Advertisement
Published: February 5th 2023
The eyes of the hare are not the same as the eyes of the owl… ~ Greek Proverb
HE SAID... Today we were travelling north from Athens to
Thessaloniki– by train.
Having checked out of Hotel Attalos earlier in the day, we caught a taxi to Larissis Station in the mid-afternoon, made our way to the open-air platform and waited for our train to arrive. The platform soon began to fill with people, and by the time our train pulled into the station, there was a rush to board. Once we found our carriage, we settled into the less than comfortable seats and waited for the air conditioning to kick in – which unfortunately it didn’t.
We pulled out of Larissis Station at 3:30pm, and we were due to arrive in Thessaloniki around 7:30pm. It wasn’t long before the built-up inner suburbs of Athens gave way to the sprawling city’s greener outer suburbs. As the Hellenic Train slowly jolted along the tracks, Athens disappeared behind us and we found ourselves swaying through rural Greece.
About half an hour into the journey, the train slowed to a halt. There wasn’t a station in sight, so it seemed odd to have stopped on the tracks in the middle of nowhere. We were informed the train was experiencing
mechanical problems, and the driver expected a 30-minute delay. We eventually began moving after being stationary for more than one hour.
We slept for a while as the train slowly made its way north. On waking, I felt completely refreshed, and I spent the remainder of the journey catching up on my travel notes. My view through the carriage window offered an idyllic and quintessential vista of Greece. Olive groves surrounded small villages, flat land stretched to distant hills, mountains jutted into the sky on the horizon. We passed towering wind farms, small banks of solar panels, sprawling villages and endless olive groves. It was exciting to glimpse the blue water of the Thermaikos Gulf as our train passed close to the coastline.
When we emerged from a particularly long tunnel, the landscape seemed to have changed. Flat rural fields were divided neatly into crop pastures, and farmers were ploughing the land with tractors. Then, in the blink of an eye, we found ourselves cutting through small valleys and disappearing into more tunnels. As we lurched northwards, the sun set over the peaceful rural landscape surrounding us, and my eyes were continually drawn to the distant and barely
visible mountains that dominated the western skyline. When the sun dipped below the horizon, our view from the carriage was limited to street lights and the occasional headlights of passing cars.
Despite being a reasonably long journey in somewhat uncomfortable seats, I really enjoyed this experience. I’ve always loved train travel, and this trip revealed an everchanging Greek landscape that we would not have seen otherwise.
We arrived in Thessaloniki around 9pm, an hour and a half later than expected. After waiting with our packs outside the city’s deserted railway station for quite some time, we eventually clambered into a taxi and sped to Le Palace Hotel, our accommodation for the next two nights. Our brash driver described himself as ‘the best taxi driver in Thessaloniki’, but he clearly wasn’t. He was just a grumpy old man who drove too fast for his aging reflexes. I lost count of the times he mounted the curb…
We dropped our packs in our room and walked to Full tou Meze in the Ladadika District for a late dinner. It was raining lightly, but it didn’t dampen our spirits. The popular restaurant was heaving with locals. It was very loud
and very jovial, and the food was very good. We shared the following:
> trilogy of three dips (tzatziki, tirokafteri and taramasalata)
> grilled aubergine with feta cheese and walnut kernels.
I cooled down with an ouzo on ice and a cold beer. Feeling happily content and more than a little tired, we walked back to the hotel and showered. It had been a hot start to the day in the searing morning sun on the Acropolis, and the five-and-a-half-hour train trip from Athens was starting to take its toll. We eventually crashed at 1am.
We woke early, but it required a fair bit of motivation to drag ourselves out of bed. We were still exhausted from the previous day. We headed down to the welcoming and well organised breakfast room at Le Palace Hotel, where I enjoyed yoghurt and muesli, bread and jam, and many cups of tea and juice.
