A chilly day today in Athens. The high was only 49 degrees. We went to the market in the morning, but it was not a leisurely stroll. We got the things we needed and headed back. Two quick photos. The first shows the beans you can purchase. There are similar bins for spices - just weigh out whatever quantity you want.
The second picture shows the vast variety of olives. Please note that they're all different. Of course you can sample them all to decide which ones to buy. 
The big event for the day, though, was the trip to the 2009 Athens Wine Festival. If you're a wine fan I hope you'll click the link. There were hundreds of wines to sample. All the exhibitors had someone who spoke English. I even got to speak Italian with a couple.
This video is just ONE of the rooms where you could sample. There were more than 150 wineries with more than 1200 wines to sample! No, we didn't make it through all of them. It is by far the best value for a wine festival I have ever attended. For 15 Euros you received a tasting glass (with the festival logo), a spiral-bound catalog of the wines with space for tasting notes (very well organized) and admission to the festival for all three days if you want.
Not only were there wines, but they also had ouzo, grappa and other liqueurs. I did cross over at one point to try Ouzo and something made from Mastiha, a sap found only on the island of Chios. Kim sampled most of the red wines from my glass as well as her whites. Quite uncharacteristicly, I believe she actually had more wine that I did.
The festival is held at Zappion, a large exhibition hall at the edge of the national gardens. It's not just some cold rectangular box, though. The columned front is nice, but inside the exhibition space is organized around a central rotunda. It never feels like you're in an extremely large space because you never see the whole hall. It definitely had a more intimate feel. 
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