Tzadziki, Vasilis' way

Tzadziki is a dip for bread, sardines, sunburn, or fried potatoes, and once tried on potatoes you will swear off catchup forever.

It's very simple providing you can get good Greek yogurt like Fage (Fa yay).  If you can only get regular stuff look for Strauss, Nancy's, Continental or some yogurt that is only milk and culture.  Gelatin does not belong in the stuff.  If you use the alternate yogurt put it in some cheese cloth and a strainer to drain some liquid out of it.  It has to be thick.  If you use Yoplait, leave this page now.

Put the yogurt in a mixing bowl and stir to loosen and smooth it.
Grate a peeled and seeded cucumber (english if available) on a very fine box grater.
Grab small handfuls of the cucumber and squeeze all the juice out of it.  Press hard.
Add cucumber to the yogurt.

Why no voume on these ingredients?  OK, 3 parts yogurt, 1 part cucumber.

Grate a garlic clove (skorda) or two on a microplane or crush and paste the same with some salt on a board and add to the mix.
If you didn't add salt already, do it now.
Glug some olive oil into the mixture. Two, three, tablespoons or more.
Grind some black pepper to taste
If you want, chop dome dill and add it also.
Mix well, and eat or chill for later.  The flavor develops over a few hours in the refrigerator.

Plate, dress with some Cretan olive oil and sliced cucumbers and a few olives.

Enjoy with bread, fries or grilled meat or fish.

The Greek Food and Drink Definitions

I use some words that are not in the USA vernacular.  Seems they are all food definitions:

Avolemeno; sauce with egg and lemon.  used with lamb or rabbit or on Horta.

Dolmathes of Dolmadikia; rice and meat rolled into cigars inside of grape leaves and baked. Served with yogurt.  Also made with squash blossoms. Small carry the dikia ending but no real size requirements.

Horta; wild greens eaten boiled ar room temperature with olive oil, lemon and salt.  usually Amaranth greens but there are 200 wild greens in use.

Phyllo; or filo or phillo means leaves and is a wheat dough that is rolled very thin.  Used in thick sheets for Boureki and thin for Baklava.  Thick for savory and thin for sweet.

Retsina; white wine with pine resin, used in the old days as a preservative and jar sealer, now just a taste.

Skordalia; another dip for beets, bread, but made for fried salt cod (Bacalaou).

Tsikoudia;  Raki, Grappa or Eau de Vie, specific to Crete and made from grape must.

Tzadziki; a dip for bread made from thick yogurt, finely grated cucumber and Skorda (garlic).

3 Cyclades, Thera

9
Arrived on the big blue ferry from Naxos and as the boat rounded the village of Oia we entered the caldera, the site of the largest pyroclastic event in known history. The view was stunning. Disembark, catch a private bus to our new digs, the El Greco in the village of Fira. What a cute place. Across the street is the unobstructed view of the caldera.

We all lounge around the pool, one of four in the place, and then head out to dinner. Hummm, another taverna you say. OK, I'm in. Dionysos in Atlantis Restaurant. This one in Fira is not on the main path and not on the caldera so the food had to be good or it wouldn't survive. It was not to disappoint. Every meal starts with the Greek salad but this one had a few twists. Strong goat feta, very strong. Capers and caper leaves. Both of us thought this was an interesting treat and can't understand why this is not popular in the USA. Tomato fritters, tzadziki, Dark bread, tapinade, big mushrooms stuffed with feta and some other tangy cheese, eggplant baked with minced lamb and tomatoes and a veg pizza. The pizza was not very good but I have extreme standards.

The meal ended with Kataifi, a shredded phyllo desert stuffed with walnuts and soaked in a sugar syrup, served with ice cream. It was OK but nowhere near the stuff from Paro.

Walked back and fell fast asleep.

