Georgiadis Bakery in Central Athens

At the last time I went to Athens (which was 18th February Saturday), passing by Kapnikarea Church...



I noticed that Georgiadis Patisserie/bakery opened a branch here.



Georgiadis is "the" patisserie/bakery of Varkiza.

In comparison to the shop in Varkiza, the range of items on sale is limited here, but still there are some interesting choices.

I tried pie with Philadelphia and ham.



The quality of the ham was obscure, but the pie crust was very nice.

The shop is no doubt a valid point to pick up your snack when you are in central Athens.

And another newly opened pie shop in central Athens called Chryso.



It is specialized in bougatsa, and except for the bougatsa with semolina custard usual in Athens, they have bougatsa with cheese or bougatsa with spinach.



After the snacking at Georgiadis, my stomak could not afford another pie, but on the next occasion, I would love to.

Exploring Agioi Theodoroi

It is getting warm recently and we finally started to go out weekends.

Today we decided to explore Agioi Theodoroi and Kineta where I have never been to. These places are on the way to Corinth from Athens and just after Megara.

And by the sea.



Of course it is still too cold to swim, but it is nice to walk by the sea on warm days.

I think this is an almond tree.



It reminds me of cherry trees of which blooming is a (or the) sign of spring in Japan.



And we stopped a seaside taverna called Meltemi for lunch.



Salad, tzatziki, fried calamari, smoked red peppers (that was how they were called, but there was no sign of smokiness; just grilled and pickled red peppers), half litre of wine...



And chicken souvlaki, as it is still a day before Salakosti.



They offered sesame halvas as dessert. The food was fine, if not fantastic. We paid reasonable 31 Euros.

Meltemi
Saronikou Street,
Paralia Agion Theodoron
Agioi Theodoroi
27410 61551

The Agioi Theodoroi-ans were celebrating the carnival.



Then we moved to Kineta for a coffee.



I expected Ag. Theodori and Kineta to be more "touristic", but they were just quiet small towns with beach, just some restaurants and some cafeterias. Surely more are open during the summer, but should not be as busy as, say, Schinias.

We might be back to see them, when the summer comes at last.

Estate in Kallithea

I am at Estate cafeteria in Kallithea. Very warm day if it isn't really "estate" (summer in Italian).

Breeze @ Marina Floisvos

I am at Marina Floisvos having a coffee. A cup of cappuccino still costs 4.90 Euro.
Let's see what happens after the decrease of minimum wage will be voted tonight.

Everest Sandwich, Crepe and Piraiki

About ten days ago, my father-in-law was taken to the hospital and remained at a state hospital in Voula and remained there for 8 days.

It was a very difficult period for my husband's family, because some of them had to stay with the Father for 24 hours a day. I am not sure if it was absolutely necessary especially for the last 3 days when he was relatively better, but it is what the Greek families do and the Greek state hospitals (maybe not all, but at least some) behaves.

If you live in a so-called developed country (and maybe even if you live in a so-called developing country), you won't believe your eyes when you see any hospital let visitor enter and leave freely 24 hours a day without ID check. In Greece, this is what happens.

Anyway, as it was sometimes difficult to go home to eat, the Husband and I took advantage of the Everest's offer of 3 Euro for a hot sandwich with 4 fillings of your liking.



I do not like Everest so much (I am a Grigoris' follower, as you might know), and this was the first time to try their hot sandwich for which the chain is famous for. As was predictable, I did not like the soggy and stale sandwich, but the idea of pick-whatever-you-like for 3 Euro is a good one in the increasingly poorer Greek population and I am sure the offer is making a great success. Even if I personally do not like it, I cannot help but wish for their success (to survive).

Anyway, God bless now he is out of hospital. But curse on the "A" State Hospital that chased him out when he first wanted to be visited by a doctor. If they had checked him up and had given him a prescription of anti-biotic, it would not have been necessary to take him to hospital with an ambulance and hospitalize him for 8 days.

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Last Sunday in Piraiki. The Husband was dead tired but wanted to breath the sea breeze.



I ate a crepe at Bragi Cafe.



This time the crepe dough was rather dry and hard, but still great value for 4 Euro. Next time, I have to tell them to reduce the amount of chocolate filling just for me.

On our way home, the sky was like in one of the paintings of Turner.

Indian Masala @ Thissio

My first Indian restaurant in Greece!

GH, GH's cousin and I visited Indian Masala restaurant in Thissio one Sunday afternoon.

I used to go to Indian quite often when I used to live in UK, but this was my first try since I came to Athens. Not that I did not want to go, but until recently the Indian restaurants in Athens were either in "bad" areas of Athens where GH refuses to enter or were quite expensive. The openings of Indian Masala in Thissio and Indian Kitchen in Syntagma are very fortunate.

I tried to book a table, but was turned down, because it does not take reservation in principle. It is inconvenient, but understandable, as the space is limited and the price is moderate.



Lucky we found a table that could accommodate 4 pax.

The interior is cozy and warm. I heard that there is a courtyard, but it is not for winter period. While we were there, I saw some people either turned down or had to wait for some time to get a table. The waiting staff was quite relaxed and did not tried to urge the people to get out as soon as they finished. It is a good thing, if you have already a table, but it is not, if you don't.



GH ordered chicken pakora as starter to share. They are strips of chicken breast deep fried with spicy butter. Very good and nice snack while you wait for the main.



This is a lamb curry of GH. I don't remember which variety of the curries it was. I liked it.



This is chicken karahi ordered by the cousin. Very similar to what is called "balti" in Birmingham (where I used to live). I did not like the large morsels of tomatoes chopped in.



I wanted to order lamb chops, but were not available. So I ordered sis kebab that the cousin wanted to try. I was not quite sure of the quality of the meal (there were some hard bits here and there), but they tasted all right and the portion was plenty.



We ordered also a raita (Indian tzatziki!), two plain naans, one plain rice (1 portion of rice can feed 1.5 people I think) and one coca cola. The bill was about 45 Euros, 15 per a head, which we thought were bargain.

If you want something exotic while you are in Thissio or Monastiraki, it is a good place to go, as far as you can find a table.

INDIAN MASALA
Ermou 129, Thissio, Athens
210 3219412
Open also for lunch

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A couple of weeks ago, a new patisserie opened in the central Piraeus, in Iroon Polytechneio Street.



It is called Ilion and the first of their shops was established indeed in Ilion in suburban Athens.

The speciality is galaktoboureko. We bought one whole galaktoboureko, but gave it to mother in law, so I don't know how it tasted like.

We bought some ekmek kataifi for ourselves.



It consisted in 4 layers, whipped egg white like cream on the top, then sort of stiff mousse, then kataifi noodles, and spicy sponge at the bottom. It certainly wasn't a conventional ekmek kataifi, but was all right on its own light.

I will try galaktoboureko at the next occasion.