We headed out to join a free walking tour (Explore Thessaloniki) at 9:30am. On the way to the tour’s meeting point, we passed a shop frontage with the phrase
Always seek knowledge graffitied on the front door. It was comforting to think that after all these
centuries, and in the light of the current resurgence of right-wing political dogma, Plato is still influencing modern Greek culture. I imagined a young student feeling compelled to carve this message with a spray can in a busy Thessaloniki street, and I couldn’t help but smile. But was I being too romantic? It could have been scribbled by someone older. Someone exasperated with the younger generation’s lack of interest in philosophical thought. Regardless of who shared this key teaching from Plato, I was pleased to have witnessed it. 😊
When we arrived at the Rotunda of Galerius, our meeting point for the walking tour, I was uneasy. A fairly large group had gathered for the tour, and I wondered how one person would be able to manage such a diverse group of strangers. I also had less than favourable memories of our walking tour of the Acropolis the previous morning, where our guide simply recited a rote-learned narrative without the slightest attempt to engage us with the site.
I shouldn’t have worried. From the moment she started talking, our Explore Thessaloniki guide had us all enthralled. I strained to hear her every word, and we hung on her
every word. Why? Because she personalised the tour. She shared stories of herself, her family, her friends and her neighbours. She described present day life in Thessaloniki. She described life in Thessaloniki during the war. She described life in ancient Thessaloniki. She pointed out her favourite buildings. She shared the city’s dark history. Nothing was off limits. She was very personable, and she was guiding us through a city she clearly loved. We’ve undertaken many walking tours on our travels, and this was a standout.
Anyway, back to the streets of Thessaloniki. Our walking tour comprised the following key stops:
> the Rotunda of Galerius (which has been remodelled for many religions over the centuries)
> the Church of Virgin Mary of the Right Hand
> the Arch of Galerius
> the Palace of Galerius (which comprises the Hippodrome ruins)
> the Church of Agia Sofia / Catacombs of St John the Baptist
> the Red House (more commonly known as the haunted house)
> the markets
> a hammam (which is no longer operational).
As we stood in front of the hulking Church of Agia Sofia, we realised we’d visited two other Agia Sofia churches on our
travels – one in Istanbul (Turkey) and one in Sofia (Bulgaria). I favour the one in Sofia, and I’m pretty sure Ren favours the one in Istanbul. I was intrigued to discover that tunnels join this Church of Agia Sofia with another church nearby, and I could only imagine who would have used the dark subterranean passageways over the years, and for what reason.
The guide shared many stories as we walked the streets of Thessaloniki. Three in particular captured my imagination.
The marble bench We reached a small urban square about half way through the walking tour, and some of us settled on a marble bench as our guide shared the story of Thessaloniki’s population exchange, and how this influenced the city’s architecture. An influx of migrants needed urgent housing, and the current city plans couldn’t cope with the population explosion, so housing needed to be constructed quickly and cheaply. As a result, the city ended up with square box apartments, all of which look identical. This is a common consequence of fledgling building controls and regulations.
The guide also shared the sad history of Thessaloniki’s Jewish population. The bench we were sitting on had been
made from marble blocks stolen from the Jewish Cemetery by the occupying Nazis. One of the marble blocks was the headstone of a child, the fading inscription still visible for all to see. We jumped from the bench in horror, and I wondered why on earth she had let us sit there. Her reasons were very sound. She told us that modern day Thessaloniki had been built by the Jewish people, and that this can never be forgotten. As a result, she shares the true history of the city, which she refuses to soften for modern audiences. These were her words:
If you want to understand a city, you need to look at the bottom and the top of everything. I’m pretty sure she meant the bad and the good of everything, and I welcomed her pragmatic approach.
The haunted house As we stood outside a multi-storey residence known as the Red House, our guide recounted how two children had fallen to their death (on separate occasions) from a particular window on the second floor. With no apparent reason for either tragedy, the house was deemed to be haunted. Many locals refused to believe the tale until recently, when
a person fell to their death from the very same window in 2016. As we listened intently, a woman started cleaning the window on the second floor. She was balancing precariously on a ladder inside the room, leaning out at full stretch to polish the glass. She could so easily have fallen. We all shuddered and collectively drew breath. I’m not sure if this had been set up in any way, but it was certainly dramatic. The window cleaner seemed oblivious to us as we all stared up at her in horror from the footpath below.