10
Day xxx, maybe day 6 or seven, I don't even care at this point, our last hike day started with breakfast. Again, no big deal. Greeks don't do breakfast well. The hike was from Fira to Oia. We walked for 5 hours and did 6.57 miles according to Sebastian's gps. Stunning views off teh edge of teh cliff.  The trail was super and it was my best hike day.  I wasn't fast but I made it in style.  The group was fantastic.

In Oia our guides brought us to another hit place. I had been disappointed by the lack of Gyro/Souvlaki but this was to end. A small side street place run by young guys, they served us up pita with tzadziki, fries the we dipped in same, and pork and chicken gyro. Here they call it souvlaki. I was brought up thinking that souvlaki meant it was chunks on a skewer and while true, it's also true that souvlaki can be a gyro. Fries inside with meat, sauce, onions. Meet the mayor of flavor town in Oia. A couple of cold Mythos to wash it down and all the pain in my knee and ankle, gone.

Kathy and I walked around snapping off some tourist pics,

and then back to the hotel via a short bus ride. I was the last one out of the bus and when I stood up, I smacked my head on on the rack so hard I saw stars. Some pool time and ice on my knee and head and onto the last island dinner. Tania our lead guide said that this was our view-sunset dinner. It was not as good as the night before but still very good and saw we watched the sun drop into the ocean we sipped on great house wine and feasted away. The place was on the upper floor of a building on the edge, called Ampelos Wine Bar. Ampelos means vines on vineyard. This was a fancy place with real table cloths and napkins, real wine glasses.

The salad had lettuce, fancy lettuce. The first course was a pepper stuffed with feta that was creamed. Then a roasted eggplant dish that was cubes with other veg and testy fed into it's shell. Fava bean dip and some tasty whole grain bread followed by a delicious chicken with a cinnamon sauce with mushrooms, served with rice and stuffed green and red peppers filled with rice. Everything was very nice here but the star was the stunning view. I brought the rest of the cinnamon raki because the bottle had a crack and was leaking. We made 16 small glasses out of it. The restaurant also served up a VinSanto, a sweet dried raisin wine for our final island toasts. Yamas. Our guides treated us to an ice-cream on the way back. Kathy had double bitter chocolate. And I had Kataifi in vanilla. Both good but Kathy's was better. Real bitter chocolate flavor.

We both hit the sheets dead and slept till 8am.

11
Then coffee. Our sites are low for the quality of coffee here on the islands. Back in Athens we will have a way to boil water and then some Peets Press.

I am in love with some of the breakfast picks. Dolmathes, rusks with goat feta, capers and caper leaves topped with tomatoes. Very different. The yogurt is so thick here that we can hardly get it off the spoon. I mixed it with strawberry jam and muesli and almost needed two spoons to eat it.

Bought my Komboloi, Greek worry beads. The girl that sold them goes to Missouri State University and is studying to be a lawyer. €10 for hematite beads. The owner of Ouzeri, our lunch spot said they are for counting the bad times. Kathy said they are for the good times.

We had a great last lunch. Again off the main street but not far and next to the view dinner spot, was To Ouzeri. This is an Ouzo drinking taverna. Manouri cheese crusted in sesame seeds and fried crisp, then covered with cherries in a syrup,

grilled sausages, a whole wheat nut bread with pumpkin seeds, white and black sesame, walnuts, and almonds to start. I had grilled sardines and Kathy and most others had a whole small fish they call Dorado but was probably Breem. Then yogurt with preserved quince and a shot of vinsanto.

We are now in a plane headed to Athens four our farewell dinner. This has been a good hiking group. Our guides were fabulous. I loved every minute, even when I hated the hiking, I still loved it.

After a short flight back to Athens we walk to the "Last Supper".

The last dinner was in the Plaka upstairs with an Acropolis view, Elaia. The waiter was full Greek and had an English accent. He commented to me about speaking Greek after I ordered a beer and ouzo. "Paragallo, ena ouzo, ena Mythos". He asked where the Greek side was from. When I said Pontos, he said, " Welcome home, brother". Nice.

