Taking the Kids: Athens like a local

As travel destinations reopen, websites like EatWith.com can also connect you with locals for dinners or cooking classes in cities like Barcelona, London, New York, and Paris. In other cities, including Athens, you may be treated to a dinner ($76 per person) that’s been fished by the host’s family or eat a multi-course lunch in a home that is in one of Athens’ largest parks ($60 per person). Just make sure your kids will be welcome and they are prepared for the experience.

The idea is to get off the tourist track at least for an afternoon or evening. We got that at our boutique hotel, the family-owned St. George Lycabettus atop the famous Lycabettus hill with views of the Acropolis. In the posh neighborhood, cafes and restaurants are packed with locals at tables spilling out into the streets late in the evening.

We enjoyed the neighborhood away from tourist crowds and being welcomed like family. In fact, we were saved from getting ripped off by the taxi driver who brought us to the hotel by a longtime hotel employee who chastised the driver for trying to cheat us.

Last year, Greece was one of the first European countries to welcome back international visitors and locals hope that uptick will continue this season. Typically, those heading out to the famous islands or on a cruise, will spend a few days exploring Athens.

(Cruise with Greek-owned companies Celestyal Cruises and small-ship Variety Cruises, which can take you to “unexplored Greece”. Opt for a Windstar sailing yacht, as we did. The sailing yachts boast water platforms so you can swim right from the yacht. Sail your own boat, chartering from Clickandboat.com, which connects boat owners with those seeking a rental in the U.S. and countries like Greece.

When we arrived at Katia lordanidou and Thanos Nikopoulos’ apartment, she had already baked the eggplant. I got busy scooping out the flesh, chopping onions, garlic and parsley as Iordanidou drizzled olive oil, vinegar and salt. I told her in the New York suburbs, my mom and grandmother prepared eggplant salad similarly.

She explained she has grown up cooking with her grandmothers in Thessalonicki in northern Greece. In fact, we were using some tomatoes from their gardens that she had just brought back. “We cook what’s in season and what’s fresh,” she said.

Five million people live in and around Athens — half of the population of Greece, and they won’t go to the Acropolis, certainly not to the Plaka tourist shopping area, unless they are accompanying guests — just like New Yorkers wouldn’t go to the Statue of Liberty or those in St. Louis the Gateway Arch.

We chop, whisk and fry. Though we were strangers an hour before, we chat companionably, following the couple’s directions, sharing stories about the way we cook at home and how cooking together with our families is a cornerstone of family celebration, favorite movies and music. It helps that the couple are fluent in English.

As if dinner wasn’t enough, they offered us gifts — homemade jam Iordanidou’s dad has made, Greek pasta, oregano, sesame, candy.

We had brought a bottle of wine. Next time, I promise, I’ll bring a gift from home in Colorado. We invite them to visit.

Someday, they promise.

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(For more Taking the Kids, visit www.takingthekids.com and also follow TakingTheKids on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram where Eileen Ogintz welcomes your questions and comments. The Kid’s Guide to Philadelphia, the 13th in the kid’s guide series, was published in 2020, with The Kid’s Guide to Camping coming in 2021.)