The false prophet As we stood outside a hammam that is no longer operational, our guide shared the historic story of a false prophet who was challenged at this site. Rather than be beheaded, he decided to renounce his self-proclaimed ‘prophet’ status and embrace Islam. I’m pretty sure I would have done the same.
After three immersive hours, our tour wound up around 12:30pm. My faith in guided tours had been restored! Thanks to our guide’s honest, pragmatic and entertaining storytelling, I felt a strong affinity with Thessaloniki. She loved this city, and her enthusiasm was infectious.
We walked back to
our hotel to freshen up, then headed out to explore Thessaloniki’s Upper Town in the early afternoon. We made our way up Plateia Aristotelous, walking past the Archeas Agoras and Roman Forum on the way. We turned right at the Church of Agios Dimitrios and continued our ascent, climbing steep narrow lanes and stairs that led every which way. We were momentarily lost, so we asked a local woman who happened to be walking past if she could tell us where we were. Her response was extraordinary.
First of all, she guided us to the Portara (Large Gate) that allows traffic through the fortified walls of the old city. We realised she was going out of her way to help us, so we thanked her and said we’d be okay. She politely ignored our protests. She pointed us in the direction of the Vlatadon, explained how to get to Alysseos Tower, then took us inside the fortified walls of the old city and pointed to a nearby taverna (Toixo Toixo) that she felt we could try for lunch. She described it as a good place ‘to sit and be ourselves’. Her name was Anna. She was a school teacher,
and she was incredibly friendly. It was a privilege to meet her, and to walk with her for a while as she told us about her life in the Upper Town. Experiences such as this make travel so rewarding.
After waving goodbye, we took her suggestion and settled at the very local Toixo Toixo. It was mid-afternoon, and we were the only tourists in the area. We ordered the following dishes to share:
> Mushroom risotto with black truffle oil
> Nisiotiki salad (baby rocket, lettuce, lollo roso, baby spinach, sundried tomatoes, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, dill, oil/oregano croutons, balsamic vinaigrette and sour mizithra cheese).
The meal was absolutely fantastic! Ren refreshed with a sangria, and I cooled down with a cold beer. I finished the meal with a Greek coffee, which arrived at the table in a small copper saucepan (known as a
briki). If only we could have thanked Anna for her recommendation.
We made our way out of the fortified walls and walked a short distance to Alysseos Tower, which afforded incredible views of Thessaloniki and the shimmering Gulf of Thessaloniki. We then started our descent towards the waterfront, encountering numerous cats along the way.
We stopped at a tiny cafe for Greek coffee and discovered – to our surprise – that we were sitting opposite Ataturk House. We continued downwards past the Rotunda of Galerius until we eventually emerged on the waterfront, directly opposite the city’s iconic White Tower. We then wandered the bustling Leoforus Nikis (the main drag along the waterfront) in the direction of our hotel, where we eventually arrived at 6pm. It had been an extraordinary afternoon!
Our legs were feeling the countless kilometres we’d walked on Thessaloniki’s stone paths and steep steps, but the night was young. After resting for a short time in our room, we walked to Sempriko in the Ladadika District for dinner. We settled at an outside table and ordered the following dishes:
> Musky octopus with aubergine, chickpeas and tomatoes
> Smoked aubergine salad with Greek yoghurt sauce, tahini, mint and walnuts.
We also ordered a bottle of retsina (white wine flavoured with the resin of pine trees). Apparently, younger Greeks refuse to touch retsina, because they consider it an old-fashioned drink for older Greeks. It was a bit rough, and the label depicted two old drunks leaning against a lamppost. It’s
one of the worst marketing designs I’ve seen, but labels should never impact taste. I enjoyed sipping my retsina in Thessaloniki’s cool sea air, but to be honest, I would’ve enjoyed anything. It had been such an incredible day.
We stopped for a drink (mastika) at a nearby bar, then slowly made our way back to the hotel. It was a relaxing walk. I was wide awake when we settled in our room, so I worked on my travel notes until 1am. I loved the atmosphere of Thessaloniki. While some of the locals may not have been as friendly as the Athenians, the weather was slightly cooler (thanks to the late afternoon sea breeze) and the architecture was amazing. Endless rows of square box apartments may not appeal to some, but they had a retro feel that appealed to me – especially those in the Upper Town with stunning views of the shimmering blue Gulf of Thessaloniki.
