After a long 16 hours, we finally made it to Greece late Thursday night. The next day was our first full day in Athens. We did a food walking tour, with 4 additional travelers, a young couple from Australia and 2 friends from New Jersey. Our guide was Julia and her husband George. We walked around the neighborhood of Psyri which is a local hangout filled with tons of shops, bars & restaurants. We started at some local shops one that sold herbs, spices & olive oil and a meat deli.
Next we headed towards their outdoor market, and sampled different varieties of olives. Depending on the type and maturity level, they were either bitter or salty.
Next we walked through their local fish market. In the morning the local chefs from the restaurants shop for their seafood, and the locals come in the afternoon. Most popular were the octopus and squid.
Then we tried souvlaki with pita bread.
We walked through Monastariki square and made our way to a restaurant, where we had wine and sampled different types of Greek cheeses with olive oil.
Our final stop was back in Psyri where we had more wine and a fava dip with calamari, anchovies and beans. Everything we sampled were what the locals would serve their guests as appetizers and snacks. Julia was a great tour guide and we enjoyed learning about local traditions and eating the food made with the freshest Greek ingredients.
After a short nap, we went out to a local restaurant for some dinner and listened to some live Greek music.
