Blogs from Attica, Greece, Europe - page 9

Advertisement

Europe » Greece » Attica » Athens » Vassilikos October 8th 2021

Most of us think about feta when it comes to Greek cheese. And it is Greece's most popular cheese. According to Greek myth, Aristaeus, the son of Apollo, learned how to make cheese from the nymphs, and later taught mere mortals the gift of cheese making. But we do know that Greek cheese has been around since the 8th century BC. Cheese remains an integral part of Greek diet and cuisine. Nearly every meal, from morning to night, and from appetizer to dessert may contain cheese, or at least some dairy. Greece is always near the top of per capita cheese consumption around the world. Feta has, as most of you already know, a tangy and salty taste, and is a protected designation of origin (POD) product. It is mostly ... read more
And the beloved feta

Europe » Greece » Attica » Athens » Pláka October 7th 2021

Since I was just in Greece in May, I will try not to repeat anything I sent, whether Athens or Santorini. But I am back, though perhaps in a different mode. I assume the pandemic still requires caution, but I hear the Greeks are almost 50% vaccinated, and they have emphasized taking care of their tourist related people first. Tourism accounts for a significant portion of the economy here. They were so glad to see tourists come back in May, and I assume the same will be true now.I had many options of where to go, but opted for the "safe" route in terms of vaccination rates, medical care availability, and overall safety. Plus, when I was here in May, it was very hot, limiting what I could do each day. The mornings ... read more
Love the Kydoni
And the streets of Plaka

Europe » Greece » Attica » Athens » Pláka October 6th 2021

October in Europe is generally a great place to visit, assuming the weather is still good, in spite of global warming. Most everywhere in southern Europe is still nice. But northern Europe, where I want to visit, is getting quite cold. Highs are in the 50s, lows in the 30s, and about half the days are rainy. Best of all, tourists are gone! But since I want nice weather, I am headed south again, to Athens. Why? I have friends there now, plus the weather and food are the best.When I was last in Athens in May, I experienced a big heat wave. It kept me from my normal activities, like walking the city, seeing the famous historical sites, cycling, and satisfying my curiosity about this great city. October will be better in ... read more
Or warm Europe beach
Back to Plaka

Europe » Greece » Attica » Athens » Pláka July 22nd 2021

Like Robert Frost's road less traveled, your travel costs can be reduced by three simple ways. I always try to book direct, use alternative travel, and use my reward points and miles whenever possible. Booking direct often yields a few nice surprises. One would be better availability of room choices, discounts, and upgrades. For instance, if you join Marriott Bonvoy, Marriott sends periodic upgrades to use with any reservation. So, why not get that larger, quieter corner room, rather than the small, noisy room near the ice machine or elevator? Most direct sites, like airlines, hotels, and excursions offer better cancellation or postponement options. When I booked a non-refundable stay in Munich for the Oktoberfest (it was cancelled in 2020 and 2021), I was able to salvage the reservation. I moved it forward another year, and ... read more
Lodging trends
Time list

Europe » Greece » Attica » Athens » Pláka June 18th 2021

This was to be our last full day in Greece. We couldn’t believe that this would be day 8. Where did the time go? We’d been told that we had to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. There is a ceremony on Sunday’s at 11 am that has much pomp and circumstance with special uniforms. The square was only 2 blocks from us so we went there first. What a show. It is difficult to describe and I tried to attach a video but couldn't. But it is a show to see! We wanted to have one last breakfast at Athena Cook. Demetri was there and remembered exactly what we liked to eat and remembered that I could not eat wheat. Wow, we ate there a week ago, our ... read more
Friends
A last Athens gelato
Miss Greek Godess

Europe » Greece » Attica » Athens » Pláka June 14th 2021

Dale and I are Olympic fans. We attended a couple of events of the 1986 summer Olympics in LA and several events at the 1988 winter Olympics in Calgary. We went to Paso Robles and saw the torch being carried, and one of the torch bearers let us hold the torch briefly. So, it was only fitting that we wanted to go to Olympia, the place of the original Olympics. Before leaving for Greece, I tried to figure out how to get to Olympia on our own for as a day trip. This was impossible. I’d read in Rick Steeves that he recommended Nikki of Olympia Tour so I contacted her. Yes, the train and then bus would take probably 5 hours each way and yes, neither Dale or I could rent a car due to ... read more
Olympia
Zaya the winner
Here are the Olympians

Europe » Greece » Attica » Athens » Pláka June 13th 2021

Thunderstorms have been forecast for the rest of the week but the storms were forecast in the afternoon. We’d read, also, that we should visit the Acropolis early in the day; 1 to avoid the masses of tourists and 2 to avoid the heat of the afternoon. We also figured that we’d avoid any afternoon storms. The plan was to get to the Acropolis about 8:30 am, talk our time there and then go to the museum. We thought we’d get lunch at the café in the museum then see visit the museum, enjoying cooler air and avoiding any rain. We got up by 7, out the door by 8 and at the entry gate by 8:15. As there was no line we got right in and started our visit. Walking up the path to the ... read more
Erechtheion
Panthenon
Erechtheion

Europe » Greece » Attica » Athens » Pláka June 9th 2021

Tuesday and Wednesday: I’m combining these 2 days because we didn’t do much to write about. Tuesday The big plan for today was to go early to the Roman Forum and Tower of the Winds. Of course, we didn’t get up early so ended up getting to the Forum by noon. My advice is to go earlier if possible as it gets quite hot in the sun. But then if you are like us, it is impossible to go early because we stay up so late at night. The Forum is a place where the Greeks would gather to talk and shop. We were free to walk about much of the area. http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/3/eh351.jsp?obj_id=2402 is a site with good descriptions. At the back side of the Forum is a tower, Tower of Winds. This was an early ... read more
Tower of Wind
The ceiling of the Tower of Wind
The floor of the Tower of Wind

Europe » Greece » Attica » Athens June 8th 2021

We did wake up earlier and I sent Dale and Zaya down to the bakeries to get something good. There is a small bakery right across the street and one about 20 feet away from our apartment building. It takes longer to walk down the stairs then it does to walk next door or across the street. Unfortunately, there is nothing gluten free for me, but fortunately, they don’t have anything gluten free since it doesn’t look good on my butt. Zaya did buy a pastry that was filled with chocolate ganache. I took a taste of the ganache and it was chocolate heaven! We started earlier today for a walk to the Central Market. This is a place where the locals shop. There is one huge building that is just meat and fish, laid out ... read more
Central Market, the fish section
Greek Coffee
Hadrian's Library

Europe » Greece » Attica » Athens » Pláka June 7th 2021

We slept in late, but then we hadn’t gone to bed until 2 am having just spent 32 hours in route. We had to wake Zaya up at 10:30 am since we wanted to go out and about. As we had no food in the apartment, we thought that a breakfast out would likely be the best way to start the day. We noticed a little restaurant across the street so went there, sitting in the open front. I asked the waiter if they had anything gluten free and we decided that I could order eggs. I looked at the menu but didn’t see anything else so told him that I would like eggs with something Greek. Dale and Zaya agreed that something Greek sounded good. What we got was the waiter’s favorite egg dish; eggs ... read more
Church of Kapinikarea
Arch of Hadrian
A house built into the hill below the Acropolis




Tot: 0.18s; Tpl: 0.007s; cc: 11; qc: 69; dbt: 0.0806s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.3mb