Many tourists choose to skip Athens on their itineraries to Greece, wrongly assuming that all there is to see here is the iconic acropolis. While it may not be as beautiful as other European cities, it has a run-down charm. It may not be beautiful, but it is everything else!

Ms. Eleni sits on Voukourestiou Street in downtown Athens wrapping small bouquets of lavender to sell to passers-by…

She sells these for 2 euros per bunch and keeps them fresh in a basin filled with water.

88-year-old Mr. Vasilis makes ends meet by selling corn on the cob and chestnuts across from the Athens Stock Exchange on Sophocleous Street.

He came to Athens from Trikala in 1952 and has held this spot under the sweltering heat of the sun and in the rain. Sixty years have seen various fluctuations in business that is now at its lowest point.

Graffiti is everywhere. It seems that the economic crisis has spurted on a burst of creative malaise. This work by STMT is on a building on Harilaou Trikoupi Street, just down the road from the majestic buildings that hosue the Academy of Athens and University.

The numbers of the new homeless have increased since the start of the crisis.

A drug addict sits on one of the neglected buildings on Panepistimiou Street as pedestrians walk by just as they do in other large cities around the world- coldly indifferent and oblivious to his plight.

Two cash-strapped youths start a duet and begin busking on busy streets.

Within 48 hours they become a quartet…

There’s a lockage on many stores, but music is everywhere.

On busy Ermou Street in the heart of Syntagma, a fountain designed by famous sculpture Kyriakos Rokos sits shamefully dry and derelict… The graffiti scrawled on its base says “Never on a Sunday” refering to the recent legislation that allows shops to be open seven days a week.

The art of pantomime in Greece bears no relation to the excquisite talent shown by French mime artists.

The artist who owns this studio on Methoni Street (at the height of Mavromichali Street) couldn’t contain his creative flare within the confines of his workshop. At the base of the work he writes, “Sometimes I feel taller than a tree.” It began as a dash of color over his doorway but seems to be taking over the entire street. At this rate, he’ll soon reach Omonia Square.

Just one of the derelict neoclassical buildings of Athens that betrays an old world grandeur.

Once residences for the gentry, some of these are home to squatters.

Old and new architecture sit side by side.

A beggar hopes that somebody will take pity on his plight.

And suddenly a miracle happens. Yes! He can walk!

Despite the beggars, stray dogs and stray people the city manages to survive and retain a peculiar funky charm.

Do you have any photos of the “real” Athens with ugliness and beauty, sleekness and silliness all intertwined?