Blogs from Thessaloniki, Central Macedonia, Greece, Europe - page 3

Geo: 40.6197, 22.9442 GÜN 02 GÜNLERDEN CUMARTESİ: Dün gece adeta gök boşaldı ... Yatmadan önce oturduğumuz sundurmaya gece yarısı 3 kişi geldi İyi ki yeri boşaltmışız... Hiç uyumadan sabahı ettim. Galiba yolda air condittioner sırtıma vurmuş. müthiş bir ağrı var.. Bu yağmur bizi bekliyor galiba Ne zaman yola çıksan o da yelteniyor.. Öyle böyle değil bayağı ciddi İşi sıkı tutuyor... Sabah bir başka sundurma altında kahvaltı yaptık 8:00 gibi yola çıktık Yağmur daha da haşinleşti.. Sorunsuz Selaniğe vardık .. Doğru Mariya nın oteline ... Neyse ki yağmur şiddeti azalttı Ayşe'yi otelde bırakıp Yakıt ve alışveriş derdine düştüm. Maksudis te alışverişi tamamladıktan sonra öğlen "Nİce View "diye yakındaki bir restoranda yiyelim dedik... Barbayanni eşliğinde mezedis + Barbun... read more

Wednesday 1st Feb A white cat was sitting on the pergola, waiting for some little birds to come along and eat the left over grapes still on the vine. Except I went out with a wooden pole and sent him on his way. Thursday 2nd Feb We went to Athens on the Train at 10am today and got to Athens at 6pm. The trip was supposed to take 5.5 hours, but with nearly snow all the way to Athens, had to get new train loco to clear tracks, etc. So an 8 hour trip. There was actually snow covering everything when we left Perea at 7am to catch the bus to take us to the railway station. Looked lovely, and we were the first ones to walk on it- amazingly no cars had driven in it.Apparently ... read more

We arrived in the sea side city of Thessaloniki, Greece at 6am after a 9 hour night bus. We were feeling confident after conquering Istanbul and planned to take a taxi to our hostel to recoup before exploring the city. Our first obstacle came when the taxi drivers could not read our address as it was in English and not in Greek. We were tired , cold, without internet or the ability to write in Greek lettering..What to do..We waited three hours, found an internet cafe and translated the address...success. Our hostel was amazing..it had walls which was a massive improvement on the last hostel. We also had our own kitchen so we were able to cook one night, something we have all been missing. We had initially intended to go to Athens, but due time ... read more

Tuesday 20th Dec we headed into Salonika on the bus and I noticed that it must have been pension pay day, as saw queues of people waiting outside a bank, waiting to get through the security door. You enter the secure space, close the door behind you and have your photo taken, then are allowed into the bank proper. Then the same when leaving the bank. It is all automated, but won’t allow you to enter if you wear sunglasses or helmet, etc. In Salonika I tried to get some preserved ginger or crystallized ginger, but no luck. So I cooked a Dutch Ginger Cake (with out ginger), but added diced, dried pineapple in its place We asked at an icon store about Saint Elizabeth and the salesperson said indeed there was one. I said in ... read more

Second Travel Blog Tuesday 6th Dec Today is Nicholas’ Name Day. Name days are more important than birthdays here in Greece and you celebrate the Name of the Saint you were named after. For those people with a name not belonging to a saint, such as Elizavet, there is a specific day during the year where all those people celebrate their “name” day. On 7th Dec we went into Salonika to visit Michael’s cousin. We had to catch 3 buses; the public buses, although the prices have gone up, are still very affordable for us, but perhaps not for people here out of work. The 90 Euro cents ticket could also buy a litre of milk or a loaf of bread. There were also two bus ticket inspectors who got on the bus to check our ... read more