Dinner was Tyropita, Spanakopita, eggplant fritters, salad, keftedes shaped like sausages and grilled accompanied with fried potatoes, and moussaka.  Solis, and simple.  Not the fanciest but solid. Desert was an orange cake. Very nice ending.

The shocker was walking back. As we came down to street level, Kathy and I hear "Hey Kathy" from the corner of the next restaurant. We spin around, I see Tom and Kathleen Ferenz. What a coincidence. We made a short intro to the group and then sat and drank wine and chatted with the cousins.

Great ending to trip part two and fun start to part three. Yamas!

posted from the road, somewhere on the journey.

4 Xania, Crete

12 / 1
Day one we meet Gary, Kit and Lydia at the Eleftherios Venizelos Athens airport and fly to Xania. We carpool to Kera Stalos where we had rented our apartments. These digs are very nice. Cool pool. Great view. We had a two room flat with two baths. I thought it was about 3 when we went for lunch but it was much later. The owner of our condo suggested that we eat at her husbands brothers place, Merovigli in Pano Stalos, about a kilometer up the hill in the little village.

We went in and there were only a few others that late in the day.  We said that  cousin Demetria sent us and that started the party. Yannis and Christos were like brothers from then on. We had tzadziki, bread, lamb with Horta and avolemeno. Stuffed peppers, chicken with rice, Horta and lemon, Crete rusk salad called Dakos, then to finish we had Tsikoudia, Loucomadia and a pancake with cheese and honey.  Mythos beer and Tsikoudia.

OK you will see Tsikoudia mentioned often in my Crete section.  That's because its everywhere.  When we were greeted by Demetria, at the condo, she insisted we have some walnut cake and a shot of home distilled Tsikoudia.  I'm in. Dinner was on the deck and consisted of Tsikoudia and baklava that Kathleen brought from Trabazon, Turkey.  See, there it is again,  Tsikoudia. and another shot you ask? I'm in. Yamas.

13 / 2
Day two we went to old town Xania to see what was there and get lunch on Limani Harbor. Monastiri Taverna was the place Protopappas recommended. The place was on the wharf and had plenty of people. Turns out he was spot on. Gary and I went into the kitchen to order fish. tzadziki, shrimp saganaki, small fried fish, grilled bream, pork stuffed with cheese grilled on skewers. Fried vegetables, grilled octopus, horta, and Tom and I drank more Tsikoudia.   Really don't need dinner after a two hour lunch at 3PM.

14 / 3
Day three, Kathleen and I had our food adventure. We went for Bougatsa at Bougatsa Chanion at Apokoronou 37 in the morning before anyone was up.. This was the same place Anthony Bourdain filmed his Crete scene for No Reservations. First we ate some and then we went to watch the dude make it. We had the first of two food epiphanies. 

Then in a fast trip through the Agoura I had epiphany number 2. Patsa at Agapinis in the East wing, the lamb tripe soup with zucchini in a lamb broth. Holy shit. This was the big one I was waiting for. It melted in your mouth. we were both so happy we bought a bottle of cinnamon raki for dinner.

Today we are making lunch at the apartment.  We hired a cook, Theano, to come make Cretan dishes and teach us a little about Crete food traditions. Boureki with zucchini, myzithera, potatoes, mint, salt pepper and used thick phyllo. Two layers top and bottom. Lamb in paper with potatoes, graviera, oregano, thyme, salt, pepper, tomatoes and garlic. tzadziki. Horta, Chicken in tomato sauce served with milk cooked noodles, and a fried phyllo pie with ricotta, mint and covered in cinnamon and honey. Gary bought some good cheap wine, both a rose and white.  Did I say nap time. Yamas.

Dinner was reheated bougatsa and Kitron Nasoy and cinnamon raki.  Yamas.  The power went off just as we were getting to bed so the air conditioner was out and the mosquitos were in. They love me and I hate DEET.  The waves were so big that we could hear them when we opened the windows. Slept like a log till 8:00 am.

