Editor's note: In the latest installment of our recurring feature, First Stop, we asked chef and artist Dilara Erbay where she stops first for food when she heads to Istanbul. Erbay interprets traditional Turkish flavors from a global perspective through her company, Abracadabra. Her children's cookbook, published in Turkey, explores alternative, healthy ways for children to eat.

Whether you are arriving in Athens by ship or airplane, both the port and the airport are near enough to be able to venture out and enjoy a little bit of the city if you have at least a few hours. The airport is 35 to 40 minutes by metro from downtown Athens (but be sure to take into account a 10- to 15-minute wait). Coming from the port is more complicated, as Piraeus is enormous. Opposite gates E5 and E6 you can find the electric railway, which connects to the metro and can take you straight to the heart of the city.

Though the summer intensity has passed in North India, a glimmer of cooler mornings awaits, on the sidelines of Old Delhi. Dust never settles, it just gets redistributed and then the heat lacquers every surface. Each corner of this ancient city is coated with infinite layers: strata of memories, migrants, languages, castes, foods, architectures, monumental and streetside mandirs and masjids. Even sounds and smells alight upon or crash against ears and noses.

On November 9, Catalonia conducted a straw poll on independence, with more than 80 percent voting in favor of secession, and more than 10 percent voting for statehood without independence. In spite of a ruling from Spain’s Constitutional Court to suspend the vote, the regional government, under the leadership of Catalan president Artur Mas, was able to proceed with this more symbolic poll thanks to support from 40,930 volunteers. The general atmosphere was civil and calm, but the prevailing mood was clear from the numerous flags, pro-independence T-shirts and yellow signs everywhere proclaiming, “We want a new country!”

Even we sometimes find that our palates have grown weary of rakı and eggplant salad. Lately, when that happens, we’ve been heading over to the Asian side of Istanbul for unique Iranian-Turkish mezes and hearty carafes of Aegean red wine at Şiraz, a tiny meyhane in the Moda neighborhood of Kadıköy.

The second-richest man in the world. A five-foot-two, billboard-topping, belly-dancing bilingual pop singer. A right-wing São Paulo governor, mayor and congressman wanted in the U.S. on charges of money laundering of the multimillion-dollar order. Three presidents of Ecuador and one of Colombia. Together they speak to a hemispheric truism: In Latin America, Lebanese immigrants and their descendants are a force to be reckoned with.

La Boquería is undoubtedly one of the most famous markets in the world, but there are 43 markets spread across Barcelona, each with its own unique charms. Once a year, they can be experienced all at the same time, in the same place. From October 17 to 19, 265,000 visitors thronged the square in front of Barcelona Cathedral for the fifth edition of the Mercat de Mercats (Market of Markets) festival, which gathered 40 stalls, 30 local artisan producers, 40 chefs with 17 Michelin stars between them and 14 of the city’s best restaurants. The festival offers an amazing opportunity for locals and tourists to taste the dazzling array of Catalan flavors and to get to know the city’s neighborhood markets.

The first time we approached the stand of the legendary fish sandwich man, we were pleasantly surprised by what we saw: a dark, portly man with a glorious mustache (hence Mario, our nickname for him) turning fish on a portable grill cart next to the Karaköy waterfront. He had a long line of people patiently waiting for an hour to get their order in. He is surrounded by other balık ekmekçi trying desperately to ride the wave of his success, but they struggle to survive.

There’s more to downtown D.F. than tourist attractions, however. It is the cultural, political and economic heart of the city and the country. Any item imaginable can be bought downtown. There’s the lighting district as well as one for appliances, clothing, electronics, printing and a long list of others. For generations, people have been going there to buy by the piece or wholesale to supply small businesses all over the country.

Let us begin with a little Greek mythology. Hermes – son of Zeus, god of thieves and commerce and messenger of Olympus – and Krokos, a mortal youth, were best friends. One day, while the two friends were practicing their discus throwing, Hermes accidentally hit Crocus on the head and wounded him fatally. On the very spot where he was felled, a beautiful flower sprang up. Three drops of blood from Krokos’s head fell on the center of the flower, from which three stigmas grew. This is just one of many origin stories for Crocus sativus, or the saffron crocus, whose crimson stigmas are harvested to make the highly prized spice of the same name.

Shanghai offers a huge range of dining at every price point imaginable. Fortunately for us, cost is not necessarily commensurate with quality in this town; you don’t have to break the bank to eat well. In fact, some of our favorite eateries offer bargain set lunches. Mi Xiang Yuan Hidden down an alley, Mi Xiang Yuan, a Shanghainese joint owned by a local celebrity chef and his family, serves affordable set lunches that bring in the crowds. Try their marinated pork rice bowl (卤肉饭, lǔròu fàn) or "lion’s head meatballs" (蛤蜊牛蒡肉圆套餐, gélí niúbàng ròu yuán tàocān), and you’ll also get a side of soup, tofu and vegetables of the day plus a bowl of rice, all for less than 30 RMB ($5), no matter which benbang main you try. You can’t beat that price in the Xintiandi neighborhood.

Rio’s small traditional bars, known as botequins, are by definition simple establishments, where orders are usually taken down with pen and paper – and sometimes not taken down at all, but mentally noted. But even in these fuss-free eateries, times they are a-changin’.

Farooj al Zaeem is, pretty much, the best kind of restaurant made to resemble the worst kind of restaurant. If the neighborhood – one of Beyoğlu’s most unkempt snatches – doesn’t send you running, then the look of this place, like a knockoff polo shirt with misspellings, will signal that something here is not right.

There’s a light scent but not much taste to the fresh truffle we just picked up from a local Chinese market. On a tea scale it weighs in at 18 grams and is the size of a healthy walnut. This year’s price for fresh truffles from France or Italy is many times more than the roughly US$6.50 price tag for this earth-coated Chinese truffle (松露, sōnglù).

Horn of plenty, yellow foot, ox tongue, gray knight: the bewitching names are like something out of a fairy tale. But at Casa Lucio, in Sant Antoni, these are all mushrooms you might find on your plate, especially in autumn.