Thursday, May 18, 2017

Thursday, May 18th, Athens

Greetings!

I've not always liked food.  When very young, it was just something that happened, and nothing very complex.  Since no one in my household had either any skills at it, or any ethnicity that cared about it, I remained unconvinced of its importance.

Mobility of it mattered.  If I could put it in a paper sack, and not get it messy, great.  It was headed to the beach mostly, and would end up under a towel in the cool sand a few handfuls down from the surface.  Or on a tray in bowls in front of the television.  As an only child with no one insisting you eat anything, food became a narrowing experience.

That all changed when I joined the military.  A little more variety, and lots more insistence that I eat it.  And it really changed when I fell in love with an Italian girl.

But though I love olive oil, I've held out eating a whole olive until today.  With nothing scheduled on our last full day in Greece, we joined a walking food tour, led by Artemis Olympidou.  At one of the first stops, she held out a bowl of olives from the island of Crete, and invited me to taste one.  Remarking that I was just like her husband when I still didn't like it, she forgave me.  Like Pat, I suspect she doesn't mind eating my share.  

Since my pallate has grown considerably since meeting Pat forty-two years ago, we did enjoy the tour.  Artemis straightened us out on the origins of many Greek delights, and then guided us to her favorite places to sample lots of local products.  Our traveling friends who recommended it were absolutely right.  Don't eat breakfast first, and be prepared to be full at the end.

Tomorrow, we fly to Ljubljana, capital of Slovenia.  We begin twenty-eight days on another Adventures Abroad tour of the countries between there and Greece.

No photos today, and probably very few tomorrow.  Because of the transportation strike, we'll leave early, and spend most of the day at the airport or traveling.

1 comment:

Carol W said...

Hi Gregory and Pat - such a wonderful blog and photos. Had a great time with you both and enjoyed getting to know you!
Enjoy the rest of your travels - Carol