15 / 4
Elafonissi Beach in southwest Crete was the day target.  John Tounger Family are here. Now we are the Doedeka or The Twelve, and the order of magnitude for going anywhere or doing anything increases dramatically. We caravan with Gary, John and me as drivers and I'm lead and Tom Ferenz is navigator. Cousin Kathleen is driving from the back seat.  She calls it a Tounger assist. Kathy is holding on for dear life.  It's a late start, so the goal is lunch half way, and I find a real nice taverna named Kamaresin  in the mountain town of Elos . With now 12 opinions for food, ordering gets interesting but we manage to put together a nice lunch of tzadziki, Greek salad, dolmadikia, and souvlaki, both chicken and pork. Kathy asked for a pie and we got a leek torta that was very thin and crispy. A delicious lunch and then on to the beach.

Road, wind, road, beach.  This picture says it all.  80 plus water temp. Clear.  Oh yes, you can see that. Walk to the island in knee deep water and then Tom swims back around the point.  Twice because he thought he lost his sunglasses when he dove in and went back to find them.  He didn't but swan back anyway.  About a mile each time. His sunglasses were in the condo. Tsikoudia?

The road home was crazy. I asked John and Gary what they thought and Gary said he would do it on a bike but in a car it sucked.  John said he couldn't feel his hands from gripping so tight.  At one point a goat jumped off the hill and into my path.  I missed having souvlaki on the hoof by a few  One of the narrowest roads ever but we white knuckled it to Sfinari beach where we heard there were three fish tavernas that were equally good. I pulled into the second driveway thinking I would turn around but a giant guy came out and kind of blocked - directed me into parking. The three restaurants were all supposed to be good and I really had no selection criteria so I just parked. I'd like to say, I didn't pick the restaurant, it picked me. We were going to eat at Thalami. Thalami means the home of the octopus in the ocean. There was octopus drying on a line hanging in front.

I was immediately selected by the owner Manolis Georgakakis, as his sumo-fat brother, ordained by a belly bump and a hug. Ok, I'm a big guy but this guy was a Big Guy. He was kind of grimy and smelled of both sweat and raki. Greasy hair. But he was somehow charming in a real weird way. Broken English. Big hands. Great looking restaurant right on the beach.

Kathleen and Gary went back to the kitchen with Sophia, Manolis wife, and ordered or were ordered, not quite sure, considering Manolis personality. We all got up to loom at his outdoor clay wood fired oven and see the potatoes roasting inside. We did order some of these, I mean Manolis told us we would eat some, we picked the number. Eight I think.

Cousin John commented that the the first restaurant had a grill going and maybe we should have picked it. Then we hears a crackling sound and a high speed whine. Looking behind us, Manolis was getting his grill fired up like a jet engine. He had an industrial blower on his charcoal and it was now spitting fire. John said we will incorporate this new method at the next Greek picnic. The fire was ready in ten minutes and things were looking up. A variety of brightly colored small fish were put on a fish rack and started smoking and grilling.

The usual, tzadziki, bread, salad, moussaka, then it got interesting. Fresh cuttlefish fish fried in big chunks, pork souvlaki, the whole grilled fish, fried vegetables, Horta, and the wood oven roasted potatoes drizzled with olive oil and fresh picked oregano.

Sun was down and the road was nasty so we wanted to leave. I went to get the check but Manolis had to show me the kitchen. I mean the whole kitchen. Every part, every drawer, every refer, every pot, both dishwashers, the sink. Then he says he is making us something special. Two lobsters from today's catch. Sofia boiled them and split them and Manolis threw them on the grill. Gary was in the let's go mode so he and Kathleen went back to get the check but no way could we leave with Manolis grilling the lobsters. So, we waited ten more minutes. I excised the meat as soon as it hit the table. Gary did the same on number two. We all then bit into the best, freshest, sweetest white meat ever. It was moist, delicious, and even Kathy who doesn't like lobster, loved it.

