French Meringue

Lycabettus Hill

One of the most amazing places to watch the sunset is Lycabettus Hill in Athens. According to Greek mythology, Lycabettus was created by Athena when she dropped a mountain she had been carrying for the construction of the Acropolis.  I stumbled upon it at sunset almost by accident.  I had arrived in Athens earlier that afternoon and wanted to have dinner in the Kolonaki area.  I figured, in order to maximize time, I would hike up Lycabettus Hill first.  Getting there by foot is certainly not for the faint at heart.  

Your walk up the hill will take you up several blocks of stairs until you reach the funicular station.  You purchase a ticket on the funicular, which will then take you to the top of the hill.

The funicular, a funny looking yellow monorail type car, takes about two minutes and lets you off at the restaurant and cafe which are located at the top of the hill.  If you walk up a few more flights of stairs you will then come upon the most spectacular view of Athens as well as a small church, Agios Georgios.

The day I was there, this woman and her dog were sitting outside the church doors. The inside of this little church is so beautiful.  It is decorated in dark, rich reds and browns and the golds of the icons and offerings which line the little altar. It smells faintly of incense and glows with hundreds of tiny little candles lit as offerings from those who travel to the top of this hill.  

And perhaps one of the things that struck me the most was the neon cross that illuminates the top of Agios Georgios.  Clearly, the cross is outlined in neon so that it can be seen below in Athens.  However, you just do not expect the contrast of something so modern on a building constructed in 1780.

Fotis' Mojito

I seem to be in a Grecian state of mind, so I will share another glimpse from my trip to Greece last month.  In Naoussa, The buildings are all crowded together closely along the shore and spilling out to create a tiny center of town.  Amidst these buildings are millions of little cobblestone passage ways about the width of two and a half people.  These passages wind in curvy directions eventually spilling in to one another.  In certain spots you will find little court yards with a couple of tables creating an outdoor restaurant where people sit at all hours eating delicious things like dolmades and drinking ouzo (lots of ouzo).  Along the shore line are more restaurants with many tables where you can have a gouna (a tasty fish with a crusty shell) or octopus while you watch the fishermen come in and untangle their catch from their fine fishing nets colored in reds and golds and blues.  One of my favorite places, however, sits just around the corner from the main port.  Cafe Fotis, which can be reached if you walk right between the two buildings pictured up above.  A tiny bar with white chairs sitting out side of it on the beach.  Inside, the entire bar is white and very modern, dimly lit with many candles.  Behind the bar, you will see Fotis himself.  A very handsome, and extremely sweet man.  And while not a typical Greek drink, he makes the best mojito I have ever had.  And what is better, he was perfectly willing to teach us how to make the mojioto.  If you are into more traditional Greek drinks, he does serve a delicious ouzo.  Whatever it is you like to drink, I definitely recommend stopping in to meet Fotis and enjoying a cocktail on the beach at sunset.  It is one of those moments that will make you feel like one of the luckiest people on earth.  If you don't stumble into Fotis just wandering through the streets in Naoussa, give him a call for directions 30 6938 735017.  

Birthday Wishes

This weekend marks the birthday of one of my friends.  She is still in Greece, and tonight she will hold her birthday celebration here, in this beautiful spot overlooking the mountains and sea surrounded by hundreds of geraniums in vibrant reds and pinks.  Amidst the multiple verandas almost one hundred people will congregate to toast her in another year of happiness and life.  I visited her here about a month and a half ago and it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.  White houses made of little cubes, almost like legos minus the circular connectors on their tops.  The edges of all of the windows as well as all the shutters on these houses are painted the brightest shade of blue which at certain points in the day matches the exact color of the sky.  And her particular spot, which is set far off from the main road, can be seen from the road only as a bright patch of orange-red amidst the yellow grasses (naples yellow for those who paint watercolors)---the color of the geraniums which surround her place.  

In the next town over sits the port of Naoussa, on the island of Paros.  The port is filled with hundreds of little fishing boats intricately painted in reds and blues and whites, each with a little Greek flag flying proudly above it--a blue and white flag paired against the intense blue sky.  One of my favorite things to do in the morning while I was here was to walk down to the port and get an iced coffee at Cafe Sorrano and then watch the sunlight flicker across the water, which lit up like shards of a million tiny diamonds.  The woman behind the bar at the Cafe Soranno makes the most delicious iced coffee I have ever tasted.  She fills a cup with ice, pours espresso in half of the cup, and then fills the rest of the cup with cold cream which has been frothed in an old-fashioned milkshake machine, so that it is thick and rich.  If you want the drink sweetened, she will pour in a thick simple syrup.  It will be really sweet if you ask for it sweetened.  I always asked for just a little sweet, which was perfect.