Athens: Day Five

 

On day five, we decided a hike and a picnic was on order. So we headed via subway and walking to the central market marked on our maps. There, a series of alleyway's and stores, each containing some ingredient were located. For example, there was an entire large alleyway dedicated to seafood, another one for beef, another one for lamb, another one for fruits and veggies, etc. 

More seafood arranged on the ice. There were probably a dozen other tables that looked just like this one and sold the same basic seafood. From what I understand, each table, ran by a different person, built up a following of customers who always came back to them. But for us tourists, each owner shouted our way about having the best seafood and the lowest price which made selecting something difficult. 

Above is an example of one of these alleyways with a covered sunshade. As we arrived near the central market on foot, we saw hundreds of people who had already shopped and were heading back home with a half dozen blue bags ready to cook their food for the day.

Eventually we found the vegetable alley which looked like an open air version of the vegetable section of my local grocery store.

There were really colorful displays all around on the edges of the street.

A wider perspective of the fruit and vegetable alley.

Moving on we came to where vendors were selling lots of various nuts, something Greece grows a lot. Above was some sort of hazelnut or chestnut.

There were also lots of pistachios which grow abundantly in Greece. We bought several small bags over the trip but generally preferred the taste of American ones that grow mostly in California. Neither of us could really pinpoint the difference of why the preference.

There was also a lot of halva which is a Greek dessert type food made from sesame seeds and combined with different flavorings. 

Eventually, we ended up back at our suite with all of the above purchases, some for our picnic and some for another pasta dinner we ended up cooking for ourselves later that evening using the remainder of the pasta we picked up at Arachova. 

With sandwiches, salads and fruit prepared, we set our sights on the hill in the center background of the above photo, Mt. Lycabettus. It is the tallest hill in central Athens. We took the subway to the area below it and then hiked up a thousand steps until we got beyond the houses and up onto the greener part of the mountain. From there, we hiked a paved trail that switch backed up the mountain to a small platform on the very peak with 360 degree views.

From the top, we could see the Acropolis with the Parthenon and all the way to the Saronic sea in the background.  We sat on some benches on the top eating our lunch and admiring the view, happily, until one young man hiked up and despite being a stiff breeze, clouded up the entire 20 x 20 ft platform with his body odor. At one point, he came within about 4 feet of me and it was so pervasive that I was going to start retching if I didn't move which I quickly did to the upwind side of the platform. Fortunately he stayed for a few minutes and went back down. I'm not sure how anyone can have body odor that strong and not realize it's impact on those around him.

With our bellies full, we hiked back down the hill to the town below. I found it actually much harder going down than up and by the time we reached the subway entrance, my thighs were completely worn out. 

Back at the lower elevations looking back up the street we just walked down. The narrow streets, densely parked cars and five to six story buildings were pretty typical of most neighborhoods of Greece I walked through. We made it back to our suite and other than a trip to the local bakery for some water and carbonated lemonade, I was content to stay home and read the rest of the evening. 12,000 steps.