After a very pleasant and uneventful Emirates Airlines flight from Manila to Dubai, followed by a long wait, then another pleasant flight to Athens, we made our way to our hotel. It always amazes me what qualifies for a “triple” in a European hotel. Some folks in Manila might/would refer to it as a “closet.” :) We unpacked our suitcases, dealt with our IBS and CPS and was pleasantly surprised by the acceptable quality of TP (please read this earlier post on IBS, CPS and TP for enlightenment and amusement, I wrote it two years ago after returning from another trip). Then, within an hour of checking into the hotel, we headed out to find a grocery or convenience store to stock up on drinks, snacks and of course, some of the spectacular fruit for sale in the neighborhood…
Our first haul? Wonderful red cherries that were a day shy of fully ripe (I like them that way, a bit firm, and a bit tart with a sweet finish), some peaches and the most amazing ripe strawberries I have had in a while. And all of this was just a couple of Euro total. The berries were so ripe that when you bit into them, there wasn’t a trace of white or lighter color in the fruit. It was juicy, sweet, and redolent with strawberry flavor at its finest. We polished off several berries each after a quick rinse in the hotel sink. Yum. We could tell from the first hour in Athens that this was definitely going to be a wonderful trip foodwise…
23 Responses
Great looking fruits. Funny acronyms you have, MM. I knew what TP means but always knew CPS as Child Protective Services and IBS as Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
Beautiful beautiful fruits!
I saw peaches at a supermarket a few weeks ago and I bought a couple since I have had to make do with the canned stuff for the past months. Unfortunately they were sour enough to dip in bagoong and treated as manibalang na mangga (which was exactly what I did). Come to think of it, I’m not sure if they were peaches or nectarines. I don’t really recall now. They ahd the same color though.
Those berries would be gone in 60 seconds had they fallen into my hands despite how huge they are! Hehehehe…
I love berries! And that stash you got there looks excellent! Lucky!
kasseopeia, when I lived in the US and needed my sour fix, I bought unripe peaches and ate them with salt. Crunchy like a green mango and almost as sour, it was the best I could do. I refused to eat those yucky mexican mangoes.
Ha Ha. I am in the travel line and thanks for the addition to my vocabulary TP/IBS/CPS – these would definitely be put to good use in my recommendations
Myra, no mangoes are yucky. Actually, to each his/her own as for me I love any type of mangoes whether it be Mexican or carabao mangoes. Mexican mangoes reminds me of Indian mango when I was a child running around the bukid, looking for mischief in the hours after breakfast and lunch. Aahhh… those were the days. Some green indian mango right off the tree and some bagoong or just plain salt.
Hey MM –
I have to say I read your IBS, CPS and TP post and can totally relate – we travel a lot and I always pack my own soft pillow and ….. rolls of Charmin Ultra! I take my TP seriously … the rest of my sibs laugh at me but it’s their bums that get chafed not mine!!!
Wow! i love strawberries :-) Fresh cherries sold at Rockwell costs P1,000/kilo.
Strawberries are fine but when I saw the fresh peaches and cherries… envy got the best of me:( How I wish that I could also have those fresh peaches and cherries..
I only get to taste fresh peach from the States through some well meaning relatives and lets not get to the fresh cherries since my experience with it the first time wasn’t good. My Japanese boss also told me that fresh cherries in Japan cost more than any other fruit.
Alexena and momsy, the strawberries were Euro 1 or $1.60 or PHP70 a KILO, compared to say PHP1,000 for the fancy ones in the large groceries! The cherries were just double that at PHP140 a kilo, a little more for the golden cherries. And you only need 1/2 kilo of cherries for 2 people… I can’t recall how much the peaches were, but they weren’t expensive either! :)
70 pesos per kilo of those fantabulous strawberries anf 140 per kilo of cherries? That just makes me want to weep! Hehehe… The cherries remind me of my habit of tying knots with the cherry stems without using my hands – a skill I picked up in high school. *lol*
Myra P: I haven’t tried Mexican mangoes but I have tried one from Singapore. Not sure as to its origins BUT they were quite stringy so they were best squeezed like hell to get the pulp and juice out. Regarding the sour peaches, it was quite a revelation actually. Now I want to find sour ones again and try it in sinigang or kilawin. Hehehe…
I treat my IBS seriously with olive rub… yes, O-L-I-V-E rrrruuuubbbbb! :)
And just like you Isabel, i treat TP to a degree that is totally significant during travels!
CP??? HHHHAAAAAHHHHAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!
Nice pour vous avoir autour de Homme du Marche! Cheers! :)
This brings back memories! I used to have fresh peaches and Greek yogurt every morning when I was there…I’m really looking forward to your Greece posts! (and Turkey as well…another travel goal for me!)
am reading this post while eating a bowl of cherries, i like them firm too yumm
suggestion when the fruit you have is too tart and too sour…sprinkle cut pieces of the fruit with Li Hing Powder. Try looking for it in Asian Stores…I got mine from Hawaii. It’s a powder made out of plum extract, salt and licorice… I think it’s the one they coat the dried champoy (kiamoy). I’ve tried it with mangoes, apples, pineapple…i’m pretty sure it would work with sour peaches.
cherries are in the market now..
those are gorgeous fruits, but it made me miss the mangosteen, marang and other fresh fruits from tagaytay.
do you know that every time I buy fruits here in the States my mind wander to home in Athens all the summer fruits bursting under the Med sun!!
Cherries!!!! My favoritest fruit in the world :) Its just so sad that it costs Php1K a kilo here. But I still buy them anyway one in a while just to get my fix. And it’s only Pho70 equivalent? I’m inggit :S
I do the same, MM! not the IBS and CPS but the hunting down of a grocery and fruit stand. I ate cherries everyday when i was in Barcelona during their summer. Now, I only buy 1/4 kilo and only as a reward for something. Kakainggit ng fruits!
MM, that was the most entertaining post I’ve read on a food blog. Before going back to that post back in 2006, didn’t expect that TP, IBS, and CPS were acronyms for such things. I was thinking more of business vocabulary. Thanks for the laughs!
I got so enamored with the big beautiful strawberries bought in Farmers’ Market in San Francisco. I brought them home but some were crushed. Sayang! They ended up as strawberry shake!
Interesting. Over here, the locally grown cherries are usually gone by the time the stone fruit appear… anyway, I love ’em all. :)
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