Blogs from Central Macedonia, Greece, Europe - page 9

6th Jan Today is the Blessing of the Waters and we went down to Perea Pier around 10.15am to witness the church officials and priest going through the ceremony. The cross is thrown into the sea and the young men swim towards it and try to find it. Who ever finds it first, can feel very proud. We bought some decadent “pastas” or little cakes to celebrate our 35th Wedding anniversary today. We had our Greek Church wedding in Salonika all those years ago. Tuesday 10th Jan We get up at 7am to go to Florina, Michael’s birth town. We travel on the bus, as the train no longer runs to Florina, the service being cut 12 months ago. We want to visit some of Michael’s relatives on the bus, deciding to staying at a ... read more

26th Dec- 4th Jan 2012 We bought Mama a sewing machine and the guy gave us a little demo of its functions. We carried it home on the bus. We made (Mama and I) a covering for it as only a thin plastic one came with it. She was very happy, as she has a hand turning one which is very heavy and needed to be kept in the spare room and used from there. We also bought some fabric and cottons from two different shops in a market area built in early 1900 Going into the city to get it, there were 3 Italian Tourists who must have come from the airport and were catching the same bus as we were. So Michael spoke English to one of the girls and told them we would ... read more

Monday 12th was the Name Day of St Spiros and a good opportunity to commence putting up the Xmas Decorations and Mama has the custom of changing the chair covers and floor rugs to – the Christmas Period. I think a lot of Greek people have the same practice.Mama put the flotaki rugs on the sofas and put up the starched doilies on the buffet and we put up some Xmas Decorations around the lounge room. After lunch, we went up to the block again Michael used the axe to cut down some plum saplings. There was a shepherd with 150 sheep grazing on the vacant blocks that have not been fenced. I did not see a dog, but I have been told he did have one. He must milk the sheep- not sure if by ... read more

A little more than four years after first visiting Greece, I found myself back in Thessaloniki for a long weekend. Since that visit was at the end of a very long ferry-bus-train trip, I found myself much more relaxed and awake after only a five hour drive split over two days. We spent Friday night in Skopje and drove the rest of the way on Saturday morning. As we entered Thessaloniki, we were stunned by the brand-names we saw - Nike, Underarmor, Gap...the list went on and on. Needless to say, we spent Saturday afternoon wandering from shop to shop and enjoying the late fall weather. On Sunday, all of the shops were closed but the tourist attractions were running. We walked down along the shore and visited the White Tower - where the eastern wall ... read more

This was my 6th or 7th time in Greece, but I've never been to this penninsual, Sithonia, and a small village, Toroni. We (my family and I) enjoyed the wonderful weather, even when it was raining one morning we didn't want to get out of the sea, as it was very warm, until thunder and lightning started chasing people all over the place. I wanted to take lots of pictures, but I always somehow forgot about my camera, waiting in my bag. Still, you'll see some of them here, which will give you a good idea of this place and amazing nature, crystal clear sea, long beaches and great food! We also spent two days in a bigger town, Nea Moundania near Thessaloniki, which also has a very nice long beach. Overall, what I'll remember the ... read more