DIamond in the rough...

Friday (the night before kevin flew into town) Christina and I headed to a yet unexplored area of Athens called Omonia. Big tip for travelers - this area is somewhat ghetto and you can easily wander into questionable areas if you don't know where you're going so watch out! So we're in Omonia because according to the Athens top 10 guide there are A LOT of good resturants hiding in the small and winding streets of this area. We're trying to find a small taverna named Athinaikon however we're not having the best of luck considering the street the taverna is located on is NOT on any of our maps. However, after about 20 minutes of wandering we come across it.

(I have to admit here that while we were wandering around trying to find the restaurant we came across a KFC. Starving - we popped in and I got something called the boxmaster which was a wrap with chicken, cheese, lettuce, ranch and I'm not sure, but i think it was hash browns. Excellent find!)

I digress...the place is known for the mezes or appetizers so Christina and I order grilled halloumi (a hard greek cheese made out of goats milk), a bean salad of some sort which was also really good and some potato salad. All the sauces and the wine in this taverna are made especially for Athinaikon's. The wine was excellent and REALLY cheap - only 1.5 euros per glass so less than $3 USD. great deal!

grilled halloumi cheese

After finishing dinner we decided to make our way over the psiri or CD area once again, however we ran into a street concert along the way. The atmosphere was great - young athenians were sitting around listening to the music and drinks beers on the sidewalks. Did I mention that I dig that fact that you can drink in public here??

we stay for a couple of bands and then make our way to psiri where we spend the rest of the night. I didn't want to stay out too late though....because Big Kev comes to town tomorrow!