Category Archives: Food

What we are eating and where we mention food.

San Diego to Crete, Adjusting Back to Life Aboard

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When we got back to Egypt from the US, we had a hard time getting over the jetlag. For three days we slept a lot, slept at weird hours, and were incredibly lackadaisical. This time the jet lag has been much worse, with us sleeping even more and at even odder hours. Today is day three back in Agios Nickolaos, day 5 back in Greece, and our bodies are still out of sorts. Of course, it may be possible that this is our way of decompressing from the fast paced lifestyle back in America.

It is also really, really hot outside here in Greece. Last time we went home, we had a hard time adjusting to the cold weather in Southern California (compared to Egypt and the tropics, at least). We were actually happy to go back to the warmer weather. This time the weather in San Diego was idyllic, and we are having a hard time re-adjusting to the heat.

In between all the sleep, we have managed to do a few chores. Unpacking and lots of laundry topped the list, of course. We had to do some reorganizing of storage spaces to put away the stuff we brought back. We filled up the stabilizer oil, which sounds easy, but is in fact a messy, two person job for us.

Eric also tried to fix the slow draining sink in the master bathroom. It seemed like just a simple clog. He undid the pipes and cleaned out all the goo, then put the pipes back on. It was better, but still not draining quite right. And now the pipe was now leaking. Hmmm. He must have broken the seals on the pipes. He brought out the plumbers tape and taped up every area where it could be leaking from, then put the pipe back on. He tested it out. Still leaking. He re-taped again and used silicone. The second try did the trick, so no more leak. But still draining slow, and we can’t figure out why.

Costas and Koralia and a couple of their friends came to visit us yesterday. It was good to see them. We spent a low key evening catching up on the last few weeks and getting to know their friends.

We tried more new foods. The first is called keleftiko. It is a leg of lamb that is amazingly tender, juicy and delicious. We think it is cooked pot roast style, and it is cooked with assorted veggie chunks, including carrots, potatoes and zucchini. The second is called stifado, and is a tasty beef stew. We are partial to stewed meats. We like how tender they are. The third was thin slices of pork wrapped around prunes. It is really good, and we don’t remember the name of it.

Spending Time with the Family in Athens

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The flight back to Athens was uneventful. It had been almost 48 hours since we slept, so we actually managed to fall asleep for several hours on the flight. Sleeping in uncomfortable places is simply a matter of being tired enough, we suppose.

We arrived at 1000 local time. Directly across the street from the airport exit is a hotel. It is maybe 1000 yards away. We were planning to go downtown to get a hotel. But this one was so darn close and easy to get to that we couldn’t resist. We walked over to the hotel, checked in, crawled into bed, and instantly passed out. We got in a desperately needed 6 hour nap before it was time to head downtown to meet Christi’s other half-brother, Andronikos, for dinner.

It was exciting to see Andronikos. Andronikos lives in Chicago, USA, so we get to see him more frequently than we see Costas, but we still don’t get to see him often. Andronikos was in town to visit his mother and aunt, and to deal with some administrative headaches that accompany a new Greek law that was just passed.

We went out to dinner at a cute taverna near his apartment. We tried some locally produced Continue reading →

Food, Glorious Sunsets, and Attempted Sight Seeing in Crete

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Yesterday evening, Christi finally started to feel better, which was a relief. She was really beginning to worry about it taking so long to recover. In the evening, we went out and explored town some more. We walked down some streets we hadn’t taken before and found a nice little short cut to the swimming beach and line of restaurants on the other side of the commercial harbor. Here is a shot of the marina from one of the streets we were on.

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We picked a restaurant and sat down. We ordered the stuffed lamb, and we are happy to report it was unbelievably good. The lamb was stuffed with Continue reading →

Food and More Food in Greece

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Our flight back to Crete was at 0530, which meant we were up at 0245 and out the door by 0330. We were surprised that the bus to the airport was full. Early morning flights must be common. Flying with a sinus infection is not fun. We were back to Kosmos by 0800. Christi self-medicated and went to bed. It has been 4 days now, and except for occasionally rousing for food and restroom, she has stayed in bed pretty much the entire time.

While Christi slept, Eric worked on a few chores around the boat, including fixing some chips in the gel coat, more cleaning in the engine room, trying again to hunt down the exact spot of the starboard stabilizer leak (it is somewhere near, or at, the locking pin or the cylinder), and the never ending task of organizing. A Nordhavn 57 pulled into the marina the day we got back from Athens. It is always fun to find a fellow Nordhavn on our travels. Eric spent some time chatting with the owner and helping him with some boat maintenance and repair issues. But Eric spent the vast majority of his time on the most important task of all: complete the quest in his video game, Oblivion. He is pleased to report he finished his game and saved the world.

We figure now is a good time to get caught up on our food reporting. We tried a dish called seafood saganaki. We were expecting the battered, pan fried cheese topped with seafood. We were very surprised when out came something akin to a stew with a rich tomato sauce. It was really good.

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Another staple of Greece is souvlaki, which the rest of the world calls kebabs. Pictured here is a souvlaki sandwich, on pita bread, topped with tomato, onion and French fries.

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We tried a dish that consisted of Continue reading →

Walking Tour of Athens

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This morning we took the 0945 flight to Athens to do some sightseeing. By 1230, we were in the very center of town, in a small park called Syntagma square. The parliament building is directly across the street from the square. The parliament building was originally built as a palace for the first King of Greece in 1836, shortly after Greece’s independence from Turkey. It is just shy of 7,000 square meters (75,300 feet). It is the first neo-classical building in Athens. In 1924, Greece became a republic. The “old palace” was used for an assortment of purposes until the end of 1929, when parliament and the senate were moved into the building. The building also houses a huge library and many offices for assorted heads of state, including the prime minister and cabinet secretary. The front of the parliament building is called Constitution Square, named for the revolution in 1843 where people gathered there and demanded a constitution from the king. There is still a lot of political activity at that spot, as well as festivals at Christmas and New Year. A monument dedicated to The Unknown Soldier is housed inside Constitution Square. Guards in traditional Greek uniforms are always in front of the monument, and every hour there is a changing of the guard, which is a popular tourist attraction.

Today the road in front of the parliament building was blocked off, and no pedestrians were allowed on that side of the street. There were zillions of police all around the building, some redirecting traffic, most just sitting there. Apparently, they were expecting a president of an Asian county’s arrival, so security was tight.

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We checked into our hotel near Syntagma square, and then John took us on a walking tour of Athens. We headed west to Continue reading →