Greek food

Last night, Benedetta, Maria (Benedetta's Greek friend), myself, and 6 other friends of Benedetta's went out to dinner at a Greek restaurant. Originally, I was supposed to be going to Benedetta's house to give another English lesson to Antonio and Anarita, but Benedetta had called me the night before and said that we'd be doing dinner instead. I was kind of disappointed because it meant that I had to spend money again, but I had no choice, given the nature of the situation. They knew I was free.

Anyway, I guess something about Maria being Greek made Benedetta want to go to a Greek restaurant for dinner. Usually I would think someone would want to bring a foreigner to a restaurant that they weren't used to, but I guess not. Maria didn't mind. When we were there, Maria discovered that our waiter spoke Greek, so she took to ordering everything for us in Greek, just for fun. I can not understand the slightest bit of that language! It sounds really cool though. I had a Ghiro, which I guess is written Gyro in the US. It was amazing! Basically, it was a grilled thick pita covered in zaziki sauce (which is like a thick, herby yogurt) and topped with tomatoes, onions, chicken meat and french fries. Sooo delicious and most certainly terrible for you. I asked Maria about the french fries because I thought they were a little weird on the Ghiro. She said that french fries are served on top of every main course in Greece. A little gross, but they tasted awesome. I just don't understand how people stay healthy.

For dessert, I tried this cake thing that I guess I would compare to flan. It had a thin, flaky top crust and a gelatin-like milk center. It was very good, but I only could eat a little. Maria let me try one of her desserts- a puff pastry filled with honey, cinnamon and walnuts. It was incredible but very very sweet. Our dinner conversation was a mix of Italian, English and Greek. I tried to explain to Eleonora and the other Italian girls the situation with the drinking age in America while at the same time, translating for Maria. It was exhausting, but a very fun and cultural experience.

Afterwards, all of the girls headed home and I met up with Kevin, Maggie R, and Maggie W. Maggie W has given up English for Lent so we had a very unique night between our half English, half Italian conversations.

Anyway, that Greek dinner was absolutely amazing and I'm pretty amused that my first Greek restaurant was not in Greece, but in Italy. Maria said it was very good for a Greek restaurant though, so I got a good gauge of it. Hopefully, I'll actually make it to Greece and try the food there!

Buon fine settimana!