Lunch at Steno Cantina

Saturday was our day off, so we rented a car and trundled off toward Steno beach.  Steno means tight or constricted in Greek, and this beach is aptly named as it is located at the narrowest part of the island.

Steno is Andrea's favorite beach for several reasons.  It is nice and sandy, not like many of the rocky beaches ringing Astypalaia.  The water is super clear, blue and shallow for a long way out.  There is also a fabulous little cantina that makes some of the best food on the island.

We sampled a few of the local dishes, the keftedes (meatballs) in the photo are my favorites.  They are a made of lamb meat and are seasoned with spices and onions, they are exceedingly light. We also had dakos salad, which is Greek salad with large dakos (croutons) placed on bottom, that  soak up the tomato juice and dressing.  Another dish that we tried, although not pictured here as it was not photogenic, was saffron tortellini with grated salty cheese on top.  Yes, the tortellini was homemade. It was to die for, believe me.

The lady with the pink hair rented her dog a lounge chair for the day and constantly lavished him with treats and attention.

There is also a picture of me here in my flashy beach cover up that Andrea insists could be a top for a night on the town.  Notice how happy I look. I've just taken a swim and I know that my keftedes and dakos salad are on the way.

We stayed all day, and managed not to fry ourselves in the brutal Greek sun.

More soon.