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Published: September 20th 2015
Central Market Athens
This chap needed to confer with his peers regarding the price of figs. No trip to a city like Athens would be complete without a Food Walking Tour. We spent about 4 delightful and delicious hours wandering from street vendors to Bakeries, delicatessens, the meat, fish and vegetable markets and so on. I learnt quite a few things on that tour. Firstly that Moussaka is not an original Greek dish, neither are Dolmades or Baklava. I also tasted the delights of Loukoumades with syrup and ice cream. This dish is so delicious. Looks like a dough nut but tastes nothing like it. We saw a cook prepare Phyllo pastry for sweet and savoury pies. The way this fellow put the butter between the layers - about 4 of them – made my arteries blanch just looking at it, but the end result was so light and tasty, my taste buds were genuinely appreciative. This type of tour is a must when visiting a city like Athens. It really gave us a wonderful insight into Greek culture. The Greeks love of life must surely come from having such lovely, tasty food to eat.
Just love the whole living among history deal in Athens. Our visit to the Acropolis and the first Olympic Stadium, Hadrian’s
Deli in Athens
The delightful aromas from this shop made my mouth water. Arch, the temple of Zeus – all were just amazing. It seems you will find an acropolis in many Greek cities. It means the highest place in the city and was used for worship. In Athens, the Parthenon and the various temples (or parts of the temples) can be seen from the city. The Acropolis in Athens was used as a fortress once by the Turks, but for the most part it was used to worship the Gods – mainly Athena.
In ancient times, the population was expected to participate in political debates. This tradition has endured and this week there have been many rallies in the city leading up to the 3rd election this year! There are marches along the streets then they meet in Syntagma (Constitutional) Square. It has been kind of interesting, even though I have no idea what is being said. There seems to be quite a lot of participation though!
We really enjoyed our tour to Delphi. On this trip we learnt all about Greek Mythology. We heard about the reason why we have Marathons – due to the messenger that ran to Athens from Marathon to let everyone know that the Persians
had been beaten. We also got a better understanding of the story of Oedipus. I now understand that he killed his father and married his mother although he did not that they were his parents. He thought another King and Queen were his parents. This poor guy has been vilified unfairly. Just loved the stories of Apollo, of how he defeated the Python, and made the sanctuary his own. Seems that the Greek Gods could and did do amazing things. No wonder the Greeks loved them. What is left at Delphi is quite stunning; with some pieces intact after 2,500 years, many earthquakes and what have you. The museum there is also interesting. The little village of Delphi is rather quaint and picturesque. Had the best Pita Gyros there at this little place that made their own Pitas and cooked them while you waited. They were very light and tasty. Why is Greek food so yummy? I think it might be because the country has mountains all over the place, so what I am putting in my mouth is being used in energy walking up and down those mountains – slight exaggeration maybe, but there are many up and down
Delphi - Market
This area was constructed by the Romans early in the 2nd/3rd Century AD walking moments believe me! My knee is starting to protest a little.
Having been in Athens for a few days now, I have noticed that there are many boobies (you know, breasts, tits, or whatever name you have for them) that are left to flop about – if not at waist level, pretty damn close – even with a bra on! I thought maybe I should share with them the wisdom of Ruth, but not sure how I could communicate that sensitive message without pissing these Athenians off. (It is not an easy message to share! I have some experience in that area) Anyway I wondered why this situation was so prevalent. I thought maybe there were no lingerie shops in Athens, but no I saw quite a few. Then I thought that this type of lingerie was very expensive, that the price was too prohibitive. No, this was also not the case. The prices were pretty close to ours. I thought that maybe they simply just did not give a shit. I was unable to test this hypothesis, again due to the sensitivity of the issue and my inability to speak Greek. Didn’t get any photos
Athenian Treasury
This building has survived many earthquakes. It still stands largely intact. to illustrate the said boobies, because that was just a bit too weird even for me. You are going to have to take my word for it!
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