Then we walked. Sofia chastising us for leaving so early. "You should stay the whole evening", she said. "Relax." We walked. Gary walked by Manolis and tried to give him the Bro Shake or low five but Manolis embraced him and kissed him on both cheeks. He patted my belly and then kissed me, again on both cheeks. Sweaty, Tsikoudia breath, scratchy beard. Now I felt like Seinfeld, and the smelly car episode. I had to take a shower to rid myself of the smell.

Kathy had to drive home. Not because I was drinking but because I only had my extra dark prescription sun glasses and couldn't see. We couldn't see the exit, even though we new it was coming and it didn't follow the EU standard 300, 200, 100 meter signage, so we went one more. Came around on the next one to home and hit the sack

Then the power went out. Not the rolling blackout, just in our apartment.

16 / 5
My phone rang at 1:00 am and since I had set the alarm, I thought it was time to wake up. It was still dark out but something was wrong so I checked. One AM. Dammit. Back to sleep. Alarm. Five. Still dark and no power. Pack up and borrow a cup of coffee from Tom and Kathleen. They had power.

The reason we were up early was because I concocted a crazy idea about walking the Samaria Gorge. 11 miles of hell, dropping 3000 to the town of Agia Roumelli. No road out, just boat access. We went to the bus. 5:45. Family JT makes the bus in the nick of time. No Gary. I ask the driver to wait 5 minutes. No Gary, Kit, or Lydia. John III runs back to the house. No Gary. The bus waits for no one and starts to drive off. As it's pulling away, I see the group rounding the corner a block away and yell "stop the bus". I jump out and start whistling. Thankfully they are fit and ran to the bus.

Kathy and I walk up the gorge reducing stress on my knee of pounding down.  The gorge is very narrow but beautiful.  It was a good three hour walk.  The first of our group down was, guess?  Ok it was Kit and Gary.  They flew down.  The next group was the kids and they were an hour behind.  Everyone made it and we gathered at a Taverna for some lunch.

Nice lunch at Agia Roumelli. Beautifully town, set on the Libyan Sea.

Is water was the greatest color I have ever seen. The deepest clearest blue ever. Visibility exceeded 100 feet. The Greek flag gets it's color from here.

Again a long day. The bus was long and the guide was talking non stopped about the history.  Did you know that the Minoans invented everything. Olympics, Democracy, language, geometry, the telephone, sex. anyway it was a long ride back over the pass. We head back to Taverna number one.

Same, same, same with some additions. Snails in rosemary and olive oil for the adventurous, stifado with onions, melt in your mouth beef stew and the only beef dish we encounter in Crete. These guys, Yannis and Christos are good. They remembered that Saturday was my birthday. They took such good care of us. This place must be revisited.

Tsikoudia, yogurt with preserve grapefruit, skin and fruit, Loucomadia. More Tsikoudia. Sleep.

17 / 6
This morning Kathy and I went to the beach and walked to the island connection. About a three mile round trip. Sand waking is good exercise. Really works out the feet.

The night of my birthday dinner we all took taxis to a restaurant in the old tannery district, east of old town. The places coming in looked like they had been bombed during the war. The taxi let Kathy, Kathleen, Tom and I out and said, as he pointed down the small street, "it's down there, around the corner." So we went, the Doedekas, and we collectively sucked in our Cretan, skordalia tainted breath and walked onto a movie set. Thalassino Ageri in the tannery district was a perfect setting for the "big Doedeka Dinner"

The place only had outdoor seating and they had set a table for the Doedekas, all 12 of us, almost in the water that lapped less than a foot from my eventual seat. To many Tsikoudia and I'd be swimming.

