We had a very painless overnight bus across the border to Greece. Of course, you can only sleep so well, so we were quite tired when we arrived early in the morning.
Our first impressions were quite interesting. We were walking down a main street. 8-9 story commercial and residential buildings were towering either side of us. The ground level of these buildings were filled with closed overhead doors to shops, and graffiti. We were told Thessaloniki was quite beautiful, maybe we were in the wrong neighbourhood.
We found an open café or breakfast, a rarity at 8:30am somehow, and had a great spinach pie and omelet. The food at least was as advertised.
We made our way to a real estate office to drop our bags off (just AirBnB things), and the city was still as deserted as ever. It was about 10:00 at this point. Confused, we decided to head to Ano Poli, a trendy neighbourhood that surly had something going on. 50m into our walk, we sighted a homeless camp, and decided that maybe this wasn’t the way to go. Off to the water instead!
We made it to the main promenade to the water, and figured out why everything seemed dead. Its cause only now, at about 10:15, things were waking up. The market and shops were finally opening. People were just going to work now. It’s a late city, that’s for sure.
The waterfront was special though. It is a nice wide paved area for everyone to walk along the ocean. Thessaloniki was an old Macedonian trading city, and that tradition has continued to this day. Many large container ships hang out in the harbour.
Beside the waterfront in the downtown neighbourhood, and it is full of all sorts of fun little restaurants and shops. We went restaurant hopping for a bit, picking up some kebab wraps and all sorts of other goodies. Its really easy to overeat in Greece, and we certainly did that. We didn’t have dinner at all. Too full.
We checked out the archeology museum when it started to rain as well. It had lots of old columns and what not from ancient temples. The architecture here, which is historically Macedonian (rather than Greco. The area traded rulers for a long time though), is slightly different than the Athenian Greece we are used to. Still the same marble and gods, just a few different designs. Apparently too, the statues were all made to have interchangeable parts, like large oversized Mr. Potato Heads. An American Greco history fanatic told us that, before quickly shifting into American politics.
That first day was just walking around and getting to know the city a bit better. After the strange first impression, we quickly realized that Thessaloniki is just a city that sleeps in. Its very lively in the evening.
We took our second day back to the waterfront, and went on a large walk down the way. It was a Saturday, and noticeably busier than the day before. I think this is a local weekend getaway city as well. We took a long walk (it was supposed to be a rest day), down to the theatre, before turning around. The sun was really nice when it was out. The weather was again, perfect for the day.
We witnessed a collision too, a dude on a moped pulled a U-turn right into an older couple on a scooter. The older man started spouting off to the moped driver in Greek, before realizing he didn’t speak any. We then heard in broken English “Are you stupid or something?” and then everyone went on their way with a couple bruises and one bruised ego.
Lunch was a massive club sandwich. These are on Pita bread, and comes with seasoned fries (which is a rarity in the world apparently), and is really a meal for two. Between that and the falafel wrap we had later, we again did not have dinner. We did however, watch the Eurovision finale that evening. Quite the controversy when the Croatian didn’t win. We thought he was great, but there were lots of other good performances as well.
There were quite a few ancient sites we walked by in passing. The White Tower is an iconic waterfront building. It used to be a prison. There is an old Rotunda for which we do not know the story, and all sorts of other uncovered ruins that exist comfortably within the modernity of the city. Overall, Thessaloniki was a vibrant bustling city. That just starts after 11. There’s not much to do other than vibe out. The food was delicious, and existing in the city was just enjoyable. It was a wonderful introduction to Greece.
