Palaeochristian Basilica in Glyfada

Archaeology and Glyfada....

We don't usually associate these two, but even in Glyfada there is a small archaeological site.

It is a foundation of 5th century basilica.



It is only a bare foundation, but the plan of the church is quite clear.



You should be able to discern the apsis clearly in this photo.

Speaking about the archaeology, have you seen the contracted workers of the Ministry of Culture protesting ON THE TOP OF PROPYLAIA?

What a mess.

Even nowadays, the Greeks say that Acropolis is sacred and the legacy of the human being. The Greeks want the Elgin Marble back, because Parthenon is a symbol of civilization and they should be together with the temple itself (do you understand the logic? I, no).

Then, they stage an act that might damage the monument and nobody gets arrested for an act potentially damaged treasure of humanity.

Do you think the Elgin Marble should be in the hand of Greeks? They should do better to convince me.

Paradosiako Tis Larissas @ Glyfada

Really, we went to go to a place in Alimos.

But it was full because of a post-baptism party.

Then we went to another restaurant we wanted to go in Glyfada. Again, it was full of the post-baptismal crowd.

So we ended up in this psistaria in Glyfada.

Sprite turned up in a unfamiliar glass bottle with plastic cap. I have never seen this before.



Cucumber & Tomato salad. We did not order Greek salad, because...



We ordered Galotyri.



It is a kind of cheese, cross between feta and Greek yogurt. I like this cheese.

And, meat of course.

Pork souvlaki wasn't bad, but not exceptional either. What I did not like were these stick like chips.



I left them all to Hubby who said he liked them.

And Hubby ordered grilled pork chop.



The meat was tender, juicy and well cooked. Thumb up.

But, 30 Euros bill looked a bit steap for what we ate.

Paradosiako tis Larissas
Kyprou 19 & Zerva 24 str.
Glyfáda, Greece
Tel. +30-210-8980032

Then off to an after-meal espresso at Alea.



I have not eaten cakes there and don't know how their sweets are, but can tell you that the espresso is excellent. Truly Italian.



I should eat cakes sometimes, but when we arrive here for espresso, we are too full with food and don't have space for anything but a single espresso.

10 Euros P.P. lunch at Peiraiki

Last weekend we went to the fish taverna Ta Vrahia tis Peiraikis in Peiraiki.



We did not have a scrumptious meal. Yes. But we ate to the full.

The bill was only 20 Euros.

Here is the report on Gate to Greece.

Ta Vrahia tis Peiraikis

The food was reasonably good and the French fries were excellent. Why not?

Arni Psito @ Agia Anna

We went to Ossios Loukas recently.

We thought to be able to find a taverna nearby, but couldn't. Se we went up to Agia Anna where we knew that there are tavernes.

After half an hour of drive we stopped at a place called Elikonio.

When we entered, we did not know it was a psistaria (restaurant specialised in grilled meat), but anyway we were expecting to eat meat and it wasn't a problem.

As it happens in restaurants in countryside, they did not have menu and a woman who looked to be the owner or owner's wife explained to us verbally what they had on the day.

Here are tzatziki, beetroots,and local feta cheese.



Beetroots were delicious with a hint of vinegar. The Boeotia is famous for feta cheese and it was why we ordered one; I guess it was good, but to be honest we are not knowledgeable about feta cheese.

Then fried potatoes for Hubby.



They were fresh, but did not have much taste. We discussed that maybe the potato they used was not right sort of potato. Fried potatoes are such a simple food, but it is not easy to prepare good fried potatoes. These were OK, but rather dissapointing as we were expecting better ones.

About the time we started to worry about our main dish, it arrived.



800 grammes of grilled lamb on bone.

This did not betray our expectations: very soft, juicy and fragrant.

When we order, we were told that 1 portion is 800 grammes and we ordered accordingly. As the meat was on bone, there wasn't actually 800 grammes of meat to eat, but it was still a big quantity of meat for 2 of us.

But it was a shame to leave such a nice meat uneaten and eventually we managed to finish.