I ordered for the table tonight. Ouzo for all. Gary and Kit ordered wine. The restaurant only had white wine. No red, no rose, no champagne. They also only had fish. John was going to be hungry. No not really but the place only had one pork dish, chops. OK can we go one meal without tzadziki? No, and this place did it great. OK, let's add spicy feta dip and some husky bread. Kathy take a defensive scoop of skordalia. Greek salad, warm beetroot salad with  more skordalia, dolmathes with yogurt so thick that it wouldn't come off the spoon.

Sea urchin in olive oil and lemon. This dish was to die for. Old grandpa Socrates would be smiling on me now. Grilled octopus, fried cuttlefish, fried small smelt-like fish. Kathy asked Kathleen how do you eat these "eat the whole thing, head and all." After Kathy eats one down Kathleen says, "I pulled off the head."  This picture is Kathy eating octopus.  That's almost never done.

Then the pork chops grilled on carbon, grilled swordfish with tomato, and rice. By now we are starting to groan. Six bottles of wine, Ouzo, and now comes Tsikoudia and a slice of desert that I had to go into the kitchen to ask what it was. A semolina halva flavored with Bergamot. Very unusual and a dish that most thought too weird. Me? Loved it, had two. This dinner lasted four hours and we made it to my real birthday ending past midnight. The owner even let me grill some fish.

Same taxis home and we passed out. What a day.

18 / 7
The following morning Kathy and I took a small road trip to Kokino Chorio east of Xania. On the way, Kathy and I sneaked in one more trip to Bougatsa and also a bakery to pick up a galaktoboureko in Nea Hora Beach at Perithoraki. Galaktoboureko is phyllo filled with pastry cream, baked and soaked in sugar syrup.  This one was hot when we got it and so yummy later that day, I wanted to eat it all.

This small village is the home of two glass blowers that are cousins of Erika Tompanis/Thornton how works with me at Clif Bar.  The father and son are very good glass makers but with limited space, I only brought back a small vase for Erika. Then on to the beach for a Helenicos Diplo Metrio, or double greek coffee.  This beack in Almyrida on Soudas bay was very idyllic and peaceful.  Great place for a coffee.  We lunched in Kalamaki Beach at the Kalamaki Taverna owned by Mihalis and his brother Kosta, friends of John Protopappas, a buddy of mine from Sequoyah Golf Club.  Kathy had some Horta pies, little baked turnovers filled with greens and Feta.  They were OK, somewhat cold in the center but tasty.  I had Cretan Goat Stew.  It was also very tasty but hard to eat being mainly bone.  A few Fix beers and it was alright.

The whole family now minus Kathleen and Tom, went to our favorite (third time back) taverna in Stalos up on the hill. Yannis and Christos were super happy to see us and wished me a happy birthday.
The food was great and had the regular by now, Tzadziki, Greek Salad, Horta, Stifado, lamb in Avolemono, but added grilled pork, stewed chicken, and fries with melted cheese.  Gary ordered a nice red wine from Crete and we finished off three bottles.  Christos said this was like Greek Viagra.  Loucomadia with ice cream and Tsikoudia to finish.  Great last meal of the Greek trip.

19 / 8
Morning coffee and flight to Paris.







posted from the road, somewhere on the journey.

2 Tinos and Naxos, Cyclades

5
I didn't sleep well but Kathy got a good one in. After a hotel breakfast, good usual stuff we headed to the Acropolis again. This time we had a guide. Better views because the air was clear. Impending rain to the west. It was Sunday and the place was crowded, unlike or Wednesday visit.

We then boarded a bus to Rafina to catch a meal and our boat to Tinos. The meal at the end of the dock restaurant lineups was a doozy. Galini Restaurant Greek salad, Tzadziki, octopus, two kinds of small fish where you eat the whole thing, whole shrimp in a feta and tomato sauce, saganaki, squid. Did I say octopus... I ate a bunch. Kathy even ate some and both kinds of fish. Easier downed with copious pours of Ouzo, this trip just gets better. I've pictured this lunch in my mind for years.

  
After a high speed jet boat to Tinos, and a swim in the Aegean we ate in a small taverna on the beach.

