My First Greek Dinner at Taverna

Thanasis and Nadia took me to a taverna (restaurant) on our way back down the hill. Taverna sounds like “taberuna” in Japanese which mean “Do not eat”. Thanasis who studied in Kyoto, Japan, for 1.5 years understood it when I pointed it out. I think it’s a funny coincidence that the word for a place to eat in Greek actually is a strong, imperative expression, DO NOT EAT in Japanese. (^^)
Unfortunately, Harris had to leave, but we still got to enjoy the dinner. I told them I’d try anything Greek. So they ordered “real” Greek salad, a combination appetizer platter with dolma (stuffed grapeleaf), saganaki, biftek (spiced ground meat), and lots of other things that I can’t remember the names of. We also had beef stew-like dish in a clay pot and a combination platter again.

We cut everything into 3 pieces so that we could each have a taste of different things. Thanasis said that the olive oil they had didn’t taste as good as it should. So we talked about different types of olive oil and feta cheese. I’m learning a lot here!
Because Nadia earned her master’s degree in architecture in Istanbul, Turkey, she sometimes helps me understand thing by comparing them to Turkish things. After we ate, talked, ate, and talked some more, we finally took the metro back and Thanasis helped me get back to his apartment. We stopped at the same supermarket where I bought lemon Fanta and I got two more bottles of water for drinking and brushing teeth. (Thanasis told me that the locals drink water from the faucet, but he suggested I get bottled water just in case.)