Blogs from Thessaloniki, Central Macedonia, Greece, Europe - page 6

Tuesday 7th July We go with Yirrakenna and Thodera to Kalamaria ( a suburb of Salonika) and park the car near the water edge and then walk about 4 km along the paved water edge to Salonika with the thousands of other people doing the same thing. Just back from the water edge is a new garden built in Oct 2008 and it has different themes- a rose bed garden with the beds featuring the same coloured roses all together in the same bed- red, then yellow, etc. There was a water feature garden with water lilies, although they were not opened, as about 7pm and starting to get a little dark. There is a designated bike lane for the cyclist. People were fishing, there were 3 large boats taking people out on a cruise around ... read more

Week 31 & 32 in Greece 7th June The wheat in the nearby paddock adjoining the main Salonika Road was cut today with a New Holland combine and then wheat augered into the waiting truck.. Where people had thrown some rubbish like metal bars and an old kerosene heater, the combine driver did not cut that area, as the rubbish would have wrecked his machine. I assume he is a contract harvesting operator, as I heard him with his machine up higher in the hinterland after on and must have been cutting another farmer’s wheat. Later in the day the haymaker guy came along and made big rolls of the cut straw. Michael has an appointment at the dentist at 1pm, as his filling fell out last week. It is one recommended by Vicky, Mama’s friend. ... read more

4th May 2009 In Greece in general, the major shops including the supermarkets are closed on Sundays, but if the area is designated a tourist precinct, then the supermarkets can open on Sundays on restricted hours. So our local supermarket is now open on Sunday 9am -3pm. However you still can not buy fresh bread on Sundays, so always have to buy extra on the Saturdays, or have some in the freezer at home. I guess this way, there is one day where the family gets together and connects with each other. Mothers Day is celebrated here in Greece on the same day as in Australia, but very low key. No TV advertisements about it and no big commercial push to buy things for your mother. Some friends have a large block where they grow some ... read more

Week 25 & 26 in Greece Sat 25th April we intended to catch the train from Salonika to Athens but all the trains had been booked as had an the 10 am bus, so luckily they put on another bus at 11am and we got to Athens around 6pm. The bus stopped close to Omonia Metro Station, and you buy a 90 cent ticket to Pireas and follow the green line to the correct platform. The Pireas station is an old enclosed station one like those at Gare de Lyon. You walk out of the station to the wharf area and a free bus run by the port authority takes you around to the various ship berths and you get off at the desired one. The Hellenic Seaways ferry to Vathi, the main port for Samos, ... read more

Greek Easter and Meteora Trip Thursday 16th April my sister Janice and her husband Bill arrived at Salonika Airport ( Makedonia Airport) . Then the next day we went to the street market at Nea Epivates and later in the afternoon went into Salonika to visit some churches on Greek Easter Good Friday. The epitafios or little shrines are decorated with lovely floral mosaics and must have taken hours to complete.They will be taken outside later that evening for the religious procession. Then we had dinner back out at Perea on the beach front at a fish taverna. Saturday happened to be World Museum Day, with free entry to all museums, so that was fortuitous as we had planned Saturday as the Museum visit day. After several hours, we emerged to look for a place to ... read more