Paul's Travel Pictures: December 2011

Famously Cheap Food in Athens

Being self-guided budget travelers, one of the most important questions on any of our trips has been ... What is the PINNACLE OF CHEAP PEASANT FOOD in Kyoto/Florence/Prague/Hong Kong/Dubai/Quebec City? Based on this question I've come across my favorite Ramen-ya in Osaka, my favorite Chalou in Guangzhou, my favorite Osteria in Milan, and my favorite Deli shop in Montreal. And my favorite Gyro stand? That, was one of the major objectives of our trip to Greece.

Our search for that elusive taste worthy of our 14-hour-flight started several months prior to the trip, as usual, with suggestions from various people to give us a starting list of definitely must-tries, maybes, and avoid-at-all-cost tourist traps. Some restaurants would end up in all three categories, depending on who you talk to. At the end we amassed all the information and visited just a few, based on comments from other visitors and convenience of location.

Food Review: Ariston
Address: 10 Voulis Street, Athens
Hours: Rumoured to be 07:00-14:00
Website/Map: Review from Trip Advisor
Directions: Start from Syntagma Square and walk West along Karagiorgi Servias Street and turn right on Voulis Street. Ariston should be on your left.

Gyros and Souvlakia may be more well-known among foreign tourists, but the most popular fast food, based on the sheer number of Athenians we spotted chomping them down by the mouthful, seems to be the wide assortment of savory pastry pies. Just walk down Athinas Street any given weekday morning and watch the people coming out of the Everest branches with flaky phyllo pastry sticking to the chin.

And I did enjoy Everest -- it may be the McDonald's of Greece, or at least of Athens, but the quality is decent for a two euros Tiropita. But our time in Athens was limited and we wanted to find a truly traditional, authentic place the connoisseurs of Tiropita would go. So we took Matt Barrett's advice and headed to Ariston.

The above picture is what Ariston looks like -- an oldish, bland storefront flanked by rows of parked motorcycles on a nondescript street. It's only two blocks from Syntagma Square, but not busy enough to catch the eyes of the uninitiated. But look closely and you'll see its store sign proudly stating "Since 1910," the bold letters advertising "Tiropites," and most alluringly, the welcoming aroma of cheese, butter and pastries you can smell from a block away. You know you're in pie heaven.

Pies pies everywhere! From the typical Tiropites and Kototopites to Melizanotopites and more than a dozen other kinds I could hardly pronounce. Even the ubiquitous Spanakopites had a couple of variations -- I loved the one blended with Feta cheese pictured above.

We also had the Kotopoulo (Chicken Pastry) on the right, which came with some of the thickest, most flavorful chicken filling anywhere. So do what the locals do. Don't miss this cheap, authentic and filling breakfast if you're passing by the Syntagma Square in the morning.

Bill for Two Persons

Spanakopita with Feta Cheese	Euro 1.7
Kotopoulo	Euro 1.7
TOTAL	Euro 5.4 (CAD$6)

Food Review: O Thanasis
Address: Mitropoleos 69 (entrance to Monastiraki Square), Athens
Hours: Around 09:00-21:00 (unconfirmed; based on experience)
Website/Map: Review from Trip Advisor
Directions: Go to Monastiraki Square and face the Acropolis. The little alley to the left side is Mitropoleos Street. O Thanasis at the entrance to the alley, on the right hand side.

Tasty. Cheap. Conveniently located. Having Gyros at Athens’ Monastiraki Square is as essential an introduction to the city as stopping for Ramen at Dotombori in Osaka. Situated near the two Agora ruins, this popular crossroad is home to three of the city’s best-known Gyro joints -- O Thanasis, Bairaktaris and Savvas.

Twice we couldn’t resist the alluring smell of charred meat and dripping fat when passing by, and ended up hitting both O Thanasis and Bairaktaris. We visited O Thanasis for an early lunch one morning, sitting down (which cost a lot more than take-out) out front in the shades and ordering a full plate of Pork Souvlaki as well as a lamb kebab pita.

The above Souvlaki was actually quite enjoyable -- nicely charred, succulent and slightly spiced for a mild kick -- but it was also overpriced at 8 Euros. I would pay 4 to 5 Euros for a good Souvlaki but I felt 8 was a little too much. But this is at the centre of Athens's tourist district ... oh well.

A much better deal, and one of my favorite memories of Athens, was this lamb kebab pita at a much more reasonable 2.2 Euros -- lovely minced lamb with grilled onions, tomatoes and parsley. Juices oozed out of the lamb at each bite and became soaked up by the soft pita. This is what I would order next time, skipping the table and grabbing a kebab pita to go. But as we found out, O Thanasis’s arch-rival across the alley had great deals to offer too ...

Bill for Two Persons

Pork Souvlaki Plate	Euro 8
Lamb Kebab Pita	Euro 2.2
TOTAL	Euro 10.2 (CAD$16.3)

Food Review: Bairaktaris
Address: West side of Monastiraki Square, Athens
Hours: Around 09:00-21:00 (unconfirmed; based on experience)
Website/Map: Review from Trip Advisor

Here's the arch-rival of O Thanasis right across the narrow alley, sporting your typical electric rotisserie out front along with a line-up of tourists and local faithfuls alike. One of the oldest establishments in town, Bairaktaris is said to have been standing here since 1879, having passed down from father to son for generations. But does it live up to its legendary history? Well, that depends on who you ask.

Prior to our visit I had heard as many high praises as vehement attacks about this place, as if every patron either loved its no-nonsense Gyros or left feeling terribly ripped off. But as I stood in line and watched the locals in front paying 1.8 Euros for a Gyro, I realized that much of the criticism probably came from people who tried to sit down and ordered more complicated food than a simple Gyro stand should offer. I mean ... how ripped-off can you get for 1.8 Euros?

So how did it taste? I admit that we may have been slightly swayed by the reasonable prices, but both my wife and I thought our Gyros Pita were better than the Souvlaki at O Thanasis the previous day. How can anyone argue against charbroiled meat heavily smothered in thick, rich, garlicky tzatziki? This alone, in my opinion, propels Bairaktaris way above O Thanasis in my memory. Too bad we didn't have the stomach to also try Savvas around the corner ...

Bill for Two Persons

Gyro Pita (Pork)	Euro 1.8
Gyro Pita (Beef)	Euro 2
TOTAL	Euro 3.8 (CAD$6.1)

Athens is such a great place for cheap and good food seemingly around every corner, just waiting for the curious tourist to stumble upon. In fact one of the best Gyro Pita we had was at this nameless but packed Gyro place on Navarinou street in Piraeus, just a couple blocks from the ferry terminal. Juicy meats, thick Tzatziki, loaded with fries and tomatoes ... all for just 1.5 Euros with a table for sitting down. The whole lunch for two people, even with an Amstel to share, cost 5 Euros. I'm sure every adventurous foodie have similar stories to tell of Athens, and these were a part of ours.

Athens - a Photo Gallery

Hopping from one ancient culinary influence to another, we took our tastebuds to the sun-blessed terrain of Greece this past summer.

Raw sea urchins. Well-grilled sea breams in sea salt. Crunchy Symi shrimps. Creamy Pastitsio. Strong unfiltered coffee and delectable Galaktoboureko. Even simple peasant fares like Souvlaki and Fakes soup occasionally blew us away with wondrous flavors. A year would be too short to sample all of the delicious pleasures offered by this cultured and yet rustic nation.

After a couple months of planning and ferry booking, we ended up with an itinerary that would take us on an 18 day trip from the plains of Central Greece to the eastern expanse of the Aegean islands. The final plan went like this:

This wasn't my first choice, as the original plan was to fly into Thessaloniki, make our way south towards Meteora and Delphi, then to Athens to start our island hopping. But our connection in London wouldn't work very well for the Thessaloniki flight, and so we started our journey in Athens, just in time to catch the start of the Athens Festival.

This is where we arrived -- the chaotic, rambling, urban sprawl of Athens. Through my travels I've recognized at least two definitions of beauty when it comes to appreciating a city. First there is the FIRENZE definition, where exceptional aesthestic qualities permeate the entire central core of the city as a whole. Then there is the KYOTO definition, where a seemingly characterless modern city on first glance presents endless surprises at every street corner with objects of astounding cultural heritage and elegance. Falling into the latter category would be the maze-like concoction of ancient and modern Athens.

Our self-guided tour of Athens started with a morning visit to the Ancient Agora, the heart of Pericles' Athens crowned by the Temple of Hephaestus. Located just southwest of Monastiraki Station, it's also conveniently located a few minute's walk to the souvlaki heaven of Mitropoleos Street for a gratifying and cholesterol-filled lunch.

One of everyone's highlight in Athens, the National Archeological Museum definitely lives up to its reputation as one of the world's great museums IMHO. The privilege of coming face to face with the death mask of Agamemnon and the Poseidon of Artemision costs a worthwhile 7 Euros, not unreasonable compared to the nationally established museums in, say Rome or Vienna.

But most memorable was the 2100 year old statue of the Jockey of Artemision -- just look at the flesh and veins of the bronze horse in full gallop! This was one of my favorite ancient sculptures during our visit ... next to the Charioteer of Delphi that is.

One of our favorite indulgences wherever we go on vacations is ... the afternoon nap. A waste of valuable time perhaps, but it's so sinfully enjoyable and gives us the recharge of energy to sustain our sightseeing exploration into the late evening. On this particular evening we did need the extra energy, as I had pre-ordered a ticket to a Thanos Mikroutsikos concert at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus.

The Odeon of Herodes Atticus may appear to be just another of Athens' many archeological sites in the daytime, but it's about to become jam-packed with a raucous crowd as it transforms one of the venues for the annual Athens Festival.

Frankly I had never heard of Thanos Mikroutsikos prior to shopping for tickets on the Athens Festival website -- I craved only the rare chance to attend a musical performance inside an 1800-year-old amphitheatre. After some quick research I realized that he isn't just a typical musician -- not only is Mikroutsikos a well-regarded composer of popular music in Greece, he was also the former Minister of Culture who initiated bringing the 2004 Olympics to Athens. Unlike the North American concerts I'm used to, this one actually started on time at 21:00 and there was no opening act besides Mikroutsikos!

Despite not understanding any of the lyrics, we quite enjoyed the music and came out with a fond memory of the performance. It was songs after songs of strong, emotional ballads, which our neighbours all knew the lyrics by heart and sang along with. Everyone was having such a good time and the concert lasted well into the late night on this Tuesday ... which made me wonder ... don't Athenians need to work the next morning?

Well we don't, and the next morning we started our day at Syntagma Square, slowly making our way westward towards the Roman Agora and the Tower of the Winds. But the true highlight of the morning was ... the 100-year-old traditional pastry shop of Ariston! I'll write up a proper review latter, I promise.

Our arrival in Athens also coincided with the grand opening of the new Acropolis Museum -- in fact we visited on the 4th day of opening when an online reservation was required to guarantee entry. This is Athens' other world class museum, airy and well-organized and filled with the several floor's worth of priceless artifacts from the Acropolis. The long benches within the museum was also the perfect place to recuperate our tired legs, with a marvelous view of the Parthenon through the glass walls.

The graceful Caryatids is one of the two attractions everyone has come to see. After 2400 years of weathering the elements, the maidens now greet their admirers in their new temperature- and moisture-controlled home. The other main attraction is, of course, the controversial Parthenon Marbles. But I won't start to get into that debate here.

We saved the highlight of climbing the Acropolis until our second last day in Athens. The 30-minute ascend starting from the Acropolis metro station was longer than we expected, or perhaps it was just the afternoon heat. We must have spent close to an hour just sitting in the shadow of the Parthenon, adoring one of the world's sacred monuments while taking shelter from the sun.

Besides the main attractions of the Parthenon and the Erechtheum, an added bonus to visiting the Acropolis is the sweeping panoramic view of central Athens. It was a glorious sunny afternoon when the visibility stretched way past the harbour of Piraeus into the Saronic Gulf. To the northeast, Mount Lycabettus rose like a giant pyramid, imposing and nearly symmetrical, from the heart of urban Athens.

On our last day in Athens I wanted a serene, uncrowded location for a panoramic view of the Acropolis in the sunset, so we started from Thissio Station in an attempt to scale the Philopappos Hill. After thirty minutes of our uphill climb through atmospheric backstreets and small trails, we reached the flat summit of a hilltop when, I then realized, THIS WASN'T THE PHILOPAPPOS HILL AT ALL. We ended up at the Hill of the Pnyx instead! Oh well ... we still got the serene sunset view of the Parthenon that we originally wanted.

But frankly, many of our favorite memories of Athens had to do with the excellent food the city offers. Starting with the next post I'll try to document our favorite eateries from our rummage in Athens.

Savory Greece in 18 Days

This is the INDEX PAGE of our 18-day self-guided trip of Greece, with stops at Athens, Meteora, Delphi, Mykonos, Paros, Santorini, Rhodes, and Symi.

Authentic local cuisine, as usual, was the heavy focus of our trip.