I think I could stay here a while. The city reminds me of Bucharest and Sofia, especially the endless lines of functional dwellings. So much of the city’s history is reflected in these buildings. Having been extended upwards over time to
accommodate an ever-increasing population, some exhibit different architectural styles and periods across different floors – in much the same way strata in sedimentary rock reveals different geological time periods.
SHE SAID... We had spent the morning exploring the Acropolis and started our journey to
Thessaloniki in the early afternoon. The group gathered outside Hotel Attalos and we split into various taxis for the relatively short ride to the Larissis train station. It’s the main railway station in Athens for long-distance travel to Thessaloniki and other destinations on the mainland.
I found it a very interesting historical fact that when this station (officially called Athens Railway Station) was first opened in 1904, Thessaloniki was still part of the Ottoman Empire… so the station was colloquially named after the biggest Greek city it serviced at the time – Larissa.
We were way too early for the train and had to find ways to kill 45 minutes. Andrew and I managed to find seats and catch up on our travel notes, but I couldn’t stop myself from studying our fellow passengers. ‘People watching’ is one of our favourite travel pastimes, and I was very (pleasantly) surprised that such
a main travel hub was severely lacking in the human drama department.
While at the station, Georgia (our group leader) randomly handed out our reserved seating tickets. As usually is the case, a few swaps had to be made so people could sit with their travelling partners. However, when we eventually boarded our carriage, we realised the seat numbers didn’t necessary run sequentially, and seats 47 and 48 were actually two rows apart! Tom had very generously swapped with me on the platform, but now we had to all go through another couple of rounds of swapping, and it was getting too complex to sort out while everyone was still boarding. Luckily, we realised that we were all sitting as a group and just plonked ourselves down and hoped for the best.
This trip between Athens and Thessaloniki used to take eight hours, but this new(ish) high-speed train had cut the journey down to 4 hours. Georgia mentioned a few times that we were lucky to be on the new fast train… and as a result we’d have ample time to get to our hotel before heading out to dinner. Did she jinx us? Hmmm.
The train
was comfortable enough (despite the stuffy air in the carriage), but more importantly, the toilets were clean. I fell asleep pretty much straight away after we’d pulled out of the station, but was soon roused by a commotion. I found the train stopped in the middle of nowhere. We were told a mechanical fault would cause a 30-minute delay, but it ended up being much longer than that. And our four-hour trip turned into a nearly six-hour journey.
It was only the first day of this particular trip, and the group was still getting to know each other. So our part of the carriage was rather quiet with people reading or napping, and only the occasional passing remark made about the unfortunate situation.
Speaking of the group, I was pleasantly surprised that of the ten of us, five members were reading physical books. Over the years more and more people have moved to carrying all their reading material on devices, and it has been a long time since there’d been this many people with actual books! On a different but related note, I’d noticed earlier in the day that there were four of us in the group with
actual cameras. Most tourists have moved to using phone cameras, and Andrew and I are usually the only ones not using our phones or iPads to take photos.
When the train started moving again, I slept for a couple more hours. When I eventually woke, the flat landscape had been replaced with distant mountains. The olive groves had turned into farms with wheat and potato crops that alternated with brown earth fields that had been recently ploughed in preparation for autumn crops. There were also ‘solar farms’ every now and again, with the blueish tint of solar panels stretching out in long neat rows.
These vistas framed through the train window, although brief, gave me a glimpse into a very different Greece than we’d already seen. We were moving into the region of Macedonia in Northern Greece, and I was very excited. It got dark soon afterwards, and the only sense I could get of the outside world was that we passed through many tunnels, and it had also started raining quite heavily.
The train pulled into Thessaloniki Station at 9:15pm. We were supposed to be catching a local bus to our hotel, but we were all
very tired and opted to catch taxis instead. We seemed to wait at the taxi rank forever, but everything seems longer when you’re tired. After an extremely manic taxi ride, where the driver actually mounted the pavement whenever he turned a corner (!), we arrived at the hotel shaken but alive, at 10pm.
