a stroll through the neighborhood in Crete

There are lots of delicious food places in Greece, not necessarily restaurants.

Let’s start with PRODUCE!

These outdoor fruit and veg displays are ubiquitous in Greece. Since this was Crete, those oranges were likely grown literally down the street. Everything is FRESH and BEAUTIFUL. There is definitely a shorter distance and amount of time spent between vine and store in Greece, and it’s really reflected in the produce.

We hit up the morning market in Rhethymno, which was a chaotic, crowded, fascinating display of, alternately, touristy junk and BEAUTIFUL fresh farm fruits and vegetables:

Now let’s talk COFFEE!

Illy was EVERYWHERE. I fancifully feel connected to it because of my name (although no one- NO ONE- is allowed to call me Illy. It’s Lele or Ileana!)

If you’re looking for a more exotic beverage, you could try this:

Hahaha, love that it’s only in English. Oh, what they must think of us.

Finally, when you see the word “Zacharopastia”, which in Greece looks ridiculous because P is R and so on, you know you are about to have something TASTY!

Zacharo= sugar! (and is, incidentally, the origin of my mom’s family name, Zacharias).

Here was our  neighborhood pastry shop in Crete:

The street you had to cross was BUSY! You felt like you had earned your dessert!

Here are some of the wares you might encounter in a Greek pastry shop…

Flavor upon flavor of ice cream! It was especially big in Crete- it’s an island full of beaches!

I was stoked about this because I could translate: P=R, upside down V=L. Therefore, that= karamela, aka CARAMEL! Victory!

Here’s what we picked up for my sister when she was feeling sick:

 

Nothing like a deep fried diple to perk you up!