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Today started better than last night ended. Susan got a notification in the middle of the night that my phone had been erased. That was a relief. Now I am just phoneless for the rest of the trip. That means that I will take the rest of my pictures on my real camera just like the good old days.
It’s now 7:30 on Sunday morning and the streets are quiet again. All of the street and flea market vendors are up early and setting out their wares. The main sounds on the streets are the sounds of church services. We passed several different Greek Orthodox churches holding services. We could look in and see the congregation and hear the chanting and singing. It was beautiful. Some of the churches were quite small and appeared to be ancient, made of stone. Another of the cathedrals was huge and fronted a square.
The big churches were fabulously ornate. It was beautiful to see and hear the chanting during the service.
On Katie’s recommendation from her and Matt’s previous trip to Athens, we ate breakfast at the Ergon Hotel. She raved about the pancakes so that is what we got. The restaurant is beautiful with very high ceilings, white concrete walls and interesting mural-sized Greek figures painted on the walls. There is also a very nice looking market as part of the restaurant with beautiful meats, produce and deli. The pancakes are hard to describe. Because we each got them, we got different toppings. Susan had an orange sauce with powdered sugar and I had two types of chocolate. The cakes were thick and with a texture not unlike brioche, sort of a cross between cake and bread. Very tasty and filling. We’ve got our carbos for the rest of the trip or at least until I eat my baklava.
It being Sunday morning, there is the weekly official ceremonial changing of the guard at the Greek Parliament. The guards wear the traditional garments, the white shirts and puffy pants with black vests and shoes with big pom pots. They close off the street in front of the parliament. The army band marches in first followed by the guard. There are a lot of choreographed moves and official commands and then it’s over. The whole ceremony takes about 15 minutes. There was a crush of people to witness the event- a lot of obnoxious, pushy people. I was glad that I saw it, but glad when it was over.
The changing of the guard is a huge tourist draw. Right across the street from the parliament is a park where a lot of families and vendors gather on the weekend. There are always buskers as well. I was impressed by this gentleman's playing.
It had been quite cool when we woke up in the morning, but the day was clear and it was hot standing and watching. Our next commitment today is a food tour of the area at 2 pm. Trying to get hungry again for that.
We met our group for the food tour at 2 pm at Monastiraki Square. There were seven of us altogether including our guide Cristina. In addition to Susan and I, there was a couple from New York by way of Columbia and a couple from Israel. Our first stop was for Greek coffee in an old cafe. Cristina explained what makes Greek coffee unique. The coffee is ground to a very fine powder. A small metal pitcher is then heated containing the coffee and water. The coffee can be heated on the stovetop or in a special container that has sand in the bottom, harking back to the way it was originally made in ancient times in Turkey. The trick is to heat it slowly.
Next we stopped at a street cafe and sampled three types of filo dough pastries- one filled with chicken, one with cream and one with cheese. All very tasty. Then it was time for lunch #1. Our next stop was for souvlaki: pita stuffed with gyros, tomatoes, onions and tzatziki. We were starting to feel really stuffed but now it was time for lunch #2. On to another restaurant where we were treated to two different dips with bread, fried baby shrimp, Greek salad, fresh fried calamari, zucchini balls with tzatziki and a nice shot of ouzo. I hadn’t really expected to like the ouzo but it was served cold in a small glass with an ice cube and it was surprisingly good. Now were we finished? Of course not. It was time for dessert. So we loosened up our belts and started walking again. We went to a shop that specialized in sweets- like big blocks of halvah in different flavors, baklava type desserts, cookies and honey. We shared a little of each and then got a tasting of a couple of different types of honey. All of the honeys come from different Greek islands and all are extremely different from each other. My favorite was thyme honey. Now, full to hurting, we waddled back to the apartment vowing never to eat again.
It’s 6:45 pm and I’m thinking about food again. I bought some amazing grapes and pears from a vendor at Monastiraki Square after our food tour and was looking for some protein to go with it. We walked several blocks but could not locate a store that sells cheese and meat. So we headed back home at dusk, the vendors starting to take down their tents and tables and settling in for the night. Played our nightly game of Quiddler, did a little reading and turned in.