OK, so the title of this blog may be a little misleading.

I didn’t set out to spend a day in Athens, Greece without my wallet.

But something happened to it.

Between eating frozen yogurt near the Plaka and jumping into a cab outside a McDonald’s that served a Greek Mac (really a hamburger gyro), I lost my wallet.

It’s possible I dropped it somewhere between pulling it out at the fro-yo shop and walking to where the cabs were parked. Or it’s possible it was stealthily taken from my bag, which, I’ll admit, was unzipped. Either way, I was without my credit cards, driver’s license and about $150 in cash.

It wasn’t too bad, though. I called my bank and got both cards disabled. And I stashed some cash in my carry-on back at the hotel, so I had at least another $300 in U.S. dollars there. I would just be stuck for another four days without access to more cash. Good thing my girlfriends have credit cards!

But leading up to that moment — it happened toward the end of the day — wasn’t so bad. We started the morning with a nice, brisk, hour-long walk around town before heading back to the Plaka, which was the only place open on Sunday.

And it was bustling!

Here’s what we did today:

Grace and Lan were ready to walk! And what a place to start: the all-marble Panathenaic Stadium.

As we walked around the neighborhood — we were taking paths through small urban parks — we found this street vendor selling κουλούρι, or koulouri, a kind of Greek sesame bread often eaten at breakfast.

He also sold this huge sugar donut ring for just 1 Euro. It tasted a lot like a Portuguese malasada.

Right in the middle of Megalis tou Genous Sholi Square near the Hilton Athens Hotel stands this 30-foot statue called “Dromeas” (or “Runner” in English). It’s an impressive glass-and-iron sculpture created by Athens artist Costas Varotsos in 1994.

Most shops and restaurants are closed on Sunday in Athens, so we were surprised to come across this little neighborhood bakery that was open.

Inside, we found a wide selection of baked goods ranging from honey cookies to chocolate-filled croissants.

Here are more of those pretzel sticks.

And here are some of the cookies and bars the bakery served.

We found out the Plaka, which caters to visitors, was open on Sundays, so we headed back there. We browsed the shops, looking for leather sandals and sun hats.

We found a quaint restaurant with sidewalk seating in the Plaka and stopped for some lunch. Or maybe it was a pre-lunch. Regardless, these two — Lan and Rona — tend to eat all day. My kind of travelers!

Our meal started with a salad, chockfull of fresh tomatoes and bell peppers and topped with feta cheese, a standard ingredient in most salads in Greece.

It’s surprisingly now many restaurants serve Bolognese — and this eatery was no different. The sauce had a nice, sweet flavor to it.

Here’s the grilled vegetable dish topped with grilled halloumi cheese, a mixture of goat’s and sheep’s milk.

Next, we ordered the catch of the day, which was simply prepared tableside with olive oil and a squeeze of lemon.

Here’s that fish, clean of bones and paired with vegetables.

In Greece, most restaurants serve dessert and an apéritif at the end of each meal, free of charge. We got served this a lot: basbousa or revani, a sweet cake made from cooked semolina or farina soaked in simple syrup. It tastes a lot like rice cake and is often flavored with fruits like grapes, coconut or orange.

It was Sunday, so we walked from the Plaka to the nearby Monastiraki Flea Market, a popular spot in Athens for shopping and people-watching.

There are a few street vendors selling snacks like roasted corn and fresh fruits like strawberries and cherries.

Rona tried the coconut candy sticks, just 1 Euro each. Sweet but tasty.

Much of the flea market looked like the Plaka, with souvenir shops selling leather sandals, sun hats, magnets and canvas bags with cats and donkeys on them. But there was an area where people had brought their wares, like old records and camera equipment. I really wanted this typewriter.

And then there were vendors selling furniture like this. Interesting place, but not what I had expected.

Next (and infamous) stop: FroYo, a chain of frozen Greek yogurt shops in Athens that serves plain Greek yogurt — supposedly low in fat and calories — with whatever topping you desire. This is also the last place where I saw my wallet.

Here’s the plain yogurt topped with fruits — that weren’t fresh. Bummer.

And here’s what I ordered, topped with dark chocolate that hardened into a shell. Kinda like Dairy Queen. The yogurt is bit tangy — reminded us of Yami Yogurt — but delicious.

For dinner, we walked to a tavern near our apartment. This place came recommended by the woman who worked at the hotel where we were staying, and so far, she had been spot on.

I love the decor of this place, especially the red and blue tables and chairs. The seating was upstairs and overlooked the street.

Our dinner started with a lentil-and-mustard spread and bread.

These are deep-fried zucchini rolls.

We shared spaghetti again — second time today! — but this one came with veggies and feta cheese. This bowl was completely filled with more noodles than possible for the four of us to eat.

One of my girlfriends orders meatballs wherever she goes — at least that’s what’s been happening. So here’s this restaurant’s version of meatballs — it was OK; we’ve had better — paired with fried potatoes.

And here are the pies: spinach and meat. The meat pie tasted a lot like a chimichanga, which wasn’t a bad thing. This was probably the best thing we ate here.

An adorable stray cat, of which there are many in Athens, got the rest of our meatballs. Everybody wins!

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Follow my #CatTravels adventures in Greece and Crete on Instagram @catherinetoth and on Twitter @thedailydish.