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Since we've been in Athens for nearly a month now, we've taken far fewer pictures and have basically just been living life. We take nearly daily trips to the central market to pick up the dirt cheap fresh produce (Greece may have the most delicious cherries and oranges on planet Earth). D developed a taste for Kiwi that may be very hard to provide for in Fargo. We also hit the fish market regularly to pick up fresh salmon and grouper filets, both extremely cheap. We've found it necessary to cook some dinners at home even though our budget of 80 Euros a day would certainly allow us to eat out for all our meals and then some. Greece is remarkable in the homogeneity of its restaurants. Your choices are Greek, or....Greek. Seriously, there is nothing else unless you are in Plaka (the tourist area) where you can find very expensive Asian and Italian food. We've become connoisseurs of moussaka, pastichio, oven meatballs, pork in lemon sauce, and many varieties of lamb. Its actually impressive that Athens can support so many restaurants that offer essentially the exact same thing. Imagine if in the U.S. every single restaurant sold hamburgers, hotdogs, and
macaroni and cheese!
Since we've seen all the ruins we care to see, we decided to venture out to the city beaches. It takes about an hour on public transit to reach the beaches, but they are free and reasonably nice. D is really loving the water these days. It's both a blessing and a curse since she now has no fear of walking right in to the water. Definitely rules out any beach napping for mommy and daddy! There are many seafood shacks on the beach. We opted for one filled with elderly Greeks and chowed down on fish roe salad (which is pepto pink and D just LOVED) and whole small fish that were flash fried (another D favorite).
We also made another run up to the top of Lycabettus to take in the view again. We also had to document how popular Guns N' Roses are here (every tourist shop sells GNR shirts, inexplicably) and we find GNR tags everywhere.
On another notable day we stopped at an Athens institution for the most delicious hot donuts on the planet (sorry, Krispy Kreme!). It's impossible to do justice to how good these donuts were. They
were neither the consistency of typical glazed donuts nor a cake donut, but in a category all their own. They came bathed in a thick bath of hot Greek honey and a healthy sprinkling of cinnamon. We bought six, but it was not enough 😊 We also discovered a Greek yogurt stand that would be my new favorite fast food if it existed in the U.S. They just have giant vats of Greek yogurt and spoonable fruit toppings (like jelly without the gelatin). Fantastic!
We also finally figured out where Aeropagus hill was. The hill is notable as a site of ancient court trials and, probably more famously, as a site where Apostle Paul preached. Today it is probably more famous for being the hill closest to the Acropolis without having to pay.
We've actually 'saved' enough money so far to afford a vacation from our vacation, so we're heading to a Greek island for a few days!
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Mirm
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Aeropagus
did you see Orestes up there?