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Athens Travel Guide

A bustling and cosmopolitan metropolis, Athens is central to economic, financial, industrial, political and cultural life in Greece. It is rapidly becoming a leading business centre in the European Union. It is in many ways the birthplace of Classical Greece, and therefore of Western civilization.

About Athens

Athens covers an area of 159 sq. miles (411.7 square Km) and is estimated to have a population of 3.8 million people being the capital and the largest city in Greece. It is one of the world's oldest cities, its recorded history spans at least 3,000 years.

Restaurants

byzantino-restaurant.jpgThis is the restaurant of choice for many locals in the Plaka. From the outside there is nothing to distinguish it from the other more tourist-type places except for the great location in the small park on Kydatheneon street, but the food is better and influenced by the Greek clientele. I like the spinach pie (spana- ko -pita), their fish soup (psa- row -soupa) which you can get it with or without a plate of fish. Of course they have the Greek salad (hor-ee- ah -tiko), eggplant salad (mel-eetsana salata), yogurt dip (satziki), and all the standards. It’s not cheap but it’s not expensive either. I love their roast potatoes (fourno pahtahtes) and chicken (kotopoulo). They have bottled wine and cold beer and ouzo and mezedes. The menu is in several languages including English. Look for strange and funny translations on menus here and all over Greece. It’s a high form of entertainment for travelers. Galeos is not red snapper which is what all the menus tell you. It’s dogfish, a small non man-eating shark, kind of a humorous translation. You can walk right in and see the food. Either ask the cook or waiter how to pronounce whatever it is you want, or drag your waiter in and point to it. It’s perfectly acceptable behavior. After lunch you can buy a newspaper at the kiosk across the street and have a coffee while reading about what’s going on in the rest of the world. At night they have mostly grilled food and it can get pretty festive but the oven dishes have usually dwindled by evening and if you saw something you liked at lunch you better get there early if you want it at dinner. These are some of the best waiters in Athens too. Very attentive, fast and they all speak English.

Bakaliaro

Psaras Fish Taverna

Peristeri

Platanos



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