An Aegean Adventure Begins

It was still full-on summer in Athens when I arrived four days ago. I met up with my traveling pal Barb and her friend Ruth (who is now my new friend) for a glass of Assyrtiko at the rooftop bar of the Athens Gate Hotel, our meeting point before we set off on our culinary adventure in Santorini and Crete. Dinner was at a cute café just around the corner called Cactus7. We shared roasted octopus with fava purée, then I had a wonderful mushroom risotto, while Ruth and Barb had pasta and a gorgeous Greek salad, respectively. Complimentary chocolate cake rounded out the meal. Great start to our adventure!

The next day, while awaiting the arrival of the rest of our contingent, Vickie and Jeri, we trekked about 20 minutes to the Ancient Agora, founded in the 6th century B.C. The extremely well-preserved Temple of Hephaestus sits on a hilltop overlooking the marketplace, and the Stoa of Attalos (museum) contains a wealth of statuary and sculptures. A modern statue depicts an imaginary conversation between Socrates and Confucius. I had never realized that the two were actually contemporaries, although obviously they would never have met.

I never cease to be amazed at the artistry of these ancient sculptors; you can almost feel the fabric of the togas rippling.

Late in the afternoon we met up with our last two buddies, and after a rest from the enervating heat, we had dinner in the hotel’s rooftop restaurant, with its magnificent view of the Acropolis, to celebrate Jeri’s birthday.

An early flight on Saturday took us to Santorini, famed for its brilliant whitewashed houses clinging to the cliffsides and sparkling blue Aegean waters. We’ll be here all week for a cooking school. To begin, we enjoyed a long dinner at Revmi, a restaurant with a fine view of the sunset.