Hotel Le Palace is in the heart of the city, and walkable to all the lively neighbourhoods including the port and waterfront… so I forgave the scuffed floors, very tired rooms and the pokey bathroom with a shower curtain that was very likely a host for a whole universe of microscopic lifeforms.
At this point I just wanted to crawl into bed, but we needed sustenance. So we checked-in and almost immediately headed out in the rain to the vibrant Ladadika area for a very late dinner (like proper Greek people!). 😊
When we arrived at Full tou Meze, I really wished we hadn’t been so tired. It was the sort of welcoming place we’d have lingered over a long dinner and many drinks. For centuries this area used to be a market dedicated to selling olive oil, but it fell into disrepair and
disrepute over the years. The whole district was recently renovated and the streets are now full of taverns, bars and restaurants that have injected vitality back into the neighbourhood. Even on a rainy Sunday night, the whole place was totally packed.
Andrew and I shared a light meal of a grilled aubergine (eggplant) with feta and walnuts, and a trio of dips –
tzatziki (yoghurt, cucumbers, garlic, salt and olive oil),
tirokafteri (spicy feta) and
taramasalata (salted and cured fish roe, olive oil, lemon juice and bread). It was just what we needed after a long travel day. We showered and fell into our bed not long afterwards.
Even though I woke tired and exhausted the next morning, I was filled with a buzz of ‘new city’ excitement. Regardless of my assessment of our hotel room as being ‘not brilliant’, I really couldn’t fault the rest of the hotel. The reception staff were great, as was the woman running the breakfast buffet set up. It was very organised and laid out beautifully. As well as the usual suspects on the buffet, my attention was drawn to the luscious looking rice pudding,
portokalopita (orange pie) and
revani (coconut topped
semolina syrup cake). Yes, I tried them all, and they were all delicious! 😊
When we arrive in a new place at night, there’s something unbelievably thrilling when stepping outside on that first morning, and this day wasn’t any different! We had a full free day in this northern city, and Georgia had suggested we all do a free walking tour with
Explore Thessaloniki.
We met the guide at a cafe before covering quite a vast area of the city on the walking tour. Our guide was brilliant and she brought the city to life for us… she recounted events that shaped the city, from its multiple conquests to the devastating fire in 1917 to the civil war to Nazi brutalities to the relatively recent economic collapse. She covered almost its entire history right up to contemporary times by interweaving facts and anecdotes in a meaningful, quirky and reflective way. The history of Thessaloniki would be slowly revealed to us over the course of the walking tour. However, she told us upfront that it was going to be a frank look at the city as she saw it.
We started at the Rotunda of Galerius. I think
this building perfectly represented the vast and diverse history of the city. Thessaloniki’s geographical position and harbour made it a much sought after city from which to control the whole region; and its history is littered with attacks and conquests. This also explains its once rich ethnic diversity. The Rotunda was built as a Roman architectural showpiece by the Emperor Galerius; it then changed to the city’s first church when Christianity arrived; then again changed into a mosque when the Ottomans were in power. It’s now back to being a church, as well as a secular building of note. I was intrigued by this beautiful brick and stone structure with its added-on minaret.
We walked down a narrow back lane and ended up outside the Church of Virgin Mary of the Right Hand. It wasn’t the oldest or even the prettiest of churches, but our guide wanted to tell us about the very unique name. The church is built around a small icon of Mary holding baby Jesus in her right arm (Panagia Dexiokratousa). This was very unusual, as Mary is almost always depicted holding Jesus in her left arm and praying with her right hand. They thought the
statue special enough to dedicate a large church to it.
We kept walking to the remains of the very striking Arch of Galerius in front of the church. At this point, I could see a ‘Galerius’ theme emerging – Emperor Galerius built this arch to celebrate victory over the Persians. I gathered that he was a fierce and ruthless leader, but most leaders in those times were!
We crossed the busy shopping strip of Egnatia (which used to be a 2nd century BC Roman road) and entered a seemingly very new part of town. This wide street had apartment buildings on steroids on both sides of the street. It was the student accommodation area, and was known for having the cheapest street food. This area also had its share of street art. Most were commissioned artworks, but there were many of the ‘hastily done under the cover of night’ variety too.
