The chicken pie from Fillo was a big success, so we decided to start the day over there for lunch after a late-ish start. (I guess “-ish” is doing some heavy lifting there because H’s checkin says it was 3:30.) That chicken pie is excellent. I got a minced beef pie (just to try something different) that was also very good. Definitely getting added to our “early meal” rotation since it’s not open late and you definitely want to get here early if you want the good selection.
Then we wanted coffee and I had recently read an article about coffee in Athens that suggested Η Ωραία Ελλάς (The Beautiful Greece) which was an old-school kafenia that had kinda started the whole push for coffee in Athens and still had old-school Greek coffee. We got seats out on the upstairs terrace (it was gorgeous out this weekend) and took a table overlooking the little street that winds through the Monastiraki flea market. H got a latte, I got a traditional Greek coffee and a piece of portokalopita (cake soaked in orange-honey syrup) which I had been on the lookout for since we had arrived. Another addition to a cycle of little places we can switch up and sit and chat for hours. Always happy to have another one.
By this time, we were getting hungry again, and so we wandered up past Hadrian’s cat brothel and to Aerides, which I think has supplanted Diodos as the weekend taverna of choice for that four-hour-two-carafe-of-wine dinner that really everyone should enjoy in Athens. The little waiter apologized when he brought us the English menus but when we said no, we need the English, he said “I thought you were Greek, your kalispera (good evening) was so good!” (It’s like one of twelve words I know, but I do like that even that little bit impresses people.) We ordered wine and bread, H ordered the bekri meze which what *I* was going to order, so I decided to flip back on the last time we ate here and asked about something from the grill. The waiter said, “You don’t want that. You can get that everywhere here.” OK, what do I want? He recommended either the moussaka (which I will try at some point) or the daily special, which was meatballs in tomato sauce with potato puree. Yeah, give me them meatballs. A very happy meal, a second carafe of wine, some more of the mastika they bring around, a good night. We’ll be back. Maybe again this weekend.
We strolled back towards the apartment, taking a slight detour to check out the Gate of Athena which is at one end of the Roman Agora. The moon was shining through the gate, it was a great sight. Then we detoured again to Da Vinci and got some gelato for the walk back. I tried the “marshmallows” which was baby blue and tasted like sugar cereal marshmallows. (In a good way!)
Athens is not getting old.