SEE THE PHOTOS
Freshwater fish extravaganza!
All species seemed to be represented in the numerous tanks of the Aquarium of Kastoria, the biggest aquarium in the Balcans for this type of fish.
Among the exhibits I was pleasantly surprised to also find lobsters and even newts.
In a previous post, I shared a little about my trip to the Prespes lakes and a particularly delicious meal of trout I had on the shore of the Big Prespa. The other fish option on the menu, also fished locally, was ‘grivadi’ – a word I hadn’t heard before. I asked the waitress what it tastes like.
She said it has a very acquired taste, and thus, advised me to have the trout instead. So, I took her advice, and really enjoyed my meal. But the word ‘grivadi’ stuck in my head, and I promised myself to look it up or even attempt to find it in a store back home so I can try it some other time.
I didn’t have to wait long to find out what it is!
Among the exhibits in the Aquarium of Kastoria, during the same journey, I saw ‘grivadi’ fish swimming in a large tank! The sign told me so, and the English name mentioned on it was ‘cyprinus’. I did recognise this word, and from what I can remember, I’ve never actually eaten this fish.
My curiosity satiated, I moved on to the next tanks, and then, I found out that the Koi fish is a type of ‘grivadi’ (Cyprinus) too!
Needless to say, I was appalled.
KOI? I almost ate KOI?
I am still laughing thinking about it. For some reason, it shocked me to think people eat at the Prespes Lakes a type of fish that dwells as mere decoration in garden fountains in other parts of the world.
My mind swiftly concocted the image of a lady in a posh mansion somewhere sending her maid to the fountain in the garden with a net to go catch lunch for her and the lord.
Ha ha.
As I said, I found the notion hilarious and considered myself lucky. So glad I had the trout, folks. So glad 🙂
SEE THE PHOTOS
Beautiful Greece…
Pleased to share today some more pictures from the coach trip of last Easter – from 2 stop overs where we enjoyed some marvelous vistas. We made the first stop for lunch at the city of Kalabaka that is crowned by the majestic Meteora.
Sadly, we had no time to visit a monastery that day and when we returned to the area on our way to Athens it was Easter Monday and the monasteries were closed to visitors.
I visited two of the most renowned monasteries of Meteora in the far past–an unforgettable experience–so I wasn’t too sad about this. Plus, I know I am bound to return another time to visit them again 🙂
I couldn’t have enough admiring (and taking pictures of) the iconic rock formations from the coach window and especially during our stop over at the restaurant Theoxenia, just out of Kalabaka. It was a great restaurant, by the way, with a wonderful buffet, where we got to enjoy gigantes and briam. Yummy.
We made another short stop that day on the way to our hotel in Kastoria. It was in the middle of nowhere in the area of Grevena where we caught people diving in for a swim in a serene river. The rock formations there were smooth and just as stunning, so reminiscent of Meteora. I had no idea Grevena is so beautiful… I was so pleasantly surprised.
Truly, Greece is gorgeous wherever you go! So much fuss is made over the islands, and rightfully so, but the mainland holds tremendous treasures that only savvy tourists know about. I’ve been travelling around Greece all my life, and I am still amazed by how diverse it is.
It offers so many different kinds of landscapes, and many are just not what the average tourist expects to find in Greece. I don’t care how biased this seems – I will say it: What an amazing country this is! The more I travel in it, the more I realize the surprises it has in store are simply inexhaustible.
Check out my travel report from the city of Kastoria and its alluring lake views!
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