A couple of weeks ago, when we first arrived in Athens, my cousin (some number of times removed or something like that) Carol and I went on a food tour. Yum! Greek food is well suited to my diet, and really anyone’s, according to me.

We booked through Viator and the tour was called “Small-Group Traditional Good Tour around Athens with Tastings, in case you happen to want to try it, but the person who elevated it was our guide Caterina (correct my spelling Caterina), a native of Athens who is also very accommodating and knowledgeable.

I always wonder about how these tours come about and if the guides or tour owners are getting kickbacks from the restaurants and stores we go to, but Caterina said that she and the tour organizers try out the different places and choose the ones they like the most. They certainly did a great job. We got lucky and there was only one couple on the tour with us, which meant LOTS of food. We even got to take home leftovers.

We started out with spanakopita, which we were informed was excellent for breakfast, lunch, dinner and everything in between, and another filo delight filled with cream. Along the way, we tasted and learned about (of course) olives and olive oil on the main street near the Varvakios Central Municipal Market. Did you know that olive oil can be spicy in the back of your throat? Well, it can when it’s really good. We also sampled local, organic honey and learned about mountain tea and that in Greece, everything contains oregano; in Italy, basil, and Spain, parsley. All the other spices sold in bins at the tiny spice shops are for ethnic cooking.

Before heading through the market for a look at the meat and fresh fish, we had “first lunch” (that’s the technical name Caterina gave it) at a tiny mom and pop restaurant adjacent to the market. Caterina told us that the workers from the market eat there. It certainly didn’t look like much, but the food was delicious and they made me a special dish of grilled eggplant with (what else?) olive oil and oregano. It sounds so simple, but tasted so good! I don’t remember what we ate at which place (because if there’s first lunch, there has to be second lunch) and I’m probably forgetting something, but there was chicken and pork sausage, zucchini fritters, sauteed greens, calamari, fava beans, chicken souvlaki, yogurt dip, nuts, halvah, feta in several different ways, ouzo, raki and wine. Don’t miss the mastiha, which is made from the resin of the mastic tree.

After first lunch, Caterina walked us through the market, showing us different types of meat (a lot of chicken, beef and pork — lamb is for special occasions) and fish. Yes, it was a little smelly, but interesting seeing how much fish there was and that it would pretty much all get purchased that day either by individuals or restaurants. Greek food includes a lot of anchovies that aren’t at all salty, sardines, sea bream and sea bass among others.

Second lunch was again huge, and this time in a restaurant around the corner from the market. Caterina pointed out a “secret” restaurant where the owner cooks whatever he feels like and that’s what you eat. Steven and I tried to go, but he was serving fish and beans that day, two things that will never pass Steven’s lips unless, maybe, he is literally starving. Finally, Caterina led us back to our starting point. We were completely full and carrying takeaway bags that would last for several more meals.

One thing we noticed, both on the tour and in general: Athens is full of surprises. You can be walking down a street full of graffiti and locked down storefronts and then come to an elegant and delicious-smelling restaurant. We haven’t had a bad meal here and we’ve mostly been eating out since the kitchen at our AirBnB isn’t very well equipped. What a shame!

Greeks love their food and will be mildly insulted and/or worried if you can’t finish. We always ordered a lot and took vast quantities home. Feta wrapped in filo with honey and sesame seeds can’t be beat. I can’t think of a single thing I ate that wasn’t incredibly yummy. One wonderful aspect of the food tour is getting to try so many different things and then order them again we you go out to eat. Plus, it’s fig season, so you can get some at the market.

Steven has been enjoying what a very British woman called “a traditional wrap sandwich” or a gyro, which contains, along with the meat, french fries. Who doesn’t need carbs with their carbs? But, gyros aside, Greek food offers many delights for a vegetarian and I’m afraid to say that the cab driver who told us we would leave where with 10 extra kilos may have been right. But all the food is full of olive oil, so it’s healthy.

Speaking of healthy, When I went to a health food store to buy some vitamins, the woman behind the counter informed me that feta was a great source of B vitamins, even better than the pills! If only I could eat real Greek feta every day, I’d be so healthy!

Touristaville

The day after our food tour, Carol and I got curious about Plaka, the area around the Acropolis that all the tourists seemed to want to go to. We were underwhelmed. If you want to spend the day milling about with a bunch of English-speaking foreigners, it’s the place for you.

You can shop to your heart’s content at souvenir shops that pretty much all carry the same shlock and eat at overpriced restaurants (although I’m sure they are at least decent. You’ve have to try to find a bad meal here.) We then haul ourselves up many stairs and hills to Anafiotika , which allegedly is a charming area of whitewashed houses that backs up to the Acropolis. Maybe we missed it, but we only saw a couple of dirty, white houses. At least the view was lovely and we gave a busker (that’s a generous description) a couple of euros so he sang a song for Carol and expounded on his dislike of the EU, since they wanted their money back for the Olympics, which made Greece “famous for 15 days.”

We did peek into Hadrian’s Library, which is mostly visible without having to pay the €10 to go in. Not that we’re cheap, but it’s hot and dusty in there.