I was quickly reminded that no part of Thessaloniki is ‘new’ when we stopped to look at a small section of the subterranean ruins of the Palace of Galerius that sat in the middle of the road. The significant Galerian complex extends through most of the
area, with some of the ruins built over with new buildings, and some of it on display. The ruins looked disconnected and sad against this backdrop of brightly coloured modern apartment blocks hulking over it.
It was very obvious to us by now that Thessaloniki has had a long and sometimes-brutal history, and our guide had told us little snippets of the different periods, using a street we were standing on as a segue, or knitting a building we were looking into the main point of another story. She was a very good storyteller, and she kept us all very engaged.
When she walked us over to a shaded area in a large square, we all naturally sat on a low wall facing her. She was now focussing on a very recent atrocity committed against some of the city’s residents. She recounted how the powers of Thessaloniki had invited Jews to settle in the city when they were expelled from Spain during the Spanish Inquisition. It was done as a means to attract wealth and trade into the city, and it worked well as a strategy. In fact, it worked so well that they lived in the city
for over five centuries, and became the majority race in the city. Despite this, the Jews hadn’t assimilated into the Greek culture and hadn’t learnt Greek.
Our guide gave examples of how the Jews were marginalised and ill-treated when the Greek language laws were passed, and how the Jewish cemeteries were destroyed and their dead desecrated when antisemitic feelings started spreading through Europe. And ultimately how they were rounded up and shipped off to Auschwitz. She concluded with the very grave, ‘and that’s how they made Thessaloniki a Greek city’.
By now the mood of the 20 or so people of the walking tour was quite subdued… and as we absorbed what she’d said, she continued by stating that there were pieces of marble from the Jewish cemetery recycled into pavements and walls all around the city. Then she pointed to the wall we were sitting on and said ‘that piece of marble you are sitting on used to be part of a baby’s grave’. We all sprang up in shock. It was a clever way of physically and emotionally immersing us in the atrocities that had been committed all those years ago.
After that sombre talk,
we kept walking through some neighbourhoods that still held beautiful Art Nuevo buildings. This was in stark comparison to the 1960s cookie-cutter apartments we had seen so far. Our guide explained that an architect had once been engaged to draw up a comprehensive city plan for Thessaloniki. However, the Second World War and other historical events such as the population exchange with Turkey required the quick building of high-density low-cost buildings. The grand architectural plan with boulevards of Art Nuevo buildings was never realised. Of that vision, only a handful of buildings were built.
We strolled through a narrow walkway that opened into a small square with a prominent hammam, a now abandoned bathhouse from Ottoman times. We later stopped at a red brick house at a busy intersection which has been tarred with an urban legend of being haunted (due to three separate incidents of people falling to their death from a second storey window). And we passed by the beautiful Byzantine Church of Agia Sophia. This is the third Orthodox Church dedicated to St Sophia we have encountered in this part of the world, one of them being the church of the patron saint of Sofia in
Bulgaria, and the other is the stunning Hagia Sofia in Istanbul (which this church was modelled on).
We then walked through two market areas. The Kapani market, which is the oldest market in the city, holds a vast selection of fish, meat, vegetables, fruit, olives, sweets, nuts, spices etc. After this we wandered through the equally interesting Athonos Square market. Unfortunately, the famous Modiano Market was being renovated.
The walking tour ended near the waterfront, and we thanked our guide profusely. We’ve had our fair share of dodgy local guides over the years, and when we come across an amazing one like this, it reminds us of the combination of skills required to be a great guide. I love getting a well-rounded feel for a place, and I think it’s important to face all the good, bad and ugly faces of history. I have no time for chronicles that focus on the glossy details and try to reshape history by conveniently leaving out the gory elements.
We returned to our hotel to cool down and plan our free afternoon. We had a few options before us, including doubling back on our walk that morning to look at
the churches and markets in closer detail. However, Andrew and I decided to walk to the old neighbourhood of Ano Poli that sat next to the Byzantine fortress high up in the hills of Thessaloniki.
