This week on the Travel with Rick Steves radio show: Learn about the societal roles and everyday lives of the women of Pompeii. Then get recommendations from a Greek tour guide for some islands that should be on your radar for your next visit. And take a walk on the Emerald Isle's weird side with a local collector of all things offbeat, outlandish, and delightfully Irish. Find your local station, subscribe to the podcast, or listen online at ricksteves.com/radio. #RickSteves #RickStevesEurope #K

Welcome to Greece! On Day 2 of the Athens & the Heart of Greece in 14 Days Tour, we explore the oldest district in Athens — the Plaka. Take a peek at the neighborhood in this clip from Rick Steves’ Europe — and check out our full tour itinerary at www.ricksteves.com/tours/greece-turkey/greece. | Rick Steves' Europe

Just a few hundred yards offshore in the Aegean Sea, a gigantic rock shoots improbably up from the blue-green deep. We visit Monemvasia on Day 8 of the Athens & the Heart of Greece Tour. After an orientation walk, the rest of your day is free to wander around the romantic walled town…or take a swim in the Aegean. Join us: ricksteves.com/tours/greece-turkey/greece | Rick Steves' Europe

The Rick Steves Athens & the Heart of Greece tour is an odyssey of time-travel thrills, from Athens' majestic Acropolis to the must-see ancient sites of Delphi, Olympia, Epidavros, and Mycenae. With knowledge and a nudge from your Rick Steves guide, you'll walk among marble monuments where Plato pondered, splash in the turquoise Aegean where Odysseus sailed, gaze up at god-dwelling mountains, sample family-crafted olives and wines — and maybe learn to play backgammon at a whitewashed taverna on

We encourage our guides to work with us in finding fun experiences for our groups. We’ll see the great art, of course, but we can make art as well (as you’ll see tour guide Angelos from Athens demonstrate). Anna Piperato (Siena & Italy Tours with Anna), one of our lead guides from Siena, introduced us to her friend Caterina Balletti, who has a “flash art” studio in Florence (Caterina Balletti Flash Art). The visit costs about $100 for the entire group, it comes with Prosecco, and a couple of tou