things you need to know (when in greece)

Horta - boiled greens, a favorite appetizer of many which looks like a blob of deep green moss and seaweed on a plate. Served with olive oil and a generous dash of lemon, it's probably the best vegetable dish you can ever have.

Tsipouro - a crystal clear liquor from grape skins, leftovers from the wine making process to be exact. This wildly bitter drink is also known as Raki and the Greeks love to drink it with meals. I think I may be addicted to it.

Baklava - an extremely sweet Greek dessert composed of filo pastry, chopped nuts & honey. I probably won't eat it again, but having it for the first time in Santorini tastes like something I've been waiting for my entire life.

"Only in Greece..." - is a phrase you are bound to hear always especially from the men whose passion for anything Greek is fiery. "Taste this, our ocean is so rich with minerals that only in Greece will you have this kind of fish" or "You will never have an authentic Greek salad elsewhere, only in Greece can you get this kind of tomatoes..." Disagreeing is not recommended.

Hopa (!) - after a few rounds Tsipouros, Greek men especially are fond of shouting this. I asked "what does it mean?" Looks at me and shouts "We don't know!" Hopa!