now through March, 2009. Having just been in June, I can say that these prices are almost 50% lower than what you’d normally pay. Of course temperatures are also more than half of what they would be in the summer, but . . .

Here’s their advertised lows:

• Reykjavik, Iceland … $399
• Stockholm, Sweden … $449
• Copenhagen, Denmark … $449
• Oslo, Norway … $449

Anyone had time to check out Lonely Planet’s recent online makeover? Apparently LP ditched it’s old, clunky design featuring limited helpful information and loads of self-promoting ads for a clunky, blog-style site featuring limited helpful information and loads of self-promoting ads. I use Lonely Planet guides as much as the next guy when I travel, but you’d think a publication so aimed at young, savvy travelers would do a little better with their online presence. Any thoughts? Does anyone even really use LonelyPlanet.com for any reason other than for the Thorn Tree Forum?