Eating and Drinking in Greece

This is an ongoing entry about my experiences with food and drink in Greece, including the many things I have been happily surprised by and the handful I have been disappointed with. And, while I like Greek food, I know that the handful of things I am familiar with represent just a small part of what the country has to offer and am endeavoring to try as many other things as possible. Tavernas are the Greek counterparts to German gasthauses and French cafes and are the ideal places to get great food at affordable prices. Bakeries and grocery stores are also good places to purchase local delicacies, to reduce the number of meals you end up eating out, and to allow you to do some picnicking. 

* How much to tip is often not clear but apparently 10% is appropriate in Greece and at the high end of what people tend to give (although less does seem to be the norm in some areas, such as Crete). 

* Think twice about tavernas and other establishments that cater to a specific non-Greek ethnic or linguistic group if you are not part of it! Places that specialize in the needs of German customers, for example, are so enamored with serving what they clearly consider to be a superior people that they are notoriously indifferent to the needs of other patrons. This phenomena is almost certainly what caused us to have negative experiences at Arkhado Restaurant in Rethymno, Crete, on Day 6 of our journey and at Naoussa Restaurant in Fira, Santorini. 

* Supermarkets or open-air markets in villages, towns, and cities can be great places to pick up olives, cheese, produce, bread, wine, beer, and other items to eat wherever you are staying or in some idyllic spot you are visiting. 

* Check out bakeries for local delicacies of various sorts, especially for breakfast items or meals on the go. "Ask for kaltsounia," my friend Dimitri Kremmydas told me. "And see if they have local pies. Koulouri with sousami is also great with some cheese in the morning. Pies, especially with greens are big in Crete."

* It is traditional for tavernas to provide complimentary desert at the end of a meal, almost always watermelon and/or other fruit, but sometimes ice cream or yogurt, and about half the time raki, a local distilled liquor. The most sumptuous bonus spread of this sort I have thus far had was at Zisi's in Rethymno, Crete, and appears below; it included a flask with three shots of raki, yogurt with candied pumpkin, honeydew melon, and watermelon. 

* If you are planning on eating gyros, look at the meat on the rotating spit to see how full it is! If it is slim then you may get smaller, drier pieces of meat then is optimum. 

* Get a male waiter if you can! Yes, I know, what a terrible and sexist thing thing for me to say. Professional table service is more traditionally performed by men in Greece, however, and young female waitresses are much more likely to be dull-witted younger daughters who are at loose ends for the summer and being put to work at their family's establishments. 

Aegean Odyssey Day 6

RETHYMNO, CRETE -- Woke up around 8 a.m. after sleeping about 11 hours. Calves were so stiff I could hardly walk. Self examination revealed the blister on my left foot was worse than ever. Hips, feet, arms, and shoulders, however, which all hurt badly after our return from Samaria Gorge last night, were all OK, and with proper care I will recover quickly. Diane is not doing so well and with here injured knee will likely be in bed most of the day. 

Breakfasted on pita bread, feta cheese, olives, and two cups of coffee. Took a couple of dips in the pool and sat for awhile in the jacuzzi, where I found some jets to work my calve muscles. Then, made appoints for hour-long full-body massages for both of us. 

Went to the mini-mart at the resort to get Diane provisions for the day and stopped at the front desk to ask where I might find three local dishes my friend Dimitri had recommended -- stifado, burburistus, and kokoresti -- which I was pretty sure I would not find in a touristy taverna. After the pro forma delay in helping me, the front desk clerk warmed at little at my question and recommended a taverna called Zisi's, which he said was about a kilometer down the road and were he was pretty sure I could find at least one of those items. I am a pretty good judge of distance and was starting to think I had somehow missed the place until I had gone about a mile and saw it just ahead of me (and a check online later revealed it to be about 1,500 meters). It was worth the walk, however, and a very pleasant taverna that had one of the more obscure items on my list, burburistus, which I promptly ordered, to the waiter's obvious surprise and amusement. It is, in short, a Greek version of escargot, but cooked in olive oil and not butter and much more generous in it portions, coming with three dozen snails rather than the more effete French six (an image appears at bottom). With toasted bread and a half liter of red wine the tab was just 9.80 Euros -- and then the waiter brought me some honeydew melon and watermelon, a dish of yogurt with candied pumpkin, and a flask of raki with three shots in it! Overall a very pleasant and affordable experience. 

Cut over to the beach on my way back, walked about halfway back along it, and had a dip on the way at a secluded spot where no one could run up and grab my bag without me seeing them approach. (Above top, a view of the shore from the main road through the area of Rethymno we are staying in; above center, a picturesque ruin -- and a fixer-upper that we will use as a the basis of our relocation to Crete?)

Back at the hotel had a one-hour massage and then a some time in the excellent steam room and dry sauna, followed by a dip in the pool. 

Diane and I then went to dinner at the taverna across the street from the hotel, to Arhodiko Restaurant, which is clearly a place that caters to a German clientele and is much less particular in its treatment of people from other lands. I did not have a good feeling about it, but it was close and Diane was still have trouble walking, so we gave it a try, and I had the first bad meal of the trip there. Gyros should have been a safe bet but what I got were tepid, dry, little chips of meat, not the hot, succulent ones I would have hoped for, along with cool fries that I did not try to finish. Diane had the moussaka and said it was good. 

Worked at little at the hotel and then passed out early, probably around 10:30. 

Aegean Odyssey Day 3

RETHYMNO, CRETE -- Long, lingering day made phantasmagoric by heat, lack of sleep, travel, and alcohol. 

Got up early and flew out of Athens on a 7:20 Aegean Air flight to Iraklion, Crete (here is a glimpse of the coast of Attica as we crossed over it and began to fly southeast). Collected our luggage and were picked up by a shuttle service and friendly driver Demetrius, who was chatty but whose English was only marginally better than my non-existent Greek, causing him to give us slightly suspicious sideways glances anytime we referred to our friend Dimitri during the hour-and-15-minute drive from the airport to our hotel (at bottom is a view of the Sea of Crete from a little ways west of Iraklion). 

Room was not ready when we got it so we went for an early lunch and were pleased to discover at the place we stopped that we could get a liter of decent local red wine for 7 Euros! We had that and a couple of mixed grill plates that included gyros, chicken, pork souvlaki, and a lamb chop. Proprietress Maria also provided us with some great information about the local area and gave us a nice complimentary plate of watermelon, oranges, and figs for desert. 

Went back to the hotel and finally got into our room a little before 2 p.m., upon which we promptly passed out for about four hours. We then got up and walked down to the beach, where I bathed in the surf, always loving the opportunity to scrub myself with sand and wash in natural water. 

After that we got dressed and went out to find a place to eat dinner. We ended up choosing Mr. Gyro and met two nice couples of expat Brits who now live in Crete and, after spending a number of hours chatting with them, were left considering relocating here after we decide we have lived in Texas long enough (from bottom left are Alison, Toni, Michael, and Nathan). 

Vocabulary
Figs: Syka
Oranges: Portokali
Watermelon: Karpousi

More to come!