Follow the Locals

Every Friday I blog for Sunday Hatch. Here's today's post!

I've started using research on our Greece Extravaganza as an excuse to not do housework! It's working quite well, and it certainly helps keep me excited amidst the stress of being now less than two weeks from our departure!

One of the things I love best about visiting new places is experiencing the culture through food. And in Greece, with hospitality always a priority, food is a part of their welcome language. I don't think of myself as a foodie, and I don't particularly love to cook, but I do love to eat! Ironically, I'm a pretty picky eater, but I do like to try a few traditional dishes that I feel confident won't completely mess me up inside later. The Mister is the adventurous one. I usually rely on him to order something utterly unique. Then I'll smell it and watch him take a few bites before I consent to tasting it myself. We make a good team.

olives

I don't eat very much in one sitting, so it's stupid for me to waste a lot of foreign currency on large meals I won't ever finish. The Mister usually helps in that department as well, but for the most part I try to order small, appetizer-sized meals, which usually means I get small samples of several flavors or dishes. It's a convenient way to taste an array of food. It also means I'm hungry again in a few hours, which is the perfect excuse to stop and eat again!

Now that I sound like a complete Fattie... let me explain the place Greek food has in our hearts:

A month before we got engaged, Tim took me to NYC for the first time ever in my life. The first evening we were there, we happened to walk into an authentic Greek restaurant near Time's Square for dinner. I love Mediterranean cuisine (it's so flavorful and yet healthy) but surprisingly had never sat down and ordered a traditional Greek dish, at a Greek restaurant. I had my first taste of lamb and suddenly had a new favorite food. Also on this trip, Tim was supposed to propose to me. That didn't work out and is another story for another day!

A month later, He did propose in our living room. After having several elaborate plans he ended up on one knee one evening after walking the dog. A few weeks after that, we moved back to Texas and started planning a wedding. We knew we wanted to go to Greece for our honeymoon, and one afternoon over a lamb gyro at Tino's in Austin, we decided we'd serve Greek food at our wedding!

lamb gyro, mediterranean salad, dolmades

mediterranean salad

tabouli

These photos make me so hungry. While I still have confidence we did the best we could here on home ground (we hired a master chef to cater our reception, who made his own hummus, tzatziki, and rolled dolmades, which were the best I'd ever tasted), we can't wait to set food in an authentic Greek restaurant. As in any foreign country, the best way of getting to the best food is to follow the locals.

Hopefully they lead us to all the right places!