Eléni’s First Visit - Part 10

This is the tenth part of the tale. There will be twelve parts or perhaps more. It seems to depend on Goddess Athena, after all. The first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth parts are all necessary to fully follow this ongoing saga, with each part only requiring around five minutes of your time. Anthi Psomiadou and R Tsambounieri Talarantas had both graciously agreed to appear as fictional characters in this first visit of Eléni to Greece, where she had hoped to speak to Goddess Athena and find the missing Patrick. The story spans her two-week visit to blue-heaven-and-white-texture Greece.

Let there be light! said Liberty, and like the sunrise from the sea, Athens arose! Percy Bysshe Shelley

For over twenty years, Athenian diners, including Anthi and Rigópoula, have frequented, in Karaïskáki Square in Athens, the themed restaurant, Archaíon géfseis (Ancient Flavours). Thousands of locals and tourists alike have been served at its meaty (wooden) tables by waiters dressed in tunics, and even foreign media such as the BBC and New York Times have featured its famous fare. The menu is based on ancient Greek recipes recorded in the book, Deipnosophistaí (Sophists, Philosophers, and Experts Dinner) which describes a series of banquets held at the house of Larensius, a scholar and wealthy patron of the arts. Apparently, the restaurant does not use any products that did not exist in Ancient Greece. The diet of Ancient Greeks was based on a wide variety of meats, fruits, and vegetables, using honey as the only sweetener.

Our three beauties, Anthi, Eléni and Rigópoula, arrived to the restaurant giggling following a joke that Eléni had told them on the way from the taxi to the entrance of this fine establishment. How many philosophers are required to change a lightbulb? Eléni had asked. Apparently, no one knows since no one has ever seen one even philosophizing about electricity ((giggles)). They asked to be seated in a private room in case Athena decided to appear, thought Anthi and Eléni, telling Rigópoula that it would be more private in case they were to discuss those magical falcons and olive trees. Each private room features columns, torches, and daybeds in which diners can enjoy their dinner as the Ancient Greeks did.

The restaurant’s chef, Andreas Charalambous, proposes to new diners a salad with lettuce, mushrooms, capers, chopped cheese, poppy seeds, thinly sliced ​​pork, fried pieces of bread, oil, vinegar, and mustard sauce, followed by an appetizer with cheese and a sauce made with berries, and a dessert with honey and milk that resembles the Italian, Panna cotta. The first page of the menu includes the Hippocratic temperament theory to advise diners on how their food affects health and disposition, and one should not expect to find any forks on the table since Ancient Greeks did not use forks while eating. Instead, they used a spoon made from bread crust. Strange as it may seem, Ancient Greeks did not want anything sharp on the table. Forks and knifes may have reminded them of Poseidon’s trident. Athena giggled when I wrote that. I had to stop writing, of course, to allow her to put a hand on my heart to save me from a nearing malaise.

Seated comfortably, Anthi, Eléni and Rigópoula illuminated that room with their beauty. M would have fainted had he been there with them. I know because we share the same wooden heart. I spoke to him last night for the first time in over two weeks and he seemed sad. Of course, he misses Eléni, but he is planning to visit Greece as soon as he is able. Since all three had eaten here before, they knew what they wanted. Knowing how Eléni felt about lamb, they all ordered a salad and an item similar to a souvlaki. Anthi opted for a beef souvlaki (she will let me know in a comment if I am far off), Eléni opted for a fish souvlaki as did Rigópoula. Yes, Rigópoula took the fish souvlaki (I only reiterated it to repeat her name). What is the issue with lamb? you may have thought. Patrick, M and Eléni do not eat baby animals including lamb and veal. They find it beyond inhuman to eat them before they had the chance to experience the world. They stick to eating their parents, and only organic beef and turkey, and only three times a week combined given the nutrients that they contain, especially beef, which cannot be found in other meats or plants.

As soon as the waiter had left with their order, they heard unusual noises outside their private room. Anthi left them to find out the reason for the commotion and returned with a smile no one in Athens had surely seen in a while. She asked Rigópoula and Eléni to accompany her outside since Aphrodite had flown all the way from Rigópoula’s garden to look for her, and it seemed that she came for Anthi. Love is a strong emotion and this beautiful falcon was undeniably in love with Anthi. It was standing against one of the windows squawking. Rigópoula went out but Aphrodite would not budge from the window, looking inside at Anthi. As soon as Anthi stepped out, Aphrodite flew and landed on her right shoulder. And we always poetized about love as if it was only a human feeling. All living things feel it; trees too as Rigópoula already knows and as science had demonstrated recently, though not conclusively as love but more as caring, which are basically synonymous if you ask me, M and Eléni.

The manager of the restaurant was gracious to allow them to reenter the premises with the revered Eleonora’s falcon, especially that they had a private room and had promised to pay for any damages if, Zeus forbid, they were to occur. Anthi and Eléni felt Athena’s presence who told them in their minds that it was going to be alright. Anthi and Eléni looked at each other, feeling all the love in the world. Aphrodite remained on Anthi’s right shoulder as they reentered the restaurant, walking towards their room, with all other diners obviously looking at them, some smiling and some perhaps worried that the bird was part of the menu. It was surely unusual to eat with a falcon on her shoulder, but Anthi felt Aphrodite’s love and even fed her some of the beef from her plate. Aphrodite even stopped her, apparently worried that there would not be enough left for Anthi. The love of a bird is surely different and perhaps superior to that of a dog or a cat. Maybe Rigópoula could enlighten me in a comment and I will let you know in Part 11. This is it if I want to respect the implicit five-minute-read rule.

I bid you adieu and may a bird fall in love with you too. Athena has her owl as you know, which has become a great companion to me as well. It may have been jealous at first, but Athena reasoned with it and now it accepts me as its friend, especially that I feed it and we talk about science. I forgot to mention it but the owl’s name is Glaukopis.

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I would like to thank Anthi and Rigópoula for agreeing to be part of this story of everything Athens, Athena, and Greece, as well as my exploration of belief and disbelief, fiction and reality, commingling like a couple in love.