But first the swim.  It was important.  Matt, Sofia (our guide) and I were swiming in the sea 50 meters off Tinos.  The water was clear and cool.  Refreshing after a hot day.  Sofia asked whey we were on this trip and the conversation got around to my Greek heritage.  We takled about names, last names, Dictiopolos, Tingeridies, Tounger.  Somehow I was talking about our taxi driver, Vasilis and what a nice guy he was.  I liked the name.  Sofia turned to me and said "You need a Greek name,  Randy is not Greek. I christen you Vasilis."  And so it was for the rest of the trip.  Even Kathy calls me Vasilis.

Did I say this was an eating tour?

Walk, eat, repeat.

Bourou meaning smokestack. Kionia town was our dinner spot. This dinner started with an arugula salad with figs, sun dried tomatoes, cheese, walnuts and capers. Followed with some whole grain bread, Skordalia that was nice and soft. Zucchini fritters with tzadziki, cretanos a weed that grows on rocks at the sea, pickled in vinegar and brown sugar. A tortilla with eggs, french fries, sausage, and peppers, roasted pork and apples with fries and rice. Eggplant roasted with four kinds of Greek cheese, and to finish, apple cake with ice cream.

Walk, eat, repeat.  I didn't say sleep but we did.

6
The hill up the Rock was a good warmup for the big one. It was a highpoint on Tinos with the possibility of biggest views. No luck. Socked in and big wind, we were sitting in the middle of a cloud on a Venetian fortress site. The guides took us to a small town and we had Greek coffee made by Sofia and I played backgammon with Tania.

Then another hike down to a small village where traditional baskets are made. Only three weavers are left, as this is a lost art. I bought a small bottle and the guy filled it with his home distiller Raki. Or jet fuel.

Then lunch in a small out door, oh ya, the are all outdoor, taverna. Salad, beans, big giant beans, eggplant with cheese, artichokes stewed with potatoes in avolemono sauce, rooster, and local figs, spiced with cinnamon, sesame, and bay.

Another couple of kilometers and the bus returned us for some R&R time before dinner. I swam in the Aegean to cool off and then we all went into town. Another good dinner followed a visit to an Orthdox Church where St Mary's Icon is the site of the August 15 pilgrimage.

The dinner was good centered around seafood pasta but was otherwise non descript.

7
The next morning was packing and a two island hop to Naxos, with a stop in Paros. Kathy and I got some Kataifi and Boureki to eat with a coffee. Both were world class. The Kataifi was maybe the best we have ever had. The bakery was only a block from the port to the right side facing the mountain. The guides bought lunch for the second part of the journey. Cheese pie, spanakopita, bougatsa and juice. All from the same bakery.

Once on Naxos we did a "small hike" of five miles with a stop for Greek coffee and orange custard phyllo. Then over a pass with yet another Venetian fort and into a small village of Chalki to taste Kitron Nasoy, a local, only on Naxos, liquor. It is distilled with the leaves of the Citron citrus tree and then infused with saffron for color. We bought three bottles. The distillery has been making it since 1870 and licensed since 1896. Just a small family place making about 15000 liters a year.

Kathy and I walked through the town and she found a weaver that hand loomed table runners so she bought one with a olive pattern. We also found a store that had some foodstuffs and we bought napkins there. Also an olive pattern. The lady selling us stuff gave us some goat cheese that her father made. He brought it in while we were there. It was fresh made moments before we got a sample. Unsalted, she gave us some bread sticks covered in sesame seeds to use as spoons. Evangelia Salteri, To Ariston. We brought it to the hiking group and everyone that tried it loved it. It was mild, goaty, smooth. Just a lovely cheese. We had a similar cheese on our salad, called xinokefthalotiri or xinomyzithera. Ok, on to dinner.

