Welcome to Installment #3 in My Greek Adventure series. For this one – all about FOOD – you’re going to want to pick up and munch away at a delectable Greek pastry. I recommend world-reknown baklava because it’s easily found in every country, although would you believe when I was actually in Greece, I was too consumed with trying new [to me] taste sensations that I never once consumed a piece of that authentic Greek finger-lickin’ honey-drippin’ confectionery delight.
Go figure. What a weiner.
Yet this weiner doesn’t feel like I missed out. Everything else was just too fabulous.
I don’t even know what most of these culinary miracles were called or even what was in them, but I’ll label them breakfast, lunch, or dinner so at least you’ll get an idea of when the Greeks felt they were appropriate to consume. (I’m not saying that I actually ATE them at these times because they often spent some clandestine time riding around in my purse hidden away before I snuck them into my salivating mouth bite by eccastic bite.)
One thing that I found interesting is that nearly everywhere we went in Greece, stray dogs and cats were common, wandering around the countryside, making themselves at home in outdoor and even the occasional indoor restaurant. Like they belonged. And they did! They were well fed, well behaved, and well loved by employees and patrons alike, and were the most polite – and grateful – animals I’ve ever encountered.
At almost all of the outdoor venues in which we dined, it was common (and yes, expected) for a big ole sweet dog to sit peacefully in a nearby corner and wait patiently until someone (usually me!) would entice him over to your table with a scrap of meat, which he usually doublechecked to see if you really intended for him to have. Then he’d gently take it in his mouth and walk away to finish consuming it, as if he didn’t want to offend your delicate hooman sensibilities with his canine chewing. I was doubly impressed.
Especially when I pictured Laz the Resurrection Dog at home restlessly patroling the floor beneath the dinner table and visciously wolfing down any dropped morsel like he hadn’t eaten in a week.
Some of the cats were so persnickity, I couldn’t coax them over with anything, and a couple of the dogs also politely refused the select chunk of meat I offered them, as if they were more educated in polite society ettiquete than I. (Which is true.)
But it wasn’t just at restaurants that you encountered the four-legged inhabitants of Greece, they roamed freely at every gas station we visited, on city streets, and even at the mountaintop monisteries and convents our tour bus struggled to reach (mostly cats in the higher elevations). When we asked the local residents about them, they only shrugged and said that the animals were respected by the Greek people and well taken care of. You could tell that by looking at them. They appeared relatively healthly, happy, rarely approached the tourists, lounged in the shade, coexisted peacefully with one another, and occasionally meandered over to buckets of water placed everywhere for their drinking convenience.
I never once stepped in doggie poo, saw or smelled anything nasty. I wonder how many kill shelters we Americans could eliminate if we treated our furry friends with such respect. Sadly, it’s rather a novel and shocking idea.
And here you thought you were going to hear about Greek history and Mt. Olympus (which we did see off in the distance), cultural treasures, and maybe even Greek politics, but instead I’m going on about pastries and stray animals. Sorry, not sorry. That’s what you get when you world-travel vicariously through me: The interesting soft underbelly of a society.
One more major thing about Greek food: it smells OUT OF THIS WORLD! I could have just gotten up from stuffing my face and caught a whiff of some other amazing dish wafting on the breeze, and knew that I simply must find another centimeter of space in my bulging stomach for one more bite.
Hear this now: Do NOT diet when traveling to Greece. I didn’t but a travel companion tried to. You will live in a frustrated state every single moment and collect a barrel of regrets over the incredible taste sensations you let slip away. Don’t do it. Life is too short for regrets. Especially culinary regrets. Go ahead. Live for the next sensational bite.
So what about you, dear BFF (Blessed Friend Forever)? What’s your fave Greek dish?
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Hugs to you, my dearest BFFs!