There are certain things I associate with a country and for the most part, these associations have rung true. Like Crepes in France, fresh Pretzls in Germany, Strudl in Austria... So you'd think that Greece would not let me down when I tried to find Pita. In a way she didn't let me down, there was pita available at most restaurants and certainly at every Gyro stand. But whenever I tried to find fresh pita in the grocery store, there was none to be found.
Lunches are generally picnic affairs and we try to vary things a bit and often try to inject as much of the local staples as possible, so I thought pita at lunch would be a nice change up when in Greece. At first we found NO pita in the grocery stores we went to. Bakery's too. None, zilch, nada, nichts, kanenas... Now these were not always little stores - even the large ones where they had everything else - Greek and otherwise. "Where are the Pita?"we would ask. We usually got a shrug and the best we got was a 10 pack in the frozen section. Now the frozen 10'r was an improvement, but it still wasn't the same.
Often with will and determination there is a happy resolve to these kinds of quests, but alas, I must admit defeat. We never did find a source of the fresh pita. Perhaps all of the Gyro stands have the market cornered? Maybe Greeks don't eat it? Maybe you can only get frozen imported from... Canada? Whatever the case, we never did track fresh pita down and will have to make this a priority should we ever find ourselves in Greece again. I hate to think we were simply missing something obvious - though that is a possibility as well. I will have to resign myself to the fact that the frozen 10 pita were pretty good (once they thawed) and the ones from the Gyro stands and restaurants were great.
Fresh Pita - Where are you?
Falafal anyone?
ReplyDeleteHey Bernie,
ReplyDeleteSounds like you are all having a blast as usual! Love all the pics. I especially like the Santorini snaps. Aaron received the Sacher Torte(it was delicious). I will remind him to thank you. Looks like you guys are moving up in the world if you stayed at that hotel(ha!)
Had to comment on the picture with you and the kids in the shop(looks like cameras). Is that your birth father? There is a striking resemblance, if it is not and your mother has ever made contact with this guy, I would start asking some questions.
Thanks for keeping us all posted. Look forward to the next adventure report.
Jackie
Great photos of Greece, warm and sunny, old and new...
ReplyDeleteYou seem to find monkeys in trees in ALL the countries that you visit!!!
xxGG
Woah! We've gotta go to those Plitvice Lakes. That just looks too incredible.
ReplyDeletePitas are Lebanese I think. Some kind of Arabic thing.
Missing you guys. First snow on the near mountains today. And reports that backcountry crazies with rock skis have had their first turns.
Aaron