We ate under a grape arbor in the center of a very small square. We were early, about 8:30 and the whole place was ours.. The salad mentioned above, giant red beans on tomato and olive oil, grilled vegetables, kefthalotyri that was aged, sausages with caramelized peppers, and hot off the charcoal grill some pork sausages crisped to perfection. It was hot, and Mythos beer was cold. Others had house made red wine but the beer was the perfect accompaniment. Watermelon for desert and a bus ride home.

Sleep was easy.

8
The next day was our biggie. The hike up to Mt. Zeus or Zua in Naxos. The mountain is 1600 m and we started about half way up. A good trail for most of the way, it took me 1:53 hours to summit. Although I was last, I was only five minutes behind. Not bad for this old, fat, fuck. Going down was hard for my knee and I took my time. Sofia, my Greek teacher stayed with me the whole way. She didn't want to see me die like the goat we saw on the descent. It rained a little and the air was thankfully cool for the walk. I invented my own Greek myth about Zeus waiting 200 generations for this Greek to see him at the summit and when I left, he cried.

Back at the trailhead we had lunch under the chestnut tree. Dolmathes, cheese, mortadella Greek style, salami, cherries, melon, bread, spicy cheese dip, eggplant dip. Yogurt with sweet cherries, a spoon desert. Then a walk, to the village below. This took 56 minutes and was very steep, and really wearing on my ankle and knee but I survived. Made it to the taverna to sip a cold Alfa beer. Kathy had ice cream but said it wasn't great. The beer was. It chased a few Aleve to ease the pain.

The late afternoon was spent in the pool jacuzzi to loosen my calf and work my knee.

We walked to dinner along the dock. The place was named Meze Meze. The owner, Panayoties just served us. We actually didn't order. I had my first Retsina of the trip. Kathy thought it was good. Every dinner starts with a salad. Cucumber, tomato, onion, olives, xionmyzithera sprinkled with oregano and lavished with olive oil. We also had a salad of potatoes, bell peppers, onions, xinomyzithera and olive oil. Kathy like this one a lot. then Panos comes out with fritters, octopus, tomato, cheese, and zucchini with mayo and a tomato mayo. Again, delicious. A whitefish, shredded, doused with olive oil and red onions was a personal concoction of his. The shrimp saganaki. I was always under the impression that saganaki was fried cheese. Not so, saganaki refers to the pan it's fried in. Shrimp, feta, tomato, small shrimp, muscles all on a hot dish. Did I tell you how to pronounce keftedes. Lamb meatballs with a cheese inside, maybe xinomyzithera or some other soft sharp cheese stuffed in a ball spiced with parsley, and then fried. Served with a spicy, not hot, Greeks don't do hot much, tomato garlic sauce. Maybe as good as Kathy makes them at home. Panos finished us off with yogurt and honeyed carrot spoon desert and a few shots of Raki.

Bought a bottle of cinnamon raki from the Kitron Nasoy bar to take back to the boys.  This plan will fail (bottle cracked and was consumed in Crete). On the way back to the hotel, Kathy spies the full moon going into full eclipse. This has not happens for 100 years and will not happen for another 65. We think it's cool and end up sitting on our patio watching thinking it's almost over but then the moon just disappears from site. I mean completely gone. For a long time. Reportedly over 200 minutes. Occasionally we see a glimpse of orange. While I'm looking for where the moon should be, devious mosquitoes are feasting on my sweet body. I don't fine out till Thera.

9
The last morning before the boat trip to Santorini (Thera), Kathy and I walk the beach to the point and back. Along the way, I find a cuttlefish fish backbone that is whole and I bring it back to share.

In line waiting for the ferry, which is about 20 minutes late, Sophia, Kim and I jump the fence to go to the wharf Ouzeria. We each order an ozuo and the lady brings us the coolest Meze. Anchovies on toast, fried cheese, and small meatballs. The meatballs are about the size of a nickel and are lamb based. All delicious. Back in line and on the boat with a slight ozuo buzz... Nice. 2.5 hours to Thera (Santorini).

posted from the road, somewhere on the journey.

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.