Eating Our Way Through Another European City – Athens

Day 22, 2024 Ultimate Mediterranean

Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024; Athens, Greece.

It would be easy to eat your way through the Mediterranean. In almost every port, Holland America offers some kind of foodie tour. If not, there are plenty of private food tours from Viator, Tours By Locals and other online sites.

Today we ate our way through Athens, or so it seemed. This is our only stop in Greece on this cruise; I’ll have my share of them on cruises next fall. In 2007, I toured the Acropolis and other ancient sites – and figured they hadn’t changed much – so a walking food tour for a small group sounded good. The forecast for the day wasn’t promising, but the predicted heavy rain waited until afternoon. We almost made it back to the ship, docked in the nearby port city of Pireaus, before thunderstorms arrived.

Our small bus dropped our group of about a dozen in the center of town, where holiday decorations covered the buildings.

We slowly walked from one small shop to another as our guide described the Greek specialties of each stop. First was what she described as a favorite morning treat – Greek sesame bread rings that looked like large pretzels without the twist. It might have been my favorite food of the day – baked instead of boiled and with lots of toasted sesame seeds. Many of our group saved them for later, but I managed to finish mine.

Next was our choice of meat pies. They were hot and the cheese made them gooey — not my favorite because it all just slid apart in the paper bag. I’ve never been a big fan of messy finger food. But I knew there would be lots more to come.

Next came ergolavoi, or almond paste biscuits that closely resemble classic French macaroons. Several of us chose a filling made with mastic, a ground resin from the mastic tree. Apparently it also can be used to make varnishes and lacquers – who knew? It tasted a bit like pine nuts and claims to benefit the digestive system (and cure all sorts of ailments). We followed that up by donuts covered in honey.

I have found that you can’t have a foodie tour without walking through a local market. So, we walked – quickly – through the meat and fish market where our guide said the locals shop. I’ve been through similar markets from Ecuador to Shanghai to Zanzibar. They are good for a few photos.

A few of our tour group bought spices and olive oil in other shops, and then it was time to head for a café where we sampled the local coffee.

The ruins of the Acropolis towered over Monastiraki Square. I hate to say it, but the view of the Acropolis from the upstairs dining room was the highlight for me. My Americanized taste would have preferred a latte from the Starbucks across the street – but I didn’t come all this way for a drink I can have at home.

Our last stop was for lunch – a choice of souvlaki (meat on skewers) or a gyro (thinly sliced meat in pita bread with lettuce, tomato and tzatziki). My choice of the latter was very good. As we were finishing, the sky opened up with a downpour. So instead of walking to another stop for dessert, we had traditional baklava where we were. The bus pulled right up to the curb, saving us from a soaking.

Yesterday was our first day at sea after six port days in Italy, and everyone was pretty lazy. But just in case we hadn’t eaten enough gelato, we could get our choice of ice cream and dozens of toppings at an afternoon ice cream social. Despite “flying under the radar” without a lot of promotion, people heard about it and lined up all the way down the Lido Buffet line.