We got directions from the hotel receptionist on the best way to walk there, and she helped us by drawing two possible routes on our map – one direct, and one taking in some places of interest. However, the whole time she was doing this, she was also trying her best to talk us out if it! She just couldn’t see how we’d enjoy walking uphill in the middle of the day. She suggested that we catch the Hop-on Hop-off bus. It was quite funny that another local suggested a similar thing. He came out of his cafe to help us (when he noticed us consulting our map), and he suggested the best course of action was to catch a taxi. We thanked them both sincerely, but insisted that we would enjoy the hike.
We started by walking north through the park-like Plateia Aristotelous, then passed the Bey Hammam and ruins of the Roman Forum, and continued uphill. It was only after we
had passed the enormous Church of Agios Dimitrios that I realised we’d shown no interest in checking out the main church of the city (Dimitrios is the patron saint of Thessaloniki). We were clearly on a mission to reach our destination. 😊
It certainly wasn’t an easy walk, but it gave us such a good insight into the very local neighbourhoods we passed – some very gritty, some more well-to-do. I enjoyed peering into the small community grocery shops, hearing the school kids racing around their playgrounds, and observing the ‘old-man’ coffee shops in the shaded corners of small squares.
We eventually got to Ano Poli, and I think exploring the old-world labyrinthine neighbourhood was more of a joy because of the degree of difficulty in getting there. We walked through the gates of the Monastery of Vlatadon, but we didn’t feel very comfortable walking around the grounds. So after a quick browse of the souvenir shop, we left to find a taverna recommended by the walking tour guide.
Our map wasn’t bad, but it didn’t have any of the smaller streets we kept finding ourselves on. The hot streets were deserted, but we spotted a local
slowly making her way uphill with a swag of grocery bags, and we asked her for help. Anna was a very friendly school teacher who was more than happy to help. She talked to us about our trip, told us a bit about herself and then walked us to the city gate we needed to get to. She pointed to a couple of tavernas inside the old Byzantine fortress and recommended her favourite one… and it turned out to be a lovely local gem of a place.
Toixo Toixo was fabulous! It had a shady terrace with a view of the old city walls. The food and coffee were as excellent as Anna had said they’d be. It was very clear that tourists were a rarity in this part of town. We noted that we were the only non-Greek speaking table in the whole place. And like the night before, I noticed that there were more Turkish-influenced items on the menus in Thessaloniki than I had noticed in the south of the country. We had a risotto with mushrooms and truffle oil, and a fresh house salad with heaps of lettuce (which was a luxury given the high price
of lettuce at home right now). My sangria was exactly the refreshing drink I needed, and Andrew reported that the cold beer hit the spot!
After lunch we meandered for a while longer, checking out the interesting looking gates in the Byzantine fortress walls that stood across a road from the traditional houses in Ano Poli with their overhanging upper stories. We walked to the ruins of a castle with its striking Alysseos Tower at the easternmost point of the walls. This spot is said to have the best view of Thessaloniki, and it really was a pretty spectacular view of the sprawling city and sparkling sea beyond it.
We walked the narrow lanes and flights of steps that connected the houses that clung to the steep hillside. On one such flight of steps, I sat quietly in the shade of a big tree to photograph a sleeping feline. And much to my delight, rather than being scared by the strange human, she walked over and crawled into my lap as if she’d known me all her life! You can imagine my absolute happiness at the trust shown by this pregnant kitty. I named her Pregopus. 😊
I’m very much of the belief that you can assess a society by how it treats its animals, and even though there were a few more skinny cats in Thessaloniki than elsewhere, none of them were unhealthy or scared of people. That says a lot in my book.
After sitting with Pregopus much longer than I should have, we walked back down into the central city via a small coffeehouse called Simon’s Cafe. We sat outside and relished our Greek coffee while observing the activity across the road at Ataturk House. It’s the house where Turkey’s national hero Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was born, and it’s now the Turkish embassy. It’s a place of maximum security but also of deep devotion, as was witnessed by the number of people standing outside and taking selfies with the green shuttered building.
