My favorite food abroad was during our food tour in Athens, Greece. We were a little unsure about how it would go at the start since we had an early wake up time and weren’t sure what to expect. Our tour guide, Georgia, was so energetic and happy and truly made the experience one to remember.

The first stop was to try the Greek koulouri, which is bread with sesame and a traditional Greek breakfast. We then had coffee and loukoumades, Greek doughnuts with honey and powdered sugar. After our breakfast, we walked through the traditional farmers market, one side meat, one side fish, and the other side with fruits, vegetables, and other produce. This was an incredible sight. The smell of fish filled the air, with different vendors calling out to us trying to sell us fresh food as well as hundreds of different cuts of meat for sale. We also visited the oldest liqueur shop in Athens, met with the owners, and learned about the process of making traditional liqueur. Our final stop was my favorite, a traditional gyro restaurant! Greek gyros contain pita bread, chicken or pork, tzatziki sauce, tomatoes, onions, and French fries. It is the most delicious meal and it is hard to replicate in the US. It was such a fun day exploring the city of Athens with our tour guide, walking to different restaurants and markets to try all kinds of food!

I loved being able to experience all different kinds of local food in Greece. I have grown up in a Greek household and have eaten many of these foods at home in the US, but nothing compares to fresh local food. It was an amazing experience to be able to see different chefs and artisans produce such high-quality products and be able to try them!