Oh how I love Greek food. Souvlaki, salad, potatoes, lamb, moussaka, tzatziki... MMMM YUM! What a nice break from Italian cuisine. We arrived in Athens around noon on Sunday, checked in to our hostel, and discovered most archeological sites were free on Sundays, so we hurried out to soak in as much as we could. First thing we noticed? It is hot in Greece. Oh we had gorgeous weather for our four days. Sunday we only had time for the Athenian Agora, but it was really cool to see. For lunch we ate pork souvlaki and greek salad. Afterwards we wandered up to the Parliament buildings, and strolled through the National Park until it closed. We were followed by a overly friendly mutt, and found turtles in the main pond! For supper we went to a restaurant recommended by someone working at the hostel and it was.... interesting. Not the typical Greek cuisine we were expecting. It was good, nonetheless, and here we were first introduced to "dessert is on the house". Attempts to explain Mom's gluten "allergy" was an adventure all on it's own. Our waiter came running to stop mom from tasting the dessert saying it was no good for her, but returned with a special dish just for her. How kind!
Monday in Athens - we went up to the Acropolis and saw the Parthenon, Athena Nike, Erychthium, Odeum of Herodes, and the Theatre of Dionysos. Afterwards we picked up ingredients for a picnic lunch and dined in the National Gardens. Our attempts to find a supermarket with slices of meat and cheese proved very difficult. We wandered through the streets, finding many bakeries along the way, but no markets. What we found instead was a rather large meat market - rows and rows of butchers. Dangerous place for two young women to be. Halfway in, we nearly ran to get out as we heard cat-calls and protected our purses. That was an adventure we did not need!! Eventually we gave up and ate our fresh, succulent strawberries, tomatoes, pistachios, and rice cakes without. Best tomatoes, strawberries, and pistachios I've ever tasted. Stomachs full we continued on to the Temple of Olympian Zeus, Hadrian's Arch, and the Olympic Stadium. For supper we joined our lovely British roommate and dined in a little more typical Greek restaurant. Here we ate lamb chops and greek salad while being serenaded with traditional Greek music. Dessert was fruit with cinnamon - again, on the house. Another thing we learned about dining in Greece - the waiters don't want you to leave! They won't bring your bill unless you ask persistently. But they are rather charming, so we really didn't mind.
Parthenon
Temple of Olympian Zeus
Tuesday and Wednesday were spent on a few of the closer Greek islands - Aegina and Agistri. When you think of Greek islands, you probably think of the Cyclades - you know, Santorni, Milos, etc. Those are much, much further away from Athens, and a little more difficult to get to in low season. Aegina and Agistri are two of the Saronic Gulf Islands, and lovely nonetheless. We spent our days exploring, wading in the sea, dining on seafood and pistachios, and soaking up the hot, hot sunshine. I even got sunburnt! A few of our adventures on the islands - enjoying sangria & pina colada by the sea, rescuing sea urchins from being stranded on the shore, taking a bus to the Temple of Afea, and riding the ferries (and taking sunset pictures!). Wednesday night we dressed up a little to enjoy our last night in Greece. For supper we ate stuffed vine leaves, moussaka, chicken and potatoes. Vine leaves are very similar to cabbage rolls, and moussaka is a layered dish with potatoes, meat, eggplant, cream and cheese. Very, very good! I think that one we'll need to try at home...
Moussaka
Thursday morning was our flight back to Rome, but the metro transit was on strike. Uh oh. So we trudged an extra 15 minutes to catch the express bus to the airport instead. Only plus side was being dropped off directly in front of our terminal. Tonight is our last night in Rome, and tomorrow we head off to Cortona. So expect a Rome post tomorrow (probably) and a Cortona post the day after (hopefully).
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