We had meandered the long way up to get to Ano Poli, but were steering ourselves back down in a straight line towards the White Tower on the waterfront. The 15th century Ottoman built White Tower was once a prison and site of brutal executions, but is now Thessaloniki’s main landmark and features on many tourist brochures. We’d seen the
White Tower on the Amazing Race TV show recently, but at the time had no idea that we’d be standing in front of it a few short months later! The prominent White Tower is the centrepiece of a waterfront area with a great promenade.
We enjoyed ambling along the relatively new promenade (completed in 2013) which sits across a busy road full of bars and cafes that spilled out onto terraces. This area had a lovely energetic feel with people cycling and walking with ice creams in hand. I loved it, but the fierce afternoon sun eventually forced us to detour back to our hotel via a couple of side streets with shady trees.
After a brief rest, we met the group at reception later that evening. We walked to dinner via a short detour to look at the sunset over the harbour. The sunset was mellow but lovely, and it lit up the long waterfront promenade in its gorgeous dusty orange glow.
Georgia had booked us a table at Sempriko for dinner. We were sitting outside in a courtyard, and despite the heat of the day, the night air in Thessaloniki was distinctly cooler than we’d
encountered so far. I suppose the breeze off the sea, as well as the fact that we were much further north than the rest of the country, had driven us to wear hoodies and scarfs for the first time that night.
Andrew and I shared dishes of smoky aubergine with Greek yoghurt and a ‘musky’ octopus with chickpeas. None of us had heard of musky octopus, and to be honest we thought it was the name of the dish. A google search revealed that it’s a type of octopus found in the Mediterranean region. Andrew ordered a bottle of
retsina (Greek white wine flavoured with pine resin) to accompany the meal; and even though we’d enjoyed it when we had it in an underground taverna in Athens, this version was a lot more grating on the taste buds.
After receiving a complimentary dessert of a deliciously fudgy brownie and pannacotta, we walked a few metres to the gorgeous little bar next door for some drinks. The bar was aptly called Beyond the Wall because it’s literally beyond the western part of the city wall. Entry was gained by squeezing through a narrow gap between our restaurant and a
stone wall. Andrew and I had glasses of
mastika (liqueur seasoned with resin from the mastic tree), which I’ve discovered to be a great digestive.
While the bar was lovely, the service wasn’t great. The reason Andrew and I had wanted to have drinks at this bar was because the tiny courtyard was beautiful and atmospheric. However, a less-clad member of our group had requested that we sit inside. The service staff were run off their feet attending to the crowds in the busy courtyard, and once they seated our small group at the back of the empty lounge, we were promptly forgotten about.
Back at the hotel, I really wanted to stay up and pack… but I made the mistake of lying down for a few seconds… and Andrew told me that I had barely hit the pillow before falling into a deep sleep!
And just like that, our time in Thessaloniki had come to an end. Given the long train ride to get here, I think our trip itinerary should have allowed at least one more day to explore the city. In spite of our time being relatively short, I feel we got to know
its main attributes rather well.
If I had to sum up Thessaloniki, I’d say despite being a city of contrasts, it balances the old and new with ease. It also wears its chilled vibe alongside its vibrant side remarkably comfortably. Thessaloniki was a very easy city to visit and explore, and I felt extremely relaxed and at ease. However, I think Andrew connected with the city a lot more than I did.
Like many old cities, it has clearly defined neighbourhoods. The old quarter up on the hill is full of traditional houses on narrow lanes, crumbling old city walls and religious history. The newer vertical suburbs on the slopes of the hill are gritty and stark; but also very friendly and authentic. The closer we got to the waterfront area, we saw more of its unmistakable cosmopolitan aspect. And the thriving university student population gives the city yet another dimension, as well as an extra boost of contagious energy. These very distinct neighbourhoods had very diverse feels, but somehow worked together to give us an overall sense of the place.
Next we travel southwest to Kalambaka, gateway to the Meteora monasteries.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.14s; Tpl: 0.04s; cc: 12; qc: 29; dbt: 0.0337s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.3mb
Jasmin Baker
non-member comment
apartment living
Now that's extreme apartment living in a big city. The traffic must have been hectic.