Day 2 in Greece: Athens, ferry to Paros (Thursday, July 15)

I woke up this morning around 9 AM, headed into the city of Pireaus where the ship is docked. It is actually a decent-sized neighborhood. On the way to the metro station (about a 30 minute walk from the ship), the girls (Erin, Haley, and Amanda) and I stopped to get a coffee. One of the things that I LOVE about Greece is that they understand the convenience of coffee-to-go. In the past 3 countries (Spain, Italy, and Croatia), the people drink their coffee in bars or at cafes. I loved that it is a part of the culture to sit and enjoy an espresso with your neighbors/friends. In Greece, however, there are these trendy little shops everywhere that make really good iced coffee in to-go cups (think like a Starbucks plastic cup with a straw). I am really enjoying the “cappuccino freddo” – which is some sort of strong espresso shot/shots with some DELICIOUS foam milk on top. The magic of this coffee is all in the foam – I’ve never seen or tasted anything like it. It is ALMOST the consistency of marshmallow fluff, but is only slightly sweet. You don’t need to add any sugar – just slowly stir the foam into the iced coffee on the bottom. The coffee I had this morning had just the tiniest bit of cinnamon on the top…mumm…heaven. (I might have to invest in a frother (spelling?) when I get home!) The best part about the coffee here, though, is that you can just take it with you. I just think it is interesting that this is the first culture so far where it is acceptable to walk around with your coffee. I wonder if this is a new trend? Not sure…but this morning I did have a moment when I very much felt as if I were in the United States walking down the street with my Starbucks.

Anyway, we jumped on the metro and spent the morning walking around the Plaka – a shopping area at the base of the Acropolis. It was really nice to just walk around and browse in the markets and shops. There were so many cool things – jewelry, beads, clothing – and also some really cool street foods! There is fresh coconut, rings of sesame-covered bread (I can’t remember the name for this), and fire-roasted corn. Not even kidding! Erin, Haley, and Amanda all got a piece of corn on the cob which some nice young man had roasted on a pit of coals…in a little stand on the middle of the street! I tried a little and it was really good. I decided to hold out for lunch, which was a great idea because we ate at a beautiful little restaurant and split a Greek salad with good feta, some grilled eggplant spread, mousakka (ground meat, eggplant and some sort of soufflé baked like a casserole), and a kebap with yogurt and dill sauce. Yum. For dessert, we shared some thick, creamy Greek yogurt with sweet honey and candied figs on top. Holy. Moly. Sometimes there just aren’t words to describe the deliciousness.

After lunch, we headed back to Pireaus where the ship is docked, quickly threw together an overnight bag and power-walked to a port on the other side of town to catch the 4:30PM boat to Paros, as I mentioned before - one of the smaller and more traditional Greek Islands. Since we only bought the tickets yesterday, the girls and I were not able to get seats together, but it turned out well because I got to zone out and work on updating this darn blog! : )

Arriving in Paros was very nice once we got out of the congested port. We had arranged to have rooms in a little villa-like home. The lady who owned the establishment came to pick us up from the port, which was so sweet. When we got there and saw our rooms, she brought us cake and cold water, which was so nice! Paros is a beautiful vacation/beachy-type island. We were able to walk right into town and buy some cheese bread and olives to snack on. Afterward, we went to this great restaurant right by the water. Dinner was great, but the most impressive food item of the night was this fried feta cheese appetizer we tried. It had a crunchy sesame crust, was drizzled with honey, and was nice and oozy in the middle. OMG. So good. I will definitely be trying to recreate this recipe at home (everyone’s invited to come over!), however it might take some time to perfect because when I talked to the waiter about the method and ingredients, I THINK some of the more specific details may have gotten lost in translation. Hmm… we shall see!