If you ever get the chance to go to Athens, especially if you're features are even slightly feminine, try to stay away from the Athens Central Market at Omonia. As I discovered on my first day off, while the vegetable and fruit selection there contained some pretty fresh (and inexpensive) specimens, the meat market held some serious boneheads that I would not associate with again, given the chance. Here's the story:
Marj and I decide that we are running seriously low of vegetables and greens, spices, grains, and other things since we have...none. The districts each have their own farmer's market type things, but as of now, we have no idea when or where the one in Pagrati is. So, we decide to go hit up Omonia, only 2 Metro stations away. We've heard the warnings to generally stay away from Omonia, but we figure that must mostly be a night thing because so many people go there during the day anyways and we're pretty desperate for some vitamins.
By this time, it's been four days since we got to Athens, and we're getting pretty familiar with the terrain. Also, Marj has been on a bus tour so she has some landmarks to work with, but when we get there, we can tell that the air is somehow...dingier? It may have just been that the weather was a little cooler and the skies were a little grayer, but the whole thing had just a hint of an ominous undertone to it. The first thing we come across is a guy in a little shop on the corner of the street selling herbs. No...not that kind of herb. Dried spices and things. So we got overcharged a little for humungor bags of basil and oregano, but we were pretty happy that there was something that could make our food a little tastier. Next, we come across the infamous meat market.
This pictures is only of the entrance because the moment we step in, we get quite overwhelmed by the fact that there is a lot of meat on either side of us and that we don't really know what we're looking for or where to start looking. This may perhaps be compared to a young man's foray into Victoria's Secret, except with less fantasies and more...raw-meaty odors. And apparently, the young and middle-aged meat vendors near the down the aisle, thought Marj and I were rather fantastic, as well. They called out to us; we ignored them. They tried to stroke us (arms, hair); we flinched and brushed them off. Of course, we walked very quickly and tried not to make eye contact. Fortunately, they did not follow us. Unfortunately, Marj saw some kabobs that she thought might be chicken so she was keen to check them out. I was not, but we walked around the outside and back into the market, only to find that they weren't chicken and we had to walk down the line again, and this time, the men weren't so chivalrous.This one ruddy blonde guy decided to do what I will call the "Ni-Hao". He says "Ni hao" I turn to look at him because I am slightly intrigued, and then he makes a further move. [Incidentally, I have been "Ni-hao"ed quite a few times. I'm not sure whether to be flattered or racistly angered.] This time, the further move consisted of reaching out and stroking (?) right below my left shoulder, as if he were trying to get me to stop, but ended up caressing (???) me instead. For those of you unfamiliar in anatomy, that is NOT an ok area to be touching women you don't know (and most women you do know). Traumatized, I headed out as fast as I could, turned to the right, right into a.....
FISH MARKET!!!
I am happy that I got to visit a fish market, but traumatized at the gropage that just happened. NOT OK. So, I can officially cross the first item off the List!!!!
I did not stay at this fish market for very long because I was so traumatized by the meat market incident, and because I'm not very well versed in cleaning whole fish. However, I can say that I have visited what may be the largest fish market in central Athens. :)
The remainder of the day was pretty uneventful compared to the morning, but I can say that we got some vegetables and fruit and that the food we had that night was pretty alright. There was a slight mishap with white wine vs. white wine vinegar, but everything was resolved in the end by just putting things in the pot (tuna, garlic, scallions, red chili flakes, salt, pepper, and more), stirring, and mixing with penne. Mmmmm...my first cooked meal in Greece!
It doesn't look that great in the pot but boy was it great in our stomachs!
Moral of the day: Don't go to Omonia, unless you have an entourage of tall, buff men going with you.
Yiamas,
Angela
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