The faith of the Greek people is Greek Orthodox to 94 %. Greeks love their church and honor their faith by being committed to its traditions and customs.
Every big religious Holiday is preceded by a fasting period shorter (15 days) or longer (40 days). It is a deep religious practice that has its roots in the early Christian times. The one which is honored by the majority of the Greeks is the Sarakosti fasting (Lent) about forty days before Easter. The word Sarakosti means 40 in Greek.
During the Sarakosti people restrain from eating meat, dairy or fish but they are allowed to eat seafood.
If you happen to be in Greece at this time of the year, before Easter, you will notice that everywhere they offer special foods which are lighter, no meat at all, no butter or cheese. Even the Chain store McDonalds’ adjusted itself to this strong custom and you can ask there for a “nistissimo”, meaning fasting, sandwich.
Fortunately, the Greek cuisine is vegetarian-friendly so there are many options apart animal products. The famous “lathera”, mainly veggies cooked with A LOT of olive oil!
But what are the sweet eaters going to do since all sweets are made with butter or milk?
Oh yes, Greeks are sweet tooths however, abstaining from products like milk and butter can be a real pain in the neck! So, they have found the solution:halvas! It is sold in blocks and served in slices. It is made of sesame paste (tahini), honey and sugar and it is a delicious and healthy way to not stop enjoying sweets even in the fasting periods!
Last but not least, our beloved spoon sweets! Fruits or vegetables boiled with sugar. The ultra-sweet result reminds us of marmalade and is very traditional and common in Greece. If you find it, do not hesitate to try it!
If you join our lovely Athens Food Tour during the Sarakosti you will have the opportunity to taste some of these fasting foods such as Halva and spoon sweets and get a deeper understanding of the meaning of this important religious period.
My wife and I were just reminiscing our October trip to Greece. We both felt that one of the highlights was our tour of the Acropolis with Dimitris and thought he deserved a review. Super friendly and knowledgeable, paced the climb as to be manageable for all and answered every question in an accent even us Californians could understand!Would highly recommend!
Doug Bowman | Jan 24 | Acropolis of Athens & the Acropolis Museum
Our walking tour of Athens and the Acropolis was fantastic. I highly recommend it but make sure you have comfortable shoes. It is a long day but totally worth it. Our guide Maria was really knowledgeable and helpful
Pam Constantine | Jan 24 | City, Acropolis & Acropolis Museum
A perfect way to discover Athens and his ancient wealth. Guide Rina has an excellent knowledge of Greek history and manages to put it all in context and engages the group in her story. I feel i know more about Athens, the Gods, but also the relationship to modern life.Walk goes at a slow pace and easy to hang in there, also up the acropolis. Thank you!
Dirk and Carol | Jan 24 | Athens City Tour & Acropolis Tour
Our tour guide Niobe was amazing! She had the most interesting facts, which made all the difference! She was open to questions and knew all the answers to what we asked. Without this guided tour my experience would not have been the same! It is definitely a must!
Isabela | Jan 24 | Acropolis of Athens Tour
A fantastic tour courtesy of Stella, who was incredibly knowledgeable, friendly, and entertaining. A small group of just myself and an Australian couple (Paul and Kathy), it was a wonderful experience and a real culinary treat of a tour. Stella even organised a couple of little surprises for me as it was my birthday! Five stars!
Tom | Jan 24 | Athens Food Tour
We were expertly guided through multiple recipes by the wonderful Stella, and found ourselves with more food than we could possibly get through. It was a fantastic experience and a great insight into authentic local cooking.
Brian Calcutt | Jan 24 | Athens Cooking Lesson
I joined the 7.45 tour, and I loved it! Very few people were around and the morning light was beautiful. We were a small group, our guide Despina was extremely friendly and very excited to tell us all about the Acropolis and much more. She made the tour really enjoyable, and gave also a lot of suggestions about things to do later.Highly recommend it!
Silvia | Nov 23 | First Access Acropolis Tour
Our tour guide name was Charoula, she was fantastic, extremely knowledgeable and friendly. We did a tour of the Acropolis and the Acropolis Museum. Really enjoyed the tour and would highly recommend!
Nikola Romer | Oct 23 | Acropolis & Acropolis Museum
Margarita was the best tour guide we could have gotten!Knowledgeable, passionate, and natural teacher.Learned a lot because of her!
Katie | Oct 23 | Acropolis of Athens Tour
Excellent tour. Apollos was a true expert and great story teller. Everything we saw was made so much more meaningful and entertaining. Highly recommend.
Steve | Oct 23 | City Tour & Acropolis Museum
We went on this tour today and had the BEST time. Our guide Giota was incredible, so knowledgable and passionate and honestly made the tour for us. She answered all of our questions, went at a comfortable pace in the heat and made a 6 hour walk feel like nothing. Thank you so much Giota! Highly recommend this tour if you don’t have long in Athens - you will see and learn so much in such a short space of time!
Katie Comber | Sep 23 | City, Acropolis & Acropolis Museum
Our tour guide was excellent - knowledgeable, funny and patient. When you see the Acropolis from the ground you think you can’t climb that much, but our guide paced our group perfectly
Matthew_S | Sep 23 | Athens Acropolis & Parthenon
Excellent, the perfect mix of casual and structured morning. Loved learning the history from Theodora.
Samantha | Sep 23 | Athens Highlights & Acropolis
Nicholas was amazing! With his guidance we prepared a 7 course meal! He was hands on and very engaging. The best part was dining outside with a view of the Acropolis. Wow!
Lonnie | Sep 23 | Athens Cooking Lesson
Easy to book, excellent instructions pre tour. Lots of thunderstorms before we were due to leave but the company returned my very early email promptly which was comforting. Tour was amazing. No crowds this early. Guide Niobe was informative, passionate and entertaining.
Karen | Sep 23 | First Access Acropolis Tour
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