Tavernas. And More Tavernas... and then maybe another one for good measure.

Yeah I know, Its been a little while since we've posted a blog - its been due to a combination of some of the most laughable excuses for internet connections and the fact that we were lucky enough meet some of our family in Greece. After 2 quick days in Mykonos, we met Melanie and Paul(Matt's sister and brother in law) for a week in Santorini and Milos, and then traveled around Crete with my parents.

Instead of rattling on about the beaches and history and hiking shenanigans, attention must be paid to what we all ate. I've eaten "Greek" food many times before - a greek salad made with lettuce, some dry souvlaki, tzatziki, etc. I always thought of it as ok, but apparently this is because I havent had Greek food in Greece. Made with fresh Greek ingredients.

The typical style of eating here is done at a Taverna, which is a casual style restaurant that serves up small plates and entrees on a table covered in paper. You can order fancy drinks, but most people stick with liters of house wine, bottles of ice cold water, and giant beers. Most tavernas have pages and pages of dishes available, but always include the staples: grilled meats, fish, squids, and octopi, casseroles of vegetables and meats and cheeses, small plates of grilled vegetables, fried dumplings (both veggie and meat), cheeses, potatoes, and fresh salads.

Here is some foodporn. Because I had to.

Platter of thinly sliced and fried eggplant, zucchini, onions, and red peppers. (random town, Crete)

Meal made entirely of small plates: cheese pies, local cheese, eggplant salad, tzatziki, potato salad, and sliced cucumbers. (Milos)

Tzatziki - yogurt, garlic, and cucumber. and some awesome. (Therissa, Santorini)

Chicken Souvaki with boiled poatoes with herbs, and saffron rice (Therissa, Santorini)

Octopus, caught and then grilled right by the beach (Therissa, Santorini)

Baklava (Oia, Santorini)
Wilted greens with garlic and lemon (Amoudi Bay, Santorini)

Fried whole little fishies (Amoudi Bay, Santorini)

So, one would think that since theres so much to choose from, you could go weeks before eating this fresh and delicious food gets old. Incorrect. After about a week of tavernas day and night, it gets a little tiresome, so you have to search out alternatives. Italian and Middle Eastern food is easy to find in most places and some of these restaurants equally good if not better than some of the best Greek tavernas weve been to. Since Greece is close to Italy, eating black truffles is easier and far cheaper than in the US. Thus, I believe almost all the non-Greek meals I've eaten contained truffles in some form or another.

More foodporn.

Taglietelle with mushrooms and black truffles (Oia, Santorini) This particular one was Melanie's.


Grilled mango and local proscuitto (Chania, Crete)
And then theres breakfast. In Milos and Santorini, we made our own breakfast, which was mainly made of our favorites - yogurt with fruit and honey, eggs, coffee, OJ, and a little something I like to call TOAST.

Santorini balcony breakfast.

In conclusion, Greek food is awesome. Greek food is fresh. But I could totally go for some tacos for dinner before heading back to the tavernas tomorrow, if you know what i mean

Thanks for coming to meet us family!



OH - and in case you were wondering what "hiking shenanigans" are, here is a visual aide. This is my mom, who after walking 10 km into a trek in Crete's Samaria gorge, fell, hurt her knee, and was saved by a donkey, who walked her back to civilization. :)