Greece Trip - Afternoon Trip to Market

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So we look for a lunch spot. Looking for a lunch spot in Athens in like looking for a breakfast spot in most of Europe.... they don’t really exist. There are many take away joints throughout the city, and we see that most people in the city are eating on the go. They stop to smoke and drink coffee, but walk and eat, maybe this is why they are mostly thin. We decide to head over to the Central Market thinking this might be a likely place to find something to eat. Instead we find something of a horror show. This is mostly a very large butcher shop, with what seems like miles and miles of meat. I really can’t get over all the meat and I think who is going to eat all this meat? Both Tim and I walked fast through here, I think we’re both a little intimidated, and I realized why this market isn’t in all the tour guides (Ha). This is where the locals shop, but for two Americans who are use to shopping at a small grocery store were everything is neatly cut and wrapped it’s a bit of a surprise. Tim sees a guy cut the toes off a dead hog, large sharp knifes are flying everywhere. We see sheep heads (with eyes), we see something like a spinal cord with the guts hanging off of it, and rabbits hanging (with fuzzy tails still attached). Sorry for the gory details, but I needed to set up a little visual as to why we didn’t linger here. But, I will say that it was very clean and there was no foul smell.

Surprised after that scene we are still hungry and we do find a really nice taverna a few blocks from the market. It’s later in the afternoon so some local are enjoying a rare sit down meal.

One of the greatest treats in Athens is that there are so many beautiful Byzantine churches nestled throughout the city. So we would be walking along and just come upon one of these lovely treasures. This afternoon we stumble upon Kapnikarea, it’s dedicate to the Virgin Mary and was built in the 11th century, over the ruins of an ancient temple. Inside the church is decorated with medieval mosaics.

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Photos

Tim & Pam
Lunch near the Central Market

Kapnikarea
This lovely Byzantine Church was build in the 11th century over the ruins of an ancient temple.

Byzantine Mosaic
Over the enterance to a church.