The bill came to 30 Euros (incl. tip). Not the cheapest food, but as the meat was very good, we were happy to pay.

Would love to come back, if we have a chance.

Road Sign of Descriptive Nature

A road sign I saw in Livadia.



Well...

A House

A Car

A Father and an son playing foot ball

So what!?

LOL


By the way, today I had a chance to taste a curry from Jaipur Palace in Maroussi and it was pretty good. If Maroussi isn't so far from where we live, we would be happy to pay a visit. Evidently there is another one in Glyfada, but I have never remember to have seen it. Is it still alive and well there?

Dam Cafe @ Marathonas

Marathon Lake



I am not sure if it is a natural lake. It is now used as a reservoir to provide drinking water to Athens. Do you see the dam below?



And by this lake, there is a cafeteria called "Dam (fragma)".



We sat at this cafe and had club sandwich.



It might look prettier, but it wasn't as tasty as the one we ate at Agrotera Cafe in Athens.



With cheap ham and cold grilled bacon, the overwhelming taste was that of mayonnaise.

Chips had a similar flavour to crisps, because of the 'magic poweder' containing ajinomoto (artificial umami powder).

Was not anything I would like to eat again, but the view was beautiful.

Interestingly I saw several Muslim families doing picnic around. I wondered if they love nature more than the Athenians do.

Club Sandwich @ Agrotera

We went to 3 Day Aegean Cruise this weekend and returned totally exhausted. You think Cruise is a relaxing way of traveling, but this weekend cruise at least isn't so, if you join in a couple of shore excursions. If you want to relax, you should not get off from the boat at all.

But now I am regaining the power to blog.

This is already some time ago. We went to a cafe-restaurant called Agrotera near Zappio.

This strange name comes from Temple of Artemis Agrotera situated nearby. In fact, the construction slightly reminds me of ancient temple.



It is facing to a running track and the flat green part you can see from the window is the one. The hill in front is Ardittos Hill.

We did not intend to eat seriously and order only a club sandwich & two coca cola.

A waiter put table cloths, dishes, knives, forks.

Probably it does not look so appetizing to you, but was in fact quite good, with lots of butter and freshly grilled chicken fillet.

The bill came to 12 Euros.

As restaurant, it is not particularly cheap, but as drinks are inexpensive, we did not pay much.

We would like to be there for more serious eating next time.

UPDATE:
We revisited here in May 2011.

Acropolis Museum Cafe Closed?

Evidently the report was wrong: check out the comment field.



A few days ago I read on newspaper that the cafeteria in the New Acropolis Museum was about to close down. The article also said that the place was to be let to private sector bidder, but it has not been decided yet which company will run it.

If the article is correct, the cafeteria should be closed by now (if a private sector bidder has not yet taken it over).

On one hand, it is a shame, as it was a nice cafeteria with imaginative menu and very affordable price.

But on the other hand, it was inevitable as the cafeteria has been subsidised by the state which is virtually bankrupt. If there is a private company which can manage the place with profit and can pay rent to the place, it is in fact a benefit to the Greek people (and to all the creditors of Greek State).

Even if it means €5 cappuccino.

Espresso @ Alea

Having eaten at Vincenzo in Glyfada, we needed espresso. We could of course drink one in Vincenzo, but the table we got wasn't so good that it wasn't worthwhile to stay longer.

There are many cafeterias in Glyfada, especially in Zisimopoulou Street, but I find them too noisy and busy. That is why we settled at Alea.

Alea is a patisserie with eat-in space. They have branches in Psychiko and Kolonaki as well.



I would have loved to order some sweet, but we were too full after the carbohydrate celebration at Vincenzo. We just had 2 espressi.



Coffees were very good. I did not particularly like the butterly cookies they gave us as an accompaniment, but it is just a small detail. We liked also the water provided with crashed ice.

ALEA
Esperidon Square and Kyprou 76
Tel. 210-898 3959

Kolonaki Branch
Soto Center
Anagnostopoulou 9, Tsakalof 6
Tel. 210-362 5528