One of my cousins loves to enter contests. And, as these things go, someone must win. She won a 3 day island cruise with Louis Cruises. And she took me along. Greek islands – great. Cruising – great. Free –really great! So off we went…

The route took us over 3 days to Mykonos, Kusadasi (Turkey), Patmos, Crete and Santorini. The destinations were super. Very different flavours, with a little taste of each along the way. At each destination, there were organized excursions one could do (for an extra fee) – visiting places like Ephesus, Oia, Knossos, etc. Or you could simply go ashore and explore on your own.

Life onboard the ship was nice. These ships are not the giant cruise ships that we normally think of – we were told that the capacity was around 1500 people, spread across 9 decks. The ship had 2 swimming pools, several bars, 3 restaurants, a ‘performance’ theatre, a casino and even a nightclub. How can you go wrong?

The passengers were from all over the place – North America, South America, Asia, Europe, Australia – and lots of Greeks as well. There were lots of families, older couples, young people, and even a Contiki tour group. The crew and staff were also from everywhere – speaking every language imaginable. This was a different mix of people than I expected – really nice.

Food onboard was not bad. The nightly entertainment (‘the show’) onboard was even bearable. I wouldn’t call it a luxury cruise, I wouldn’t call it the trip of a lifetime. But I would certainly call it a great way to see a lot in a short time. A perfect solution for travelers who want to ‘island-hop’ without worrying about hotels and flights and ferries. People seemed to really enjoy themselves. Judging by the constant clicking of cameras and smartphones and ipads, everyone loved everything they were seeing.

Cruising the Greek islands – add it to the list of ‘maybes’ for a short summer break.

And since I can’t really argue with ‘free’ - I’ve decided to start entering contests. All of them.

Until next week,

Jack
 

In this weekly space, keep up with ‘Jack’ as he navigates daily life in Athens… Anecdotes, stories, hits & misses, the good, the bad and, well, the rest…

Water buffalo farming is ideal near lakes or rivers, especially in northern Greece. Most farmers are located near Lake Kerkini in Serres. In fact, there are a total of 30 water buffalo farms across Greece (4,000 animals), and 20 of them (3,000 animals) are located near Lake Kerkini.

Before World War II, there were at least 70,000 water buffalos in Greece, explained Bampidis. However, their numbers increased dramatically, reaching a total of 384 animals in 1984, due to immigration. In the 60s, 70s and 80s, numerous Greeks left for other countries, thus abandoning their farms.

To read more, please visit greekreporter.com

By Ioanna Zikakou

1. Wash eggplants well and remove stems and ends.

2. Using a sharp knife, make 4 deep lengthwise slits in each eggplant, make sure each slit runs almost up to but not through each end as we don’t want the eggplant separating into quadrants.

3. Sprinkle salt inside each incision in each eggplant then place the eggplants in a saltwater bath for one hour to drain away their bitterness; then remove and wash eggplants and leave to drain for 5 minutes.

4. Heat olive oil in a large frying pan and add the eggplants. Be sure to turn the eggplants a quarter turn or so every couple minutes to ensure even cooking and fry them until the skin becomes soft and they begin to wilt.

5. Remove the eggplants from the oil and set side by side in a baking dish, always with one incision facing straight upwards.

6. In the same oil the eggplants were fried in, add the chopped onion and sauté until golden then add the tomato pulp and bring to a boil then simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic, parsley, salt, pepper, nutmeg and simmer for another 5 minutes then remove pan from heat and allow mixture to cool slightly.

7. Preheat oven to 350° F. (180° C.).

8. Using a teaspoon carefully spread open and fill the topside incision on each eggplant with generous portions of the onion mixture, but be careful not to split the eggplants through as they will be very soft. Once the eggplants have been filled, if there is any leftover onion mixture simply place it in the pan among or between the eggplants and pour any remaining oil from the frying pan over everything.

9. Sprinkle some breadcrumbs overtop of each stuffed eggplant and then place pan in oven and bake for one hour.

Note: As with all oil-rich foods (‘lathera’ in Greek), this dish is best served cool to allow the flavours to coalesce so let cool to room temperature before serving. If you leave it out overnight, it will be even more flavourful on the morrow.

Kali Orexi!

To read more, please visit greekgourmand.blogspot.gr