El Greco Thessaloniki

Thessaloniki was an interesting city… It was our first stop in Greece. Aside from the Greek language written everywhere and a few ancient ruins in random places in the city, I really wouldn't have known I was in Greece. Thessaloniki is a really big city, with tons and tons of clothing stores and cafes everywhere. There are also mass amounts of people everywhere. Many of the sidewalks were full of people trying not to bump into each ...

... br><br>Bin um kurz nach 20:00 gelandet, und um 23:50 dann mit dem Nachtzug weiter nach Sofia. 18,50Euro fuer die Strecke, habe aber noch fuer 10 Euro auf den Schlafwagen upgegraded, da der eine Waggon ziemlich voll war (und ich ausserdem doch recht muede war).<br><br>Gruss<br>Ralf<br>

We got back to Thessaloniki and we were going to have to spend the day there as the train out to Istanbul did not leave until the evening. Our expectations for the day were low based on our previous experience but we actually ended up having quite a good day!<br><br>We walked along the water front and saw a massive blue jelly fish which was quite exciting before heading to a pier that contained a few interesting museums and ...

... we were allowed on trains or not. We asked if we needed to make a booking at the station and they told us no but we then got thrown off the train in some backwater town because we didn't have reservations. A helpful Greek guy had come to translate between the conductor and ourselves and when we asked him why the conductor wanted us to get off he just shrugged and said "because he is an *******". We asked the woman in this station if we needxed reservations and she said we ...

... the lady at the ticket counter the situation and then she relayed the message. They talked for a few seconds, she asked me if Matt was &#8220;running fast&#8221;, and when I said he was sprinting, they (reluctantly) agreed to wait. <br><br>Matt showed up just two minutes after the bus was supposed to leave. Apparently the owner of the room realized what was happening and had his moped ready to go when he got back out of the hotel with the battery and charger in hand ...

... the Agora from Paul's day, and it's right in the middle of things. I stopped along the edge overlooking it, and was reminded of Paul's words to one of the communities I missed today in Philippi where he reminded and encouraged them to continue and "press on" in their life and work.<br><br>Paul explained that he and they hadn't already attained all that was in store for them as followers of Jesus. He didn't want them to feel ...

... people dressed up in uniform from the 40's as well as current Greek soldiers.  It was really cool to watch.  After the parade we started making our way back to Thessaloniki.  We stopped in Lichtohoro, the base of Olympus, for some dinner and i got to see the mountain one more time.  It is still REALLY cool to think that i did that. Still unreal.  Wednesday we did some more walking and shopping in the city. My mom and i found some cute scarfs at shop near where i live ...

... it up to the monasteries for some "no heat haze" pictures at sunset. We ended up at a beautiful restaurant "taverna" afterwards for an amazing supper. Curtis had the tomato &amp; cucumber salad (not being picky, just too hot to eat) and I had the spaghetti la forna...mmm, best meal so far. All the Greeks try to get you to try their homemade, best in Greece, Greek salad. <br><br><br>Back to bed, need to get up early to head towards the coast tomorrow. Corfu next...<br><br><br><br><br>Day ...

... I do plenty of greek dancing. Rachel and I run out of steam at 2am, but Ntia and Ramin head down to the waterfront in Thessalonkki to party until sunrise. Anyone want to know about Greek history and Byzantium? No? lets skip the description of these two museums that Rachel and I visit the next day. The memory of the couple from Rugby in a Greek Orthodox Cathedral is anycase a better place to stop.