Tastes Greek to me — no more!

It seems like Greek cuisine is solely designed for vegetarians and vegans. Touted as the healthiest diet in the world, it encourages eating plenty of veggies, fruits, olive oil and grains.

But for someone who thinks healthy food is less satisfying, I had this fear that, somehow, I would starve on my six-day Greek adventure. And that feeling intensifies at the Athens International Airport upon the arrival of Singapore carrier Scoot’s maiden flight to Athens.

I am part of the media delegation invited by Scoot, the only airline and low-cost carrier offering direct flights between Southeast Asia and Greece via a direct flight between Singapore and Athens, for a familiarization tour of the “city where everything started.”

At the welcome ceremonies, a generous spread of Greek fare greets the crew and passengers. One table is laden with fresh greens, olives, peaches, cherries and cheeses; the other with Greek staples such as gyro, loukaniko (sausage), moussaka (Greek lasagna), and briam (tourlou), a mixture of Mediterranean vegetables roasted together. 

I do know what gyro is and the delicious yogurt sauce that tops it — which you can neither pronounce nor spell (i.e. tzatziki) — but briam, loukaniko and moussaka? All these sound and taste Greek to me.

But as they say, when in Greece, eat like a Greek islander. Mediterranean diet is not only healthy, it’s delicious, too!

Amazing Greece!

For Filipino travelers, flying to Athens is so much more affordable and takes only 11.5 hours from Singapore. Thank goodness for Scoot. Now, you can fly to Athens for as low as P14,115 one way from Manila on its new Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Athens is breathtaking. In Classical Greece, it was one of the most powerful and richest city-states; in modern Greece, it suffers one of the worst reputations due to the riots and protests when the economic crisis began. But the city and the whole country are now rebounding with a significant rise in tourism numbers.

Our tour guide Amelia walks us up to the Acropolis, the Old Temple of Athena right in the center of the plateau, revealing its ancient history in a way that surprises you every step of the way.

There are many things to see in the Acropolis alone. There’s the olive tree by which goddess of wisdom Athena won a divine challenge over Poseidon, the god of sea, and claimed her place as patroness of Athens; the remains of Erechtheion, a temple dedicated to both Athena and Poseidon; and the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, Athens’ most majestic statge where opera divas, tenors and the world’s best performers have performed.

On top is the imposing Parthenon, the most important relic of Classical Greece. Originally a treasury before it was turned into a sacred space dedicated to Athena, it then became a Christian church, a Catholic church and a mosque in the early 15th century, during the Ottoman occupation. The Parthenon ruins we know today were rebuilt during the Golden Age of Athens in 460 to 430 BC under the rule of Pericles. 

Athens is so old yet the city boasts fantastic nightlife, countless restaurants where they do traditional dancing and throw plates on the floor to tell you to enjoy the moment, quieter bistros and happening clubs frequented by locals and tourists alike.

Kali Orexi! (Bon Appetit)

Athens is my first real introduction to Greek food. Here, the range of restaurants is huge — from the simple tavern to the Michelin-star restaurant. On our first night in Athens, our host from Scoot throws a welcome dinner with a view — of the Bay of Zea — at Four Brothers, where the four Dokou brothers do the cooking and serving. They offer set meals, which includes appetizers, a main dish, salad and unlabeled wine served in carafe.

Four Brothers’ horiatiki (Greek salad), a delicious mix of fresh tomatoes, olives, cucumber, onions, bell pepper, topped with chunks of feta cheese, is a must try. But what tops the menu is the fried fish that’s similar to our tawilis or tuyo (dried fish), except that it isn’t too salty so I devour it all — from head to tail.

We also had the best Greek gyro at the legendary Bairaktaris in Monastiraki Square located on the foothills of the Acropolis. Gyro is basically a pita bread wrapped around a chicken or pork skewer, or pulled chicken and pork. At Bairaktaris, we try ‘em all and stuff the bread some more with fresh tomatoes, salad and tzatziki. Everything tasted so fresh and delicious.

Bairaktaris is frequented by a lot of Greek dignitaries and other European VIPs like Queen Sofia of Spain, particularly for its gyros. Here, we also can’t get enough of the tzatziki and freshly baked bread.

We feel the warmth of Greek hospitality, taste authentic Mediterranean cuisine, learn the art of making tzatziki and moussaka, and experience how it is to be Greek for a day at Zafiros, located in the verdant Attiko Alsos Park, overlooking inimitable Athens from its perch.

However, on our fourth day in Athens, we are already craving juicy burger, pasta, and adobo with rice. So after our Greek immersion at Zafiros, #TeamTzatziki (composed of AA Patawaran of Manila Bulletin, Paulo Reyes of PDI, Karen Flores of ABS-CBN and I) sneak out into the Athenian night and go to Plaka, a charming neighborhood with traditional Greek homes.

Just up on the hill above Plaka, under the flank of the Acropolis (“the high city”), there is the tiny village of Anafiotika. The neighborhood was built to resemble the architecture of the Cyclades with stark white-washed cubic houses built of stone, flat roofs and brightly painted shutters and doors.

Some of the houses were transformed into hillside bars and tavernas. And on the rooftop of one of these bars, we have the most delicious carbonara and grilled pork chop, and get drunk on Alpha beers on a warm night beneath the slopes of the Parthenon.

Just like the Athenians, there’s no stopping #teamtzatziki from eating the food we love. Gastronomy, after all, is a Greek word.

Monastiraki: A Shopper’s Haven

At the foothills of the Acropolis is the Monastiraki square, which transforms into a flea market on weekends. But the rest of the week, it is more like the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul.

Here, you can buy just about anything: preserved olives, olive soap, souvenir shirts, bags, purses and caps, handmade gold and silver jewelry pieces, and the Evil Eye bracelets and amulets, which you can use to ward off the evil eye, a look given to inflict harm.

There are some very cool shops here selling rare first edition books in all languages, antiques and fake antiques, vintage vinyl and not so vintage CDs. Monastiraki is a marriage between what is fake and what is real. And that’s for you to find out.

Once On This Charming Greek Island

We don’t have enough time to explore Athens, but we venture out of the city. We take a bus to the Attica Peninsula to see the Temple of Poseidon on the Cape of Sunion; drive 45 minutes into the countryside to have a glass or two of Retsina, a combination of Merlot and Cabernet, at the Ampalones Markou Wine Museum, Mousio Oinou; and take a day cruise on the Aegean to visit three Saronic islands in one go: Hydra, Poros and Aegina.

Constructed on the slopes of a hill around a port, Hydra is the most charming of the three. Here, cars and other motor vehicles are entirely prohibited. So you can go around the island by foot, by boat or riding the donkey!

Hydra is also a popular summer weekend destination. Beaches on the island are actually small coves with crystal-clear water and green surroundings.

Italian icon Sophia Loren, who did her debut Hollywood film, The Boy on a Dolphin, on the island in 1957, was so smitted by the island that she bought her own villa here.

It is also in Hydra where we have the best pistachio gelato, a refreshing treat to ward off that punishing Greek summer heat.

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With Scoot, you can fly to Athens for as low as P14,115 one way from Manila. On its new Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Scoot takes off from Singapore to Athens to Singapore four times a week, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. 

For inquiries, visit www.flyscoot.com.