1 Athens, to Rafina

1
Made it to Athens. Air France was very good. Sorry but I can't say as much for the TSA and the French equivalent. How do you board a plane in the USA with your hiking poles and then in the plane transfer, having to go again through security, have them reject the said poles. I had to go back out and check them. Well, in the end they arrived and out taxi driver, Vasslis got us to the Hilton in one piece.

We were so tired that we ate in the hotels Byzantine Restaurant. Kathy had Tomatoes with Halloumi and I had a Meze buffet of squid, shrimp, octopus, fish, cheese including Feta, bulgar, peppers, olives including ones from Crete that were the size of a pea. This was a great way to start.

2
Oh my, did we sleep. OK, not. We woke up at about 3am and lay awake for an hour. Then we dosed off and slept till 10:30 in the morning. Once up and caffeinated, we found our way to the Plaka, past a huge police guard protecting Syntagma square. Some old people we're demonstrating but I couldn't read the signs. We ate in a tourist sidewalk place in Monastraki. Kathy had yogurt with honey, nuts and fruit to which she added some bran, I had a tyropita. It was not made with phyllo but more of a pastry crust. Just OK, not great. As we wandered up, we found an olive wood shop and bought a spoon for €6. We will go back on the return and buy more. Great shop (never did).

We ended up at the south Acropolis entrance and decided to venture up. It was hot but we made it. Surprisingly, it was not crowded. This is not the main entrance but a fun way to go.  The haze was in so the view was not the best but the structure was impressive. Made me feel trivial in the sense of history. Pictures tell the story here. After getting a recommendation from a couple from the USA we headed down to the Acropolis Museum and had lunch on the terrace with a view of the hill.

The food was a complete surprise. Melon balls with Cretan Honey and Cretan cave aged cheese (like Gruyere), and honey sprinkled with fresh thyme. Spanakopita made with two top and bottom layers of thick phyllo and tomato salad.

We then wandered back through the Plaka and The National Garden back to our hotel where we took a short nap. Kathy found a taverna that was about 1.3 km from the hotel. When we got there it was closed, remodel. Not in a good mood, after having ripped my foot in a hole, with sandals on, we traipsed back with no plan. Kathy saw a sign that pointed up hill to a restaurant and I was so hungry by then, I just followed. It turned out to be a great find.

To Napko had the best, maybe of our lifetime, dolmadaikia, stuffed with rice and veal, with grape leaves that were so tender that they melted. She also had an eggplant pie that was phyllo wrapped and it was flaky deliciousness. I had tabbouleh that was much like Kathy makes at home, nice lemon, good amount of parsley. After that came my dish of lamb braised in wine leaves. Grape leaves wrapped around a lamb piece, not sure which one, stuffed with Greek cheese and braised. Much like a rolladen with a grape wrapper and sauced with avolemono sauce. Melt in your mouth deliciousness. Some fries and grilled veg which was overshadowed by the lamb. Have to figure this one out.

We stumbled back home. Lights out.

3
Day three started with the Metro ride to Monastraki and up Athenias Street to the modern Agoura, food market. On the way we found yogurt and a phyllo cream pie and one of my fav cookies, melomacoronia. We ate these in the park across from the market. Fit my minds picture of a good breakfast.

In the market I have never seen so much dead flesh. I wish I lived here just to buy meat. Lamb, pork, beef, rabbit. All of it, nose to tale and everything in-between. Then after a Greek coffee into the fish market. Again, I could live here. Octopus, squid, cuttlefish, anchovies and at lease 100 other fish with no name. Crabs, snails, eel, picture will tell you more.

Then we walked up to the National Archeological Museum. Again, I'll depend on pictures to tell it, but the scope and scale of time are immense, awe inspiring and hard to grasp. Seems funny. Some people think the world is 4000 years old. The Minoans were at the highpoint of power then.  I'm visiting the birth place of Zeus. This mask is 5000 years old.

Greek Sexting 3500 years ago.  They did invent everything.

After reviewing where my grandfather 200 times removed was from and what he did, we had some shakes and smoothies in the courtyard of the museum. On the way back to the Plaka I ate at a small place and had a Gyro. It was OK. €2? For that price, it was fantastic. It hit the spot but I've had better in the USA.

Another short nap and then we went to our rooftop bar for the most expensive view-drink-Meze of the trip. €35 for a Greek beer, and Meze. They served good olives, hummus, caper salad, smoked eggplant dip, but only two small pieces of bread. It was good bread. But two!

That night we walked to Kolaniki and found a souvlaki stand on Tsakalof Street above Kolanaki Square, ate in front in the street. Grilled half an eggplant, topped with tomatoes, onions, feta, fries and tzadziki and two souvlaki, one goat and one pork. €10.50. Best deal yet. Fantastic, tasty. Oh ya, it included two waters.

On the walk back, past many good looking stores we found Dauphine. A bakery, cookie shop. Eight kouralakia for €2. Again, what a find.

4
We had them for breakfast with some cherries that we bought in the Agoura and Peets French Press. Yes they are as good as Aunt Sue or Grandma could make.

Had a hard time sleeping. Kathy had a harder one. at one point the noise level was so loud that she tried sleeping in the bathtub. Motorcycles were racing seemingly all night. She finally came back to sleep and after a back rub fell asleep till 9:30 am. We checked out of the Hilton and in to the Athenian Callirhoe.

After visiting the temple of Olympic Zeus and Hadrians Arch we managed to find Fresko Yogurt and we both loaded the stuff with my bran mix, feeling a bit stuffy, so to speak. I had mine with quince preserve.

We wound our way through the Plaka to the Old Agoura, birthplace of Democracy. Ten Athenian tribes each sending 50 representatives to the Senate to discuss ideas and craft laws to be voted on by the population at large. Sarah Palin would f... this up good.

Then we Brailled our way to the Agoura. The temple at the far side is very intact. The ruins are large and full of secrets that we wandered around seeking.

At 3pm the gate guy threw us out. I guess he had to take a nap. We walked back to a place reputed to have been recommended by Rick Steves but it was to sunny and empty so we pressed on down a steep stair-street and we passed through a taverna that straddled the sidewalk on both sides. The food on some plates looked good so we stopped.

Supposed to be the oldest taverna in the Plaka, we ordered. Kathy had moussaka and I ordered dolmadikia and bacalao (fried salt cod) with skordalia. Both were delicious and we washed them down with two large Mithos beers. The food was really good and I'd go back.

That afternoon we met our hiking partners at the hotel. We walked back to the Plaka and had dinner. It was good with a Greek salad, Tadziki, stuffed peppers, roasted lamb with potatoes and Baklava. All good, the wine was also good, straight from the jug.



posted from the road, somewhere on the journey.