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Friday, August 23, 2024

My Big Fat Greek…meals – enjoying the food and drinks of Greece

Lamb Kebap
Lamb Kebap

Hubby loves Greek food. In and out of food courts, he will almost always gravitate towards the Greek joints. Needless to say, we had countless souvlakia through our entire stay in Greece. Thankfully, we did manage to get to try other dishes.  Here are some of my recommendations:

Souvlakia (plural of souvlaki) – provided us with the most affordable meals. Under Eur10 for the two of us!

Pork Souvlaki
Pork Souvlaki

In Athens – Savvas (near Monastiraki Square):  pork gyros souvlaki was very tasty. They also had great baklava

In Santorini – Lucky’s (in Fira, just around the corner from the bus station)

2.Baklava – our dessert practically every dinner. This is what will make us big and fat, for sure! But maybe, the Mediterranean diet we had would nullify the calories?

Kataifi and Baklava
Kataifi and Baklava

In Athens – we tried the ones in Beneth but we liked the ones they had in Savvas. Not all baklavas are created equal.

In Mykonos -- Koutsothanasis Bakery near Ano Mera had yummy baklavas. Great service as well!

Bougatsa – phyllo dough with custard or other savoury filling.

Bougatsa
Bougatsa

 In Athens – the custard bougatsa at Bougatsadiko Thessaloniki (corner of Iroon square in Psyri district) was much more enjoyable than the cheese/spinach one. Try to catch them making the dough inside!

4.Moussaka – like eggplant lasagna :P I especially enjoyed the moussaka at Maiandros Restaurant near the Monastiraki station

Moussaka
Moussaka

5.Giouvetsi - Greek beef stew with orzo.  Loved this hearty dish with tender beef, orzo pasta, and a rich tomato sauce which we tried in Oinomageireio Epirus inside the Varvakeios market.

Giouvetsi
Giouvetsi

Drinks: As you may have read from my other posts, hubby does not drink very much. I also don’t have a high tolerance for alcohol, but I do enjoy a glass (or two) of wine. We had a few drinks in Greece and here are some you may want to try:

1.       Greek coffee/Ibrik – we got some Ibrik coffee from Mokka where they put the ibrik in hot sand before serving. It is a medium strength coffee. Wait for the coffee ground to settle after you pour before drinking.

Ibrik
Ibrik

2.       Ouzo – thankfully, George, our walking tour guide, implored us to not drink this straight. This clear spirit turns milky when you add water. It is an anise-flavoured apertif. I don’t care much for anise but the water really does make it taste better.

Ouzo
Ouzo

3.       Raki –is actually (supposedly) the national drink of Turkey. Similar to Ouzo, it turns milky white when mixed with water. This went well with meze during one of our meals!

Raki with meze
Raki with meze

4.       Metaxa – I managed just to get a taste of this and this is by far my favourite among the spirits! Perfect for after-dinner and taken neat, this Greek brandy has nice sweet notes which I like.

5.       Assyrtico – The most popular indigenous white variety from Santorini. It is mostly dry but goes perfectly with Parmigiano-Reggiano (which our sommelier recommended).

Assyrtico and Vinsanto
Assyrtico and Vinsanto

6.       Vinsanto – there is much debate on the Italian Vin Santo (from Tuscany) and Vinsanto Greek (short for “wine of Santo (rini)”) which I will not get into. Hubby and I both liked the Vinsanto (we are partial to dessert wine!) paired with Kariki cheese which ages in hollowed out gourds. YUM.

Friday, August 9, 2024

It’s all Greek to me! – 2 days to see the great monuments of Athens


Parthenon @Acropolis
Parthenon @Acropolis

Hubby and I did a LOT of research before our trip to Greece. We were not planning on getting a guided tour (except for a walking tour) and so we wanted to refresh our memories on high school ancient and world history and as well learn other things to ground us in what we were about to see.

As we had done in our past travels, we joined a walking tour on the same day we arrived. This has always helped us navigate our way, learn a few things, and get a few tips and suggestions. Am proud to say that we knew 70% of what our guide, George, relayed to us in terms of the Greek gods, the philosophers (from Socrates to Aristotle), the Acropolis and other structures, and architecture. We would easily pass any elementary quiz he might have given on the Greco-Persian wars!

Anyway, the next day, we embarked on a power tour of the archeological sites that was part of our combo ticket. We got the Eur30 combo ticket which includes 7 sites within 5 days vs the Eur20 Acropolis-only admission. We went to 5 (and saw the 6th from the outside) out of 7. In less than two days. Not bad, eh? And we didn’t really rush so I did not feel like we just breezed through everything.

I will not go over the facts and other info for each site. History books and other internet sources will cover that well, and much better than me. I will just share what can be done in less than 2 days in terms of the archeological sites.

Day 1– first thing in the morning we went to the Acropolis and then straight to the Parthenon. I pre-purchased the tickets online via the official site. There were already a lot of people but not as much as when we were leaving, which was about an hour after. While there was construction going on, I was glad that there ARE restoration efforts happening. The Temple of Athena Nike and the Erechtheion (with the replica caryatids), while not as grand as the Parthenon, were also glorious. To be there among the structures that had been up for centuries was quite surreal. 

Erechtheion @Acropolis
Erechtheion @Acropolis

As we headed down the slopes, we also saw Odeon of Herodes Atticus where they hold evening performances. Unfortunately, we were not keen on the shows they had during the time we were there so we did not get to see this in all its glory. I can totally imagine the beautiful ambience during performances.

Odeon of Herodes Atticus
Odeon of Herodes Atticus 

After a couple of hours in the Acropolis and slopes, we headed to Areopagus Hill or Mars Hill where the Apostle Paul preached. We got a bit lost looking for this bare marble hill, but it was just next to the Acropolis. The climb wasn’t too difficult with steel steps to get you to the top. The views were simply beautiful.

We had a quick lunch of Bougatsa at the Psyri district then continued on to Keramikos. 

@Psyri district
@Psyri district

The Keramikos area was originally where potters and artisans lived. Later it became the cemetery of Athens. There was a small museum as well which hosts several artefacts.

Keramikos
Keramikos

By this time, we needed a pick-me-up and something to cool us down so we had freddo espresso and frappe at the Plaka neighborhood.

Coffee @Plaka neighborhood
Coffee @Plaka neighborhood

 Feeling refreshed, we headed to the Ancient Agora. The Ancient Agora is a large space full of ancient ruins including many temples, a Byzantine church and a museum.  We imagined people going about their businesses at the Stoa as I attempted to take dramatic photos along the long line of columns. Notice I said, “attempted?” While there were less people here in the afternoon than the Acropolis in the morning, it was hard to get a shot with no one else in the background. Anyway, the museum by the stoa was fascinating and there were many interesting artifacts that allowed us to learn more about the Ancient Greeks.

Stoa @Ancient Agora
Stoa @Ancient Agora
Ancient Agora
Ancient Agora

Close by is Hadrian’s library so we headed there before they closed at 7pm. While it was not the biggest nor most memorable site (and one that you can see from the outside), as it was included in the combo ticket, we went inside. Roman emperor Hadrian financed the construction of this library which was later transformed into a church.

Hadrian's Library
Hadrian's Library
Hadrian's Library
Hadrian's Library

By this time we already hit 4 attractions and we were ready to call it a night after our dinner of hubby’s favourite souvlaki.

Souvlaki and Baklava @Savvas
Souvlaki and Baklava @Savvas

Day 2 –we went straight to the Olympieion (Temple of Zeus) after breakfast. We passed by Hadrian’s arch before making it to the entrance. The arch was made of solid marble and in Greek, we learned the inscription said: on the Acropolis side: 'This is Athens, the ancient city of Theseus'; and on the other: 'This is the city of Hadrian, and not of Theseus'. Just to make it clear 😉. In the Olympieion, only 16 out of the original 104 columns remain but they are majestic. We overheard someone complaining this was not worth the admission (they obviously did not get the combo ticket), but in my mind, the admission should fund the preservation and restoration of these monuments. It didn’t take long to explore as there was not really much more to see. At this point, to be honest (and surely to the horror of history and architecture buffs), the columns and pediments were kinda blurring in my mind. Anyway, we decided not to go to the Roman Agora anymore as we already saw this from the outside on our walking tour the first day.

Hadrian's Arch
Hadrian's Arch
Olympieion
Olympieion

The last site included in the combo ticket was Aristotle's School [Lyceum], which was much further away. And as we saw Plato’s Academy (also on our walking tour), which was also a school really 😊, we decided we would skip this and go shopping at the Monastiraki flea market instead.

Plato's Academy
Plato's Academy

So, if you had only two days in Athens, it is totally doable to see many sites. Going to museums (we were told there were over 80!) or shopping will be the dilemma on how to spend your remaining time. Either way, it will involve a whole lot of walking.

Changing of the Guards @Syntagma Square
Changing of the Guards @Syntagma Square

We went on to Mykonos and Santorini after Athens, but Hubby and I agree that Athens was our favourite. And, if we had to just pick one place to see in the whole of Greece, including the islands, the choice would be simple.