An Afternoon of Greek Food

 After leaving home with 14 degrees Celsius and rain, with similar weather during our layover in Montreal, we were happy to arrive in Athens yesterday morning to 22 degrees and sunshine!

It did clear off in the late afternoon in Montreal to
allow for a nice photo as we left

The Athens area as we approached
the airport

The Athens airport was very empty when we arrived at 11 a.m., so we got through Immigration with no trouble at all, and even our 'Priority' luggage came out of the plane very quickly. We had booked a transfer through Viator, and our driver was waiting for us once we exited the Baggage Hall. Inside of 45 minutes after touching down, we were already on our way into downtown Athens.

We booked the hotel through Crystal, and they had chosen the Athens Capital Hotel for their overnighting guests. It is centrally located, between the Acropolis and Lycebettus Hill, the two highest in Athens proper, and is a fairly new build. The biggest draw is the rooftop area, where the pool, the bar and two restaurants are located.

We had to wait for our room, so we headed up to the rooftop and enjoyed lunch with a view.

Looking over at the Acropolis

I had been watching a couple of YouTube channels specializing in Mediterranean food just to become acquainted with the popular dishes of Greece. It is known that the people of the island of Crete are the healthiest and longest-lived in the world, obviously due mainly to their diet, so people have studied this way of eating for many years. The channel 'Mediterranean Living' is run by a registered dietician who has also written a book about this diet. Check it out if you are interested in a deeper look at it.

There are a few basic premises to Mediterranean cuisines in general: lots of fermented foods - yogurts, cheeses, and bread with a sourdough base; more plant-based proteins than meat, so hummus, lentils, and the like; lots of extra-virgin olive oil, and lots of fruit and vegetables. After having just 2 meals of this type of food, it is interesting to note that we didn't feel stuffed or bloated and stayed satisfied for much longer. I'm thinking of adopting this style of eating when we're at home over the summer.

We shared a Cheese Platter for lunch. It included bread sticks that could become highly addictive, 4 kinds of cheese - 2 from Greece and 2 from France, chunks of honeycomb and a pot of fig jam. It was delicious.

Anyone who has any Greek friends or family will know that everyone from here seems to come with a green thumb. At the hotel, they have lots of herbs and lavender growing in pots all over the place. These were on the ledge outside the window in the bar/casual restaurant. In the background you can see one of the higher hills that surround the city.

Once we had our room, we took a nap for an hour and a half to catch up on some sleep, and changed clothes for dinner and this morning's transfer to the ship in Piraeus. We had to have the luggage outside the door before 11 p.m. as it is being taken to the port by truck, so a little repacking was required. After that, it was time for dinner.

The bread tray comes with condiments: Kalamata Olives, Extra-Virgin Olive Oil and Taramosalata, which is a dip/spread made with fish roe, olive oil and bread. Quite tasty!

For our main course we chose a slow-cooked lamb which was served with hummus, roasted red pepper, potato straws, fried onion and minted yogurt, along with lentil pitas. We certainly weren't expecting this presentation , but it was very delicious.

We weren't sure if we could handle dessert, although we wanted to try it. Our waitress talked us into sharing a plate of Ekmek, and we were happy that we did. Again, it was a phenomenal dish.

Ekmek is a thick cream, in this case pistachio, encased in a 
shredded wheat cannoli, with a tasty foam and ice cream
on the side.

After we finished our dinner we took a last night-time look at the Acropolis and took this photo. It certainly is beautiful no matter what time of day you view it. On Saturday morning we will be picked up for our transfer to the ship. We are certainly looking forward to that!