At Maria's, the restaurant of choice near my hotel in Kato Stalos and along this stretch, Greek salads never tasted so good. Cucumbers had so much taste, not to mention cuttlefish and octopus. What they call "salad," is actually a dip—pureed something (eggplant or fish roe) with copious amounts of garlic—so much that the taste woke me in the night. I liked a vegetable dish, bourzeki—potatoes, a green leafy veggie of undetermined origin (think it's spinach) and zucchini—with cheese sauce. The cheese is salty, which makes everything better. Servings were always too much at this restaurant, but I did my best!! They actually gave doggie bags, in contrast to Paris. They served grappa and a fruit basket gratis at the end of the meal. Depending how long it took to get the bill is how much grappa I drank. At Maria's meals cost around 15 euros; further out at the Kaliviani taverna in Kasteli (Kissamos) I got a Greek salad, bottle of water and glass of white wine for 6.50 euros.

I thought I met Dionysis in a waiter at Maria's. When Greek men are handsome, they are....wow! Many are short and hairy, however. That's okay. Tourists can be even uglier. Unfortunately, Dionysis's English was so limited that he kept messing up my order, so started avoiding my table although I never made a big deal of it. It reminded me that I missed friendly, flirty Paris waiters.