A travel guide to Athens, Greece
Thursday, January 26th, 2012
Greece, the cradle of democracy, is a beautiful country, robust, rich in history. It has about 1,600 islands, only 170 are inhabited. Half the population of ten million people live in Athens.
This lively city is a good central point from which to see Greece. The white marble of the Parthenon on the Acropolis is impressive. The Acropolis is sometimes called the sacred rock. It sits atop a limestone rock 512 meters and was built to defend the city in 1500 BC, 1000 years later destroyed, and rebuilt in 450 BC.
Three other buildings on the site, in addition to the Parthenon. The Erechtheum is a temple in honor of Poseidon and Athena. The Propylaea is a monumental gateway. At right is the temple of Athena Victory or Nyke without wings. The last building, the Museum of the Acropolis, houses numerous works of art have been discovered since the excavation began in 1835.
At night, the Acropolis is the site of the Son and of light or sound and light show. The entrance is actually off the Acropolis. The first time I tried to find ways around the base of the Acropolis. This seems to be the way to a lover and was very tempting to stay and enjoy the view in the balmy air.
The show, in English, is every night unless there is a full moon. The audience sits in chairs across from the Acropolis, which is illuminated from different places at different times in different colors to illustrate a story sealed in the history of the Acropolis. It takes about 30 minutes.
After that, it is within walking distance of Plaka. This area is two blocks from restaurants and cafes filled up the hill of the Acropolis. It is impossible to walk the streets without appealing to the servers to try his restaurant: “Just look at our menu price, good food, good music, come and look around ..” they say in perfect English.
Most restaurants are on the outside, but protected. His bouzouki music mixes on the street. We went to a tavern with a floorshow and although they had no check was a minimum order of a bowl of fruit at least. I ordered and was very well prepared. The floorshow, with several singers, a belly dancer and volunteers of the dancers from the audience was very good. We also tried the famous Ouzo is an anise-flavored liquor.
Overall we found cheap Greek food and very tasty. The meals are always served with bread and water, although at outdoor restaurant will be charged for the bread. Most menus have an English translation in many places and show that the food in the kitchen from which to choose.
The custom in Greece is a light breakfast, lunch, dinner around 9 or 9:30 ET stopping at every meal.
For breakfast we usually went to a cafe for coffee and cake. I fell in love baklava, a rich pastry, sticky with honey is absolutely delicious. Greek coffee or Turkish coffee is very strong, but you can order more coffee places or the U.S. Nescafé. For lunch or go to a store souvlaki gyro sandwiches, Greek salad with feta cheese in a wonderful outdoor cafe in the Plaza of the Constitution or the purchase of a pasta vendor on the street. These vendors are everywhere and sale Tiropita (cheese pie), spanakopita (spinach pie) koulari (like a large bagel with sesame seeds) and Piroska (bread with a sausage inside). We also saw many vendors selling corn on the cob and chestnuts.
A break in the afternoon of Nice is a drink in one of the many cafes in Syntagma Square. Try retsina or cordial, as Metax (a sweet brandy) or Demestica (national good wine). Even the meaning of a simple glass of lemonade was an experience. We got a plate with a full glass of water, another glass with a blow of fresh lemon juice and sugar in it aside. Was expected to make our own!
One day we went to the kitchen Athinas street market, which was quite an experience. We did not see many tourists in this section, mostly old Greek women dressed as a widow, black scarves, black stockings and black dresses, buying dinner from the freshest ingredients. Butchers cut meat chunks of burlap bags filled with dried fruit, bread, barrels of olives, garlic chains, wire baskets of eggs and live chickens were crammed into a lively area two blocks. Greece is also the best yogurt in the world.
Shopping in Greece is a pleasure almost as much as eating! There is a flea market located near the base of the Acropolis, which is open most of the time, even on Sunday and it’s so colorful! There are a number of purchases, including: brass, copper (get a large bowl beat your egg whites), Fläkt carpets, fur coats, tile, gold jewelry, ceramics copied from museum pieces, onyx, marble , alabaster, sandals and crafts.
There are many museums and historical sites in the city. Admission is free on Sundays, but it is impossible to beat every one of them in their hours of operation: 10 to 16 hours. The Acropolis is open weekdays from 9:00 am until sunset, full moon and reopens from 8:45 am until midnight.
The Parliament Building and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Syntagma Square, which is the center of life in Athens. There is a changing of the guard there twenty minutes before each hour and 11:00 on Sundays. Around the corner is a beautiful park, the National Garden, where something is still ongoing. At the entrance, across the street from the Temple of Olympian Zeus is where all the public buses seem to meet. Each route runs every twenty minutes, twenty four hours a day.
One of the best views of the city of Mt. Lycabettus. You can ride a tram to the top where there is an ideal area for walking, a small chapel and a restaurant.
There are many beautiful beaches of Glyfada, Greece and is a nice place to enjoy mild winters and subtropical summers in Greece.
Greece is a unique place, very nice, not to be missed. And remember, only in Athens! There are still 170 inhabited islands to explore!
Greek salad
Prepare lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions and black olives. Add feta cheese and mix with the dressing as follows:
1/3-cup of white vinegar
½ teaspoon oregano
Lemon juice, ¼
2/3-cup oil Salad
1 teaspoon salt
1 clove of garlic
Freshly ground pepper
Shake all ingredients and use it sparingly over salad.
Dolmathes
1 ½ pounds ground beef
¼ teaspoon cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
½ c. tea with mint leaves
1 cup rice
1 small onion, finely chopped
Parsley flakes
Grape Leaves
Boil grape leaves 15 to 30 minutes. Squeeze a few drops of lemon in the whole pot in the last 10 minutes. Mix remaining ingredients and form small rectangular shapes to fill the leaves. Bake 45-60 minutes in enough water to cover dolmathes.
Galatopoureko
½ cup of cereal flour
½ cup sugar
1 stick butter
1 quart milk
Above and simmer, stirring constantly, making it possible to reach a full boil. When thick, remove from heat and add:
½ teaspoon of vanilla. Cool and add 6 beaten eggs. Stir until smooth.
Melt 1 stick of butter in a saucepan and keep on hand.
From a sheet of filo pastry in the dish with butter, leaving 1 / 3 of the edges, sprinkle with melted butter. Take another sheet and overlapping the other. Repeat. Paper folded in half and put in the center of the plate. Sprinkle with butter. Repeat two times. Add Farina. Cover with another sharp bend. Bring the edges up. Coat well with butter. Repeat three times. Brush top with butter. Drizzle a few drops of water. Refrigerate for ½ hour. Highest score. Refrigerate one and a half. Bake half an hour at 375 degrees. Pour hot syrup galatopoureko cold.
Syrup: Combine and cook under a half hour:
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 slice of lemon
Baklava
. Grease a 13×9 “pan in a large bowl with a spoon, mix:
4 cups finely chopped walnuts
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Set aside. In a skillet, place a sheet of filo pastry, which allows extending over the sides and brush with melted butter 1 cup. Repeat to make 5 layers, sprinkle with 1 cup mixed nuts. Cut the remaining pastry into 13×9 “pieces. Make more than 6 layers and sprinkle with remaining nuts. Cut in half to make diamonds. Bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour and 25 minutes.
Heat 12 oz of honey and pour over the baklava. Let cool in pan at least 1 hour.
Category : Europe Destinations
Tags: travel guide to Athens
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