Plaka, Pangrati... the many faces of Athens!

What a day!

We had our walking tour as a group this morning around downtown Athens (the district is called Plaka)which was so much fun. We went through some parks, where two stray dogs discovered us and followed us from then on, and we got to see some beautiful views and old churches as well as the modern section of Athens which reminded me a lot of the shopping district in Oxford, UK that my family and I went to once. Along with very traditional Athenian stores, Plaka also had international brand names like H&M and Chanel. Although Plaka is much more modern and crowded than the little section of Athens that we are staying in (Pangrati), it still maintains amazing architecture and ruins scattered among the 21st century additions. And it's very clean for a city! Nevertheless, Plaka is so quaint and charming and old-fashioned. I like having the option of going into a more modern, bustling section of Athens, but I like the fact that we are living in a more traditional area.

After the tour, and the group split up, Samantha, Mary, Sami and I decided to explore a little more of downtown Athens before heading back. They spotted a "gelateri" place across the street that looked good, so we went in there. Believe it or not, they actually had SOY chocolate gelato!! It was dairy-free, egg-free and sugar-free. It was delish. What a find! Mum, they had your favorite type of gelato- they vanilla with the broken up chocolate pieces in it. My roommate Sami got that kind and said it was fantastic! Made me think of you.

Us girls checked out some of the stores and then made our way back to Pangrati to see the farmer's market that comes every Friday and sets up camp on one of the many uphill streets that lead into one of Pangrati's village squares. It's open from 7:30 a.m. till 3 p.m. and pretty much every local goes there to buy their fruits and vegetables, fish, fresh eggs, cured olives, raisins, wine, nuts, candies; there were even shoes and towels and scarves. It was everything I thought an Athenian market would be like. Because we got there towards the end of the day, many people were more willing to barter or even give away products. We befriended one man who was selling blood oranges and tangerines. He spoke fluent english because he lived in Massachusetts working as a Greek chef for several years. He was very kind, and his helpers were quite cute, and they gave us two free tangerines to try.

Sami and I bought tomatoes, broccoli, eggplant, onion, strawberries, bananas, black olives, and between the two of us we spent no more than 10 euros. Everything was so fresh-looking and beautiful. And we attracted so much attention from the vendors who quite often would call out to us in several different languages, waiting for us to reply in order to see what nationality we were. One man said "howdy" to us as we walked by and he and his friend were arguing over whether we were from Minnesota or California. We sort of took the Minnesota thing as an offense.

Since it's Friday, and one of our only free weekends here in Athens, all of us have decided to go out to a disco in section of Athens called Gazi which is known for its clubs. We don't plan on leaving until around midnight because the place stays open from 12 till 6 a.m. Athenians know how to party.

I ran again around Panathinkaiko stadium after lunch and came back to take a shower. In Greece, you have to heat your water at least 20 minutes before you want to use it if you want hot water for at least 2-3 minutes. There's a switch in the kitchen along with some other switches that I am not quite sure what they are for. I usually will plan on heating the water at least 30 minutes in advance because that normally gives me a clear 5 minutes before the water starts getting colder! Yes, I've learned to take VERY quick showers here. Get in. Get OUT! So, all you Americans back at home who have indispensable hot water, that is an extremely uncommon- and considered wasteful- thing here in Greece and actually much of Europe. So, be very appreciative!

Naps are also a beautiful thing here. Many people, unless they work a strict 9-5 job like the rest of the world, do in fact close up for a siesta during which they go home and take a two hour nap. So far, I've napped everyday, normally after my exercise. Though this is no change from my routine naps back at school, it's nice to know that the rest of Greece is following suit as well.

My roommate and I have decided to eat in tonight, seeing as we bought so much lovely vegetables from the market today. We plan on cooking up a white fish that we bought frozen from the supermarket the other day and having some fresh vegetables with it. Yum!

Fillet of sole sauteed in olive oil with onions, black Greek cured olives, and steamed broccoli on the side. Waddup Next FoodNetwork Star!