Food Tasting Tour of Athens
September 20 2023
Today I slept in and wandered the neighborhood for a coffee. Then I headed out for my next Airbnb Experience, a Food tasting tour of Athens. This will be a four hour tour that will include a stop at a pie shop, local markets, a small mom and pop cafe, a honey & olive oil tasting and finally a traditional Athenian meal.
This tour started in the Varvakios Central Municipal Market, the same market I toured with the cooking class. However, this time, we spent more time checking out all the vendors. This is where most of the restaurants in the area get their food. It is also open to the general public.
Varvakios Central Municipal Market.
There is also a fruit and vegetable market across the street from the Varvakios Market on Evripidou Street. Here we were able to sample sausages, olives and honey. They had us try raw olives, very bitter! There is a reason they are cured. Then we got to sample cured olives. Yum! what a difference. I also learned that Feta Cheese is named becasue it is cured in barrels and needs to be sliced to be removed. Feta is the Greek word for “slice”.
We also got to do a tasting in the Melira Honey & Olive Oil store. The honey was very good and they used it many skin products sold there as well. It was a bit expensive, so I did not get anything.
sausage store.
Next, our tour guide took us to a small Mom & Pop restaurant located in the market area. We had some traditional greek food.
Our tour group enjoying lunch.
We also got a presentation in a spice store. Here, you buy by weight. They had large canisters of spices to choose from. They also had teas. I ended up buying Greek Mountain tea. It helps with digestion and boosts your immune system.
Spice shop.
Next we went to a nice Greek restaurant where we had a nice sampling of some traditional Athenian foods. Everything tasted wonderful. There was a Greek family in the restaurant as well. One of the kids accidentally dropped a glass off the table and it broke. Everyone at that tables said “Opa”. Apparently that means “oops” in Greek. I took note of this since when I have saganaki in American Greek restaurants, the waiter always says “Opa” when they light the cheese on fire. Hmmmm.
Athenian Food.
I returned to my apartment and took a quick nap. Later I decided to wander my neighborhood again and found an Irish Pub. This is the opportunity to add another location to my Guinness Around the World Blog.
Guinness made for Greece. (See Guinness Around the World Blog for review)
It was 11:00 and time to find some dinner. I started wandering around more and stumbled upon a “Halloween” ally. I guess they celebrate Halloween here as well. It was amazingly decorated and a bit over the top. But still very fun.
I eventually found a nice cafe off a plaza where i enjoyed some souvlaki and a nice glass of wine. Once again, the wine was presented in a small tin pitcher. There was live music and people dancing in